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2019/20 Season : Volume 12. Issue 10 SSML Premier Division

Saturday 4th January 2020 v Utd

Good Afternoon and a warm welcome to Lawrence and everyone at Potton United FC

Its been a great Christmas period for us as we have won three games on the bounce and there is a completely different vibe and atmosphere around the changing room now. The lads that have stuck with it Josh, Copps, Harps, OB, Jordan and Scotty have been superb and the new lads that have come in over the last 4-5 weeks have already made a huge impact and have gelled almost immediately. We have a good balance about us at the moment but the major focus now is consistency for all of us. Yes we want to enjoy the wins, when they come, as its been a tough run up until now but our sole aim is to continue to climb the table and have a strong second half of the season.

I must add that it is obvious that our home support is growing by the game and last week, against , it was outstanding and matched the desire and commitment on the pitch - please continue to get behind this set of players as they deserve it.

We know today is going to be a tough test, Potton have assembled a good squad now and I thought they were the better side when we met last month. We are going to have to work as hard as we have in the last three games and have the same ruthlessness at both ends of the pitch to come out with three points.

Enjoy the game

COME ON YE REDS

FISH

Adam Fisher Manager

Arlesey Town 1 v 3 Baldock Town— Sat 28th December 2019 (Written by J.Graham)

For the first time in a while it wasn’t raining but the ground was still well sat- urated. Hopes were high as Baldock were on a mini winning streak having won their last two games. Baldock were on the same points as Arlesey and there was an opportunity to move a few places up the league if we won. Within a couple of minutes we were on the back foot as Arlesey broke clean through and were in on Harpur but they only managed a tame shot wide when they should have tested the Keeper. A few minutes farther on and Piggott had a chance when he latched on to a through ball but shot across the goal when he would have been better to square it for a tap in for Logan. In 13 mins Morris battled through the Arlesey defence and had a shot that went for a corner. A couple of minutes later Baldock managed to lose a goal from loose play on their left - a soft goal against the run of play. Logan was proving to be a thorn in Arlesey’s side as he was constantly testing them by running at them at pace - one of these runs producing a cross which was just nicked off the head of the waiting Piggott who might have scored. Arlesey did not look too threatening and the only real threat was the pace of their strikers but they looked well under control for the most part. In 24 minutes Baldock had a corner and McClelland thundered a header off the bar. Shortly after that Logan put a ball into the box for Coppin who forced the Keeper to save. The next attempt, in 24 mins, was similar but this time Coppin beat the Keeper to make it 1-1. Baldock continued to dominate and in 40 mins Piggot was on to a through ball from Furness and chased down the Keeper to force a corner. The resulting corner saw the big man, McClelland, hammer another header on goal which the Keeper saved - Coppin had a shot from the breaking ball but it went just wide. Into ‘added on time’ and Gill got into a wrestling match with the Arlesey striker just outside the box and because he was last man he was sent off - seemed fair enough. Arlesey rattled the bar with the resulting free kick from about 19 yards. So, down to ten men for the second half and I wasn’t hopeful. We had been the better team but Arlesey had a bit of pace up front. Fortunately the 4-4- 1 formation looked fairly solid, some big guys in there and Arlesey decided that they would try to play over the top and use their pace - easy meat for our guys. Just to rub it in Logan was brought down in the box in 50mins and O’Brien coolly converted the penalty. 2-1 to Baldock. It was then a bit end to end with Baldock trying to hold the ball up front and Arlesey still stuck on their kick and chase routine. In 70 mins Logan was brought down on the edge of the box and O’Brien hit the bar with the result- ing free kick. Baldock didn’t really look under pressure despite being down to ten men and Arlesey looked more and more frustrated as the game threatened to boil over. We didn’t need to worry as Baldock came up with the move of the game with O’Brien working the ball to Logan who gave him it back, O’Brien beat a defender and then shot across the Keeper into the far corner. Great goal to make it 3-1. Arlesey had a man sent off in the closing minutes so that they finished with ten men as well. A good day had by all, unless you were an Arlesey supporter, with shades of the old Baldock 18 yard club making some noise and going home happy (I miss those days). Hard to say who the man of the match was as there were a number of good performances with the team working better as a whole. Team; Harpur, Furness, Gill, Coppin, McClelland, Burton, Logan, O’Brien (C), Piggott, Thake, Morris. Subs (used); Gould, Harper, Doolan. Baldock Town 4 v 1 Aylesbury Vale Dynamos Wed 18th December 2019 (Written by J.Graham)

