Next up – Hertford Town
Saturday, 24th October at Hertingfordbury Park, West Street, Hertford, Herts. SG13 8EZ
Pitching in Southern League, Division One (Central); kick off 3pm.
Admission
Adults £10, Concessions £5 and children £1
Advance tickets on sale at https://www.tickettailor.com/events/htfc/2470051 (includes booking fee)
The match
This is in many respects one of the most important fixtures of the season, only rivalled by the return match on February 6th. Both sides will be up for it and with good reason. Neither has set the league alight this season. They will be looking to improve their league position.
This is the 202nd match between the clubs which narrows down to being the 106th in a search for league points and the 11th under the Southern League banner.
Normally a bank holiday fixture, this match has been switched to a regular Saturday to satisfy national policing concerns about disturbances. Apparently those banned from Premier League and EFL matches have been known to cause trouble at non-league derbies.
Walk for DementiaUK
Our commentary team of Pete Hill and Symon Allemandy are making a charity walk to the game. Anyone is welcome to join them from Wodson Park to Hertingfordbury Park and of course also help raise funds for DementiaUK.
The walk will start from Ware football club and proceed into the town from where it will join the tow path along the River Lea. So they’re taking the scenic route offering something of a pleasing stroll. The aim is to reach Hertingfordbury Park by 1:30. That leaves plenty of time for those accompanying Peter and Symon to get a drink and for the two men themselves to get their commentary position ready for the match.
Walking or not we encourage you to support this worthy cause. Follow this link https://fundraise.dementiauk.org/fundraisers/90minuteslive
Form guide
Hertford made a reasonable start to the campaign and were in the play-off places after five matches. One point from their next five games sent them tumbling down the table until last week’s single goal win at Beaconsfield arrested the plunge.
By contrast Ware had something less than a reasonable start though progress in cups masked their decline. Ware have yet to get clear of the relegation positions but like Hertford they also pulled a rabbit out of the hat by beating well-placed Marlow last Saturday. The midweek draw with equally well-placed Stotfold suggested the win was more than a flash in the pan.
Previous Meetings
I’m not going to list all 201 previous meetings especially as Hertford have won more of them than us. Not in league games though in which we are ahead by five, that’s 44 to 39. In the Southern League the advantage stretches to six (seven wins to one defeat and two draws). Including our time together in the Isthmian League we have won our last seven visits to Hertford. It’s a great record but can it really go on? We’ll know on Saturday.
Commentary
If they survive the walk Pete and Symon will be at the game if you can’t make it yourself. They’ll be broadcasting commentary from 2.55pm at https://90minuteslivefootball.mixlr.com/events/5389712
Match officials
Our referee is Demetri Anastasiou who had charge of our 2-0 home win over Aylesbury United last season. The assistant referees are Marco Goumal and Matthew Whitworth.
