Hitchin Town Football Club
Founded 1865, Reformed 1928
Basingstoke and Northwood next for upbeat Canaries
Sunday, August 24 2003
Hitchin face Basingstoke Town on Monday (Kick Off 3pm), with the Canaries management hoping for a repeat of last season's meeting at Top Field.
Basingstoke came to Hitchin last September as unbeaten league leaders, but were undone by a James Ayres first-half goal. It was Hitchin's first win of the season.
The roles are almost reversed this time around, with Hitchin buoyant after a good start and Basingstoke reeling after losing their first two games. "It will still be tough," said stand-in manager Ian Donnelly. "We know all about Basingstoke, they have had a rough start, so let's hope that continues and we can get another good result."
Donnelly expects a "well contested game" against Basingstoke. "They are usually a physical team and hard to beat, but we are on something of a high." And he hopes that the Hitchin public will come out to see an in-form team. "After a good result at St.Albans, we could see a few more people come through the turnstiles."
Owen Coll and Carl Williams, who both missed the midweek win at Billericay, are both expected to be in contention again, but Donnelly was waiting for news on Adam Parker, who was injured in the Canaries 3-1 win.
Parker and Coll both missed the St Albans game, but Carl Williams made a welcome return as a second half substitute.
Next Saturday, Hitchin travel to newly-promoted Northwood, a team that has had a rapid rise through the Ryman League and is in its first Premier season. Northwood were without a win before yesterday's game with Bognor Regis, but their performances have suggested that they are not out of place in the top division. "Newly promoted sides are always difficult in the early weeks of the season, they have a point to prove," says Donnelly. "We saw that last season when we played Aylesbury and Ford United."