On an absolutely hellish night of driving rain and high winds it didn’t look like there was too much to look forward to but how wrong can you be. Baldock have looked reasonably competitive, at points, in recent matches but somehow seem to lose when a draw or a win was on the cards. The team has been changing a lot and tonight’s formation was also different with Josh Furness back into the middle of the defence to bring some much needed pace. Baldock started with the wind at their backs and there wasn’t too much happening for the first 15 minutes until Aylesbury scorned the easiest of chances by missing an open goal from all of two yards. Baldock had a decent chance in 20 minutes when Piggott was through on the Keeper who made a good save at feet. Just after that Baldock had a free kick on the far right and a deep ball to the far post was headed back by Burton but the ball broke to O’Brien, just outside the box, who shot over. Baldock now had most of the play, sounds familiar, and in 30 minutes Piggott, who was working hard, chased a ball to the byline and cut back for Thake who shot at the Keeper. It was then that man again, Piggott, who was on to a neat flick from O’Brien but the angle was too tight and he shot past, across the goal. One of the closest chances of the first half fell to Coppin, in 40 minutes, but his shot went narrowly past. 0-0 at half time but Baldock were well on top. The weather hadn’t improved for the second half but hopes were high and in 51 minutes we were all warmed up a bit when Piggott broke through the defence, rounded the Keeper, but too wide, and managed to cut back for Morris who knocked it in for 1-0. The mistake of the match happened in 75 minutes when Aylesbury went to three at the back - absolute suicide in these conditions and with a giant, slow, centre back in the middle of the three and they were there for the taking but Baldock don’t like to do it easy. Just after this Aylesbury had the ball in the net but it was disallowed for a foul on Harper. In 79 minutes they got a goal to make it 1-1. Totally against the run of play. In 80 minutes a good shot from Logan was saved by the Keeper but Furness was following up and shot past the Keeper for 2-1. Logan then helped himself to a fine goal when he made good progress to ten yards and then shot high into the far top bin from a tight angle. Great goal. 3-1. Just to round it off O’Brien scored with a penalty well into injury time. A good 4-1 win, freezing night but the team worked hard and this is something to build on. That’s two wins in a row.

Man of the Match for constant work rate on a hellish night is Coppin

Team; Harpur, Donkin, Gill, Coppin, Furness, Burton, Logan, O’Brien, Piggott, Thake, Morris. Subs (used); Joy, Gould, Harper

Potton United — potted history 1943—Club formed during wartime. 1945 —When peace broke out the Club joined the South Midlands League. The first matches were played at The Recreation Ground in Sandy Road. 1948—Entered the FA Cup and in First Qualifying Round beat Stewartby Works 6-1 away, which is still our highest score in this competition. Reached second Qualifying Round before losing 3-1 at Town in a replay. Won Senior Cup. 1952—Were drawn away to Town in the First Qualifying Round of the FA Cup. Supporters organized a train from Potton to Bedford but saw Potton lose 0-6. 1964—Won Bedfordshire Senior Cup beating Shillington 5-3. 1969—Lost 10-0 away to United n the FA Cup (which is still our heaviest defeat in this competition). 1973—Our landlords, The Land Settlement Association wanted to sell the ground and our President, Peter Hutchinson, bought the ground and gave the club a 99 year lease at a peppercorn rent. Won League Knock Out Cup beating Bedford Eagles in the final. 1978—Agreement was reached with Potton Town Cricket Club that they could use the facilities at The Hollow. Won Bedfordshire Senior Cup for fifth time. 1984—Old dressing rooms (including communal bath) and clubroom was knocked down and replaced by the current clubhouse and dressing room. Potton Sports & Social Club formed, which comprised Potton United FC, Potton Town CC and Potton Timber Ltd Sports Club. 1989—Won League title for second time and Ray Seekings scored a record 56 goals. Potton Tennis Club move to The Hollow with 2 tennis courts. 1999—Finished bottom of Premier Division but fortunately not relegated. Lost 7-0 at Aveley in Second Qualifying Round of FA Vase (our highest defeat). 2003—Wooden stand destroyed by fire. To mark the Club’s 60th Anniversary the Club played Rushden & Diamonds X1 that consisted mainly of youth players in front of a crowd of 450. Finished sixth in Division One. 2006—Finished runners-up again, this time to Woodford United on goal difference. Roy Bloxham replaced Ian Donnelly as Manager and also bringing back Dick Newman as Assistant. 2009—Finished second from bottom in the Premier Division, and under instructions from the FA to the UCL the club were relegated to the Division One as the ground did not come up to the required standards. July 2009—Manager Dean Shipp tendered his resignation and Tom Galvin and Declan Milton were appointed Joint Managers, being assisted by Tony Galvin, the ex Spurs and Republic of Ireland player as Head Coach. 2009-10—Finished in the bottom half of Division One and losing finalist in 2013-14—Planning permission granted for covered standing for 50 spectators. Applied for funding for new floodlights. First Team finished 10th in league and Reserves in lower half odf their league. 2014-15—Application for grant for new floodlights has been granted and new floodlights being installed. Small Spectator Stand being installed. Reserves enter UCL Reserve Division under management of Nicky Stocks and a Potton United Under 18 has been entered in the Royston Crow League and will play their home matches at The Hollow on Sundays. The 1st team finished in 3rd place in Div 1, just missing out on promotion and got to the UCL knock-out cup final, losing 3-0 to AFC Rushden & Diamonds. 2018-19 – The FA laterally moved the 1st team to the Spartan South Midlands League but the reserved remain in the UCL.

