The Isle of Wight's three Wessex League football teams will be hoping for good fortune this weekend.
Tough Times For Yachtsmen
Cowes Sports will be aiming to round off a satisfactory season in the Premier League by securing more points during the final few games. But manager Max Draper openly admits his side could be in for the toughest part of the whole campaign.
The Yachtsmen visit Alresford Town tomorrow, a team that slammed in seven without reply when they took on lowly Amesbury Town in midweek. However, the Island outfit have been showing plenty of determination in recent weeks, with a points haul that has taken them well clear of any threat of relegation. Although they currently lie in 17th place in the table, a victory tomorrow could see them move to wining a couple of points of 14th spot, depending on the fortunes of the teams just above them.
But Max said:
“We go into the next few weeks even more depleted than before, with a further injury to Jimmy Wykes and a suspension for Jack Barsdell. This leaves us in a position where we are on a free hit, massively underdogs and players stepping up to fight it out for us.
“Alresford are coming off a massive result, so will go into the game full of confidence. But I have no doubt the lads involved will do us proud, young or old. This is actually a great time to get some minutes in for some of the youngsters.”
Newport Start The Final Straight
Newport will be hoping their impressive Isle of Wight Gold Cup quarter-final victory in midweek will provide the springboard to keep their play-off hopes firmly on track when they visit Division One promotion rivals Andover New Street tomorrow. Newport reached the last four of the prestigious competition when the beat Island League side Oakfield 8-1, after falling a goal behind early on.
Port manager Steve Brougham knows New Street will provide a much sterner test, in a game that could have a major say in who will finish in the top five. Newport are currently fifth in the table with 67 points, while New Street are third with 69, but with a game in hand, making this clash even more important for the Island team.
This trip is the last away game of the season for Newport, before they embark on a four-match home run.
Steve said:
“The aim is not to get beaten by New Street. A win would be great, but I would even settle for a draw. I feel we cannot afford to drop more than four more points between now and the end of the season, but we have both Andover New Street and Andover Town to play, and both will be tricky games. However, it is still in our hands, and we have got to get back to what we were doing at the start of the season.”
Jordan Browne played for a few minutes against Oakfield after injury, so hopefully he should return tomorrow, along with Liam Triggs. But Newport will be missing key men Spike Pearce and Aaron Burford through injury.
Vics Hampered By Absentees
East Cowes Vics manager Richie Woodburn is hoping he won’t be left counting the cost of a string of injuries, illnesses and suspensions when his youngsters visit Downton tomorrow in Division One. Richie admits it is going to be a difficult end to the season, but has earmarked this game as one where Vics are capable of maybe picking up that one win required to make them mathematically sure of avoiding relegation.
He said:
“We have a very tough run-in. We’ve got five games left, two away and three at home, but four of the five are against teams looking to finish in the play-off positions. Our next two fixtures are Downton and Millbrook, and they are the ones where hopefully we can pick up some points, to make ourselves safe.
“There have been a few freakish results recently, but we are taking nothing for granted. My problem is that this is probably the worst week of the season as far as numbers are concerned. Altogether I shall be missing nine players who might have been in the starting line-up, so hopefully some of the younger lads will step up and stake a claim. For me, it is all about trying to patch up what I can, and then get as many players as I can back within the next couple of weeks, because we also have an Isle of Wight Gold Cup semi-final against Newport coming up.”
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