Next up – Biggleswade Town
Saturday, 22nd November at Langford Road, Biggleswade, Beds. SG18 9JT
Pitching in Southern League, Divison One (Central); kick off 3pm.
Admission
Adults £12, concessions £10.
Our opponents
Tracing their founding back to 1874 the Waders have done the reverse of Ware and changed from being named plain Biggleswade to adding “Town” a few years into the post war period. By then they were in the Spartan League but moved on to the Eastern Counties, United Counties and South Midlands leagues before promotion to Step 4 in the Southern League 2009/10. Ten of their sixteen seasons since then have been spent in the premier division but relegation last year has brought them back to Step 4. They have made one appearance in the competition proper of the FACup, losing to Stourbridge in 2013/4’s first round.
Form guide
There’s a similarity to the situation before our previous match at Barton Rovers. We are one place and two points ahead of Town but they have a game in hand on us. They’ve scored 41 league goals so far but fourteen of those came in two games, 7-2 at London Lions and in their previous home game 7-0 against Rayners Lane. That looks as though they can exploit weaknesses when they’rs presented with the opportunity. The victory over Rayners Lane was their first at home since early September after which there were two defeats and two draws. Top scorer in the league is Paul Steele with nine but it’s far from a one man show as he is closely followed by Harrison Rookard (8) and by Ebenezer Kufuor and Lynton Goss (both on 7).
Ware’s game at Barton on Tuesday was a disappointment. In an even game the difference was an early goal for the home side leading to Ware’s second away defeat of the season. The inability to pierce the home defence saw our first blank sheet away from home since March and needs to be addressed. Jack Grosvenor was named as a substitute at Barton and will probably be in the squad on Saturday but whether he’s yet fit enough for anything more than a brief appearance I can’t say. Likewise, Sam Mayuma underwent a scan on Tuesday but there’s no news of the prognosis.
Previous Meetings
Our first meetings with Biggleswade (no “Town” at that time) were in the 1946/7 Spartan League season. We won one and lost six of eight meetings before they left the league. The next time our paths crossed it was thanks to the East Anglian Cup with us winning three of four ties. After a pre-season meeting an FA Cup away win was next before four league games. The last of those came on the final day of their championship winning season in 2024. Theo Ofori gave us the lead which raised hopes across the county at title contenders Bedford Town but second half goals saw us go down 4-1.
Commentary
If you can’t get to the match Pete Hill and Symon Allemandy will be there to provide an on-line commentary. Broadcast will start at 2.55pm on https://90minuteslivefootball.mixlr.com/events/4670402.
Match officials
The officials for this match are referee Paul Stratton and assistent referees Royan Campbell and Daniel Squibb.