Good afternoon and welcome to the New Lamb Meadow stadium for today’s SSML Premier League match against Potton United. I would like to extend a warm welcome to the players, officials and supporters of Potton and hope they enjoy the match — but hopefully not too much.

Our team, having had a tough start to the season, are starting to find some form and are now on to a run of three straight wins with nine goals scored and three against. Confidence is starting to build and that was particularly obvious against Arlesey last week when we spent the whole of the second half with ten men and didn’t really look too bothered. The next significant milestone will be when we are able record some clean sheets – the three goals that we have lost recently were fairly soft. Once we get over that we will be a fairly strong side and with confidence then anything is possible. We are currently sitting in 16th place in the League with Potton right above us and a win today would allow us to leap-frog them into 15th place. Potton are also improving so todays match could prove to be difficult and so will be a good test of our progress. We have a Cup match mid-week against Kings Langley which is shown as a home tie but we playing it away for some reason. It was also due to be played away last month but was postponed so it cant be because of a ground clash – weird or what? We don’t have a match next Saturday but are back in League action the following Wednesday against Harpenden Town.

Thank you for your continued support and enjoy the game.

John Graham, Programme Editor and BTFC Fan (Any views expressed in this programme are my own and not necessarily those of the ‘management’).

The long-term vision for the club is to have our own ground back in Baldock and to this end we have submitted revised plans to the district council. I have been informed that the proposed land, once approved for recreational use in September/October, will need to be sent out for tender. However, I would be surprised if anyone can come up with a better use of the land than our current proposals. If we are successful with our tender the land would be signed over to the club on a 99-year lease hopefully in early 2020. I will keep you all informed as and when I get any further news. Graham Kingham, Chairman BTFC

Check out the Plans >>>>>>>

ARLESEY TOWN FC AYLESBURY VALE DYNAMOS FC BALDOCK TOWN FC

BIGGLESWADE UNITED FC BROADFIELDS UNITED FC COLNEY HEATH FC

CRAWLEY GREEN FC TOWN FC EDGWARE TOWN FC

EYNESBURY ROVERS FC HAREFIELD UNITED FC HARPENDEN TOWN FC

LEIGHTON TOWN FC LEVERSTOCK GREEN FC COLNEY FC

NORTH GREENFORD UNITED FC OXHEY JETS FC POTTON UNITED FC

NEWPORT PAGNELL TOWN FC TRING ATHLETIC FC WEMBLEY FC

President: Steve West

Chairman: Graham Kingham Vice Chairman: Barry Kingham Secretary: Karen Fisher Treasurer: Barry Kingham Commercial Managers: James Lunnon, Kerry Thrower, Heather Frankland Webmaster/Programme Editor: John Graham Catering Manager: Phil Hull Turnstiles: Steve 'Scouse' Holmes, Matthew Kingham Matchday Hospitality: Roy Ryall, Karen Fisher Matchday Security: Dave McAdam, Katie Matthews, Steve Hooper Matchday Correspondent: Mark Giles Photographer: Beth Watts Press Officer: James Lunnon Players Representative: Liam Kenna Lottery Co-Ordinator: Steve West Adult and Youth Co-Ordinator: Juan Cowell Team Management: 1st Team Manager: Adam Fisher 1st Team Assistant Mangers: Paul Hook, Danny Hutchins Goalkeeping Coach: Serge Urcan Physio: Anish Reserve team Manager: Ryan Haggar

Reserve Assistant Manager: Tony Mara Reserve Team Secretary: Nicola Haggar BALDOCK TOWN Potton Utd 1 Adam Harpur Sam Irish 1 2 Alex Donkin Jordan Goodman 2 3 Josh Furness Jack Quigley 3 4 Alex Coppin Dequane Wilson-Braithwaite 4 5 William McClelland Sam Willis 5 6 Ben Burton Ieuan Lewis 6 7 Alex O’Brien Tashriq Andrews © 7 8 Sam James Rafe Goodman 8 9 Jordan Gill George Brinkman 9 10 Scott Piggott Camara Ibrara 10 11 Paul Morris Abraham Eze 11 12 Charlie Thake Sam Dowridge 12 13 Dylan Logan Tony Williams 13 14 Charlie Gould Joshua Howard-Dobson 14 15 Dan Harper Callum Wilson 15 16 Charlie Joy Neville Nzembela 16 17 Daryl Doolan

Manager: Adam Fisher Manager: Laurence Revell Asst: Danny Hutchins Asst: Gary Jackson/Jimmy Martin

Officials: Stewart Beekman, Spencer Brewer, Grant Mulcahy

NEXT MATCH - AWAY HSCC – Tues 7th Jan 2020 Kings Langley KO; 17:45pm

THEN – HOME SSML Prem Div - Wed 15th Jan 2020 Harpenden Town KO; 19:45pm