Weekend Wessex League Action Ahead Of Local Derby

Newport, East Cowes Vics and Cowes Sports are all due to be back in action in the Wessex League tomorrow (Saturday).

For Division One sides Newport and Vics, it will be a useful warm-up for Tuesday night when the Island rivals meet in an eagerly-awaited derby showdown at Beatrice Avenue, even though it is technically Newport’s ‘home’ game. (7.45 pm kick off).

Peter White writes...

Port Look To Complete Double

But first the focus is on tomorrow when Newport face Verwood Town. They were due to play at home, but they have had to switch the game to Verwood due to ongoing issues over pitch availability on the Island.

Newport Manager, Steve Brougham, said:

“We need to keep playing all our games, and that is why we agreed to reverse the fixture. We played them at their place earlier in the season, and beat them, so hopefully we can complete the double. We had a great result last weekend, which showed what we can do on our day. We looked a very exciting side, and it was good to watch. 

“The top five teams in the table are all within a few points of each other, so we just need to keep it going, and see if we can get anywhere near top spot.” 

Steve added:

“We are looking forward to Tuesday night’s game. Local derbies are always big games, but we’ve got to take care of tomorrow first. As for the rest of the season, we’ve just got to get on with it, week to week, and by the end of the season we will hopefully know what is happening to the club for the future.”

Vics ‘Need To Stop Conceding Late Goals’ 

Also in Division One, East Cowes Vics take on New Milton Town at Beatrice Avenue, knowing a victory would take them a big step closer to the 13th place which manager Richie Woodburn has targeted for the end-of-season position at the very least. 

Vics will be hoping to build on the precious point they picked up from their goalless against Ringwood Town last weekend.

Richie said:

“New Milton are a young side, who were knocked out of the FA Vase by Brockenhurst last weekend, so hopefully they will be suffering a bit of a hangover. But it’s not about the opposition, it’s about us. If we can take something from this game, it will set us up nicely for Newport on Tuesday. 

“If we can’t end up mid-table, I’ll have to start questioning myself. Our big problem has been that we’ve chucked away 10 points by conceding goals from the 89th minute onwards. But we’ve now got a strong squad so we need to start picking up more points, because I will feel more comfortable if we can pull right away from the bottom three.” 

Yachtsmen In Good Spirits

Cowes Sports are away to Bournemouth in the Premier League, although perhaps fortunately for the Yachtsmen it is not the ‘Bournemouth’ who are involved in the push for promotion from the Football League Championship. This mainland outfit are sometimes referred to as Bournemouth Cherries, and the clash gives the Yachtsmen the ideal opportunity to pick up three away points, as their opponents are third bottom of the table.  

Boss Max Draper said:

“We are definitely heading into this game in better spirits than previous weeks. We have had a good week’s training since a better performance against Alresford, which we were unlucky not to win. 

“We can’t and won’t take anyone lightly in this league. League position is irrelevant and as results show in recent fixtures across the league, anything can happen. Bournemouth is a tough place to go and they will be eager to give a good account of themselves.

“We go into the game a couple short again with work commitments, and COVID still showing it’s unwanted face again. But will we will take a squad that can win, if they perform to their best levels. However, as we know, it’s about taking the right mindset to the game and putting our plans into action.”