Next up – Aylesbury United
Saturday, 8th November at Wodson Park, SG12 0UQ.
Pitching in Southern League, Divison One (Central); kick off 3pm.
Admission
Admission (card preferred but cash accepted) – Adults £10, Concessions £5, under 14 free with paying adult otherwise £2.50.
Printed programme on the gate for £2.
Tickets can be purchased in advance at Ware v Aylesbury United – Ware FC
Remembrance weekend
There will be a minute’s silence before the kick off to commemorate the dead and wounded of country’s wars.
Our opponents
United have been around since 1897 after the merger of the Aylesbury Town, Night School and Printing Works sides. They’ve been up and they’ve been down since then reaching the Southern and Isthmian Premier divisions as well as a one-season stay in the Conference. Aside from that they also hosted the full England side in a friendly in 1988. Those days have gone along with their ground when their lease ran out in 2006. They have been groundsharing at Thame United, Leighton Town and now for a second time at Chesham United ever since. One can only wish them the best in their search for a suitable ground back in their home town.
Form guide
In the circumstances they’ve done well to maintain the club at Step 4. Most recent seasons seem to have been a fight against relegation and it’s no different this time. They’re currently one point clear of the relegation places but with a game in hand. All but one of their last seven games have been defeats. The one exception was a 3-2 success at Beaconsfield. Not quite so surprising when you notice that all three of their league wins so far have been away from home.
Ware have slipped lately, our last three games bringing just one point. We have dropped out of the play-off places and need to get back to winning ways to avoid dropping further behind. We have two left backs on the injury list though David Sota is slowly coming to fitness. That will release Finlay Titchmarsh to return to right back and allow Max Granville to be available for midfield. Whether Herbie Townsend will be available in midfield given his continuing shoulder problem is a cause for concern. And of course we can’t forget Jack Grosvenor, still recovering from his broken rib. The team is in a degree of disarray as we look for our first win in four games.
Previous Meetings
Next season will bring the centenary of meetings with United, the first of which was also our first ever in the FA Cup. A 9-2 away defeat in the extra preliminary round presaged a long wait for our first win in the competition. L F Brenchley and George Dearman were our scorers. There has been only one other meeting in the FA Cup since then, our 1-0 home win in 1973 thanks to Don Whyte’s goal. Apart from an FA Amateur Cup win in 1953 by 2-0 (Cyril Long and Mo Hibbert) all other meetings have been under the various banners of the Delphian, Athenian, Isthmian and now Southern leagues. Our 43rd and most recent meeting was in April towards the end of last season. We celebrated with a 6-2 win thanks to two goals from Theo Ofori and one each from Gucci Soulya-Osekanongo, Sam Mayuma, Gabriel Chapps and Ike Okwusogu.
Commentary
Pete and Symon will be at the game if you can’t make it yourself. They’ll be broadcasting commentary from 2.55 at https://90minuteslivefootball.mixlr.com/events/4637667
Match officials
Our referee for this game is Demetri Anastasiou and the assistant referees are Ashley Diamond and Benjamin Kelly.
