19/04 Having been really struggling in the first couple of months of the New Year, with relegation to Division Two a real prospect, Hoddesdon's Reserves have pulled out all the stops in recent weeks and have climbed the table with eleven points taken from a possible eighteen. Following a 1-1 home draw against Colney Heath in their final League game of the season, the lads are guaranteed ninth place, and must wait to see what happens to St. Margaretsbury when they host Mursley Utd. on Tuesday 22nd April before knowing whether or not they finish eighth. The Bury need all three points to finish above the Lilywhites.  With thirty-three League games to play, it has been an intensive season, but the number of games is just right to get a balance between Saturday and midweek fixtures. This has allowed Herman Dyer to keep a strong squad of players, and with Neil Conner coming in to help him in the second half of the season, the spirit has been tremendous. Whilst Hertford Town have won the Division by a significant margin, in none of the three games played against them have Hoddesdon been outclassed, despite suffering three defeats. Several of the Reserve players travel a considerable distance to represent Hoddesdon Town, and we thank them and everybody involved in the squad for their commitment and loyalty over the past nine months. All bar one side that finished above Hoddesdon Town in the table have a First Team in Step Five, so it is a credit to our lads that they effectively punch above their weight, and do so effectively. Attention now focuses on the First Team, and their battle to win promotion, and many of the Reserves will be supporting them in the final two games.

12/03 In their battle to stay out of the bottom two of the Division One table, Hoddesdon followed up their excellent 4-2 win at Mursley Utd on Saturday with a highly impressive performance at Sawbridgeworth on Wednesday evening. Playing down the slope and with the wind at their back in the first half, Hoddesdon had only a twenty-fifth minute CRAIG HINTON opportunist goal to their name at the half time break, despite having most of the possession and creating some good chances. The home side had only one good chance, a slick breakaway that saw the ball screwed wide of the left hand post from a good position. From the start of the second half Hoddesdon were absolutely awesome, despite playing up the slope and into the wind, and they mounted wave after wave of attacks on the home goal. Five minutes after the break OMER OMER grabbed a second goal for Hoddesdon on the end of a terrific move, and five minutes later a home defender deflected a Craig Hinton cross into his own net for Hoddesdon's third goal. Sawbridgeworth were shell-shocked when JASON SORIAL made it 4-0 on the hour mark, then a lapse in concentration allowed the hosts to pull a goal back. A couple of terrific saves from the Sawbridgeworth 'keeper, and some desperate defending kept the score respectable until JASON SORIAL made it 5-1 twenty minutes from the end. Hoddesdon continued to pile on the pressure and MARTIN WILLIAMS rounded off another fine performance with Hoddesdon's sixth goal in the seventieth fifth minute. The icing on the cake came when JASON SORIAL completed a brilliant hat-trick six minutes from time, helping Hoddesdon to record one of their biggest wins under Manager Herman Dyer. But for the home 'keeper, the woodwork and some mad scrambles inside the area, Hoddesdon may well have scored ten goals this evening. This was certainly the best display Hoddesdon's Reserves have put on for a very long time, and every single player in the squad deserves credit for an absolutely complete team performance. With four games remaining at St. Margaretsbury and Sawbridgeworth again, finished off with home games against Harpenden Town and Colney Heath, the lads will be hoping they can take at least a couple more three-point hauls to keep them well away from the bottom two. The evening's entertainment was made complete when the Referee not only complimented Hoddesdon on their performance, but also adjudged them to the the best behaved Reserves side he has come up against this season!

1/12 Hoddesdon's Reserves faced local rivals St.Margaretsbury on Saturday and went down by the odd goal in five. Hoddesdon went into an eighteenth minute lead when JASON SORIAL cut in from the right and struck a low drive past the 'keeper for an excellent opener. 18 minutes 1-0.  Two minutes later the visitors' Josh Adejiji hit an upright after a good turn in the penalty area, and with twenty five minutes gone The Bury's 'keeper pulled off a good save from Hoddeson's Lewis Holbard. Just before the half hour mark St. Margaretsbury were awarded a very doubtful penalty when one of their forwards went down too easily in a chase for the ball with Adam Marsh, and Matt Maskell converted to make it 1-1. 28 minutes, 1-1.Five minutes before half time the visitors took the lead when a good piece of skill from Josh Adediji took him from wide on the left into the middle and he curled the ball over Adam Marsh and into the back of the net. 40 minutes, 1-2. Marsh saved his colleagues from a further setback on the stroke of half time when he pulled off a great double save from Matt Maskell.

Five minutes after the break Hoddesdon had two chances in succession to grab an equaliser but couldn't force the ball over the line. The second half was played at a good pace with two well matched sides striving for supremacy after a heavy downpour during the fist half had changed the pitch conditions. Hoddesdon thought they had equalised in the seventieth minute when Shaun Dyer ran onto Omer Omer's brilliant through ball and flicked the ball over the advancing 'keeper, only to see the ball hit the inside of a post and run along the goal line before being cleared. That miss was to prove costly five minutes later when a poor back pass allowed Josh Adediji to nip in and claim the ball and face Adam Marsh in a one-on-one. Marsh did well to save the initial effort but the ball rebounded back to Adediji who slotted home. 75 minutes, 1-3. Shortly after, Hoddesdon's Shaun Dyer had a great thirty yard effort well tipped away by the Bury 'keeper, and then with five minutes remaining Dyer hit another shot on target and MARK MEZEN helped it into the net. 85 minutes, 2-3. On their overall performance the Hoddesdon lads certainly deserved a point out of the game, but it wasn't to be and they now face a stiff test at Tring Athletic when they travel there on Saturday 8th December.

28/11 A strong Hoddesdon Reserves side faced an equally strong London Colney at Lowfield on Tuesday and came out on top with a creditable 2-1 win. The first forty-five minutes were full of lively football with chances at both ends, but there were no goals to show for either side by half time. Five minutes into the second half, NICK NEWBURY broke through the visitors back four with an excellent run from midfield and he stroked the ball over the advancing 'keeper and into the back of the net for 1-0. Five minutes later Peter Ulatowski was brought down inside the London Colney penalty area, and he got up to drive the resulting kick past the 'keeper to put Hoddesdon 2-0 ahead. With two minutes of the game remaining London Colney managed to pull a goal back, but Hoddesdon's second string went on to claim another excellent victory. It was a fair result on the balance of play, and took the Lilywhites up one place to seventh in the table, and Nick Newbury was adjudged to be Hoddesdon's man-of-the-match.