Match Preview

In a topsy turvy campaign, Hoddesdon Town play the most important match of their long season this coming Wednesday.

The County Ground in Letchworth, home of the Hertfordshire Football Association, will play host to the Herts Senior Centenary Trophy Final on the 27th of March as Hoddesdon Town and Royston Town Under 23's clash in a straight shoot out for the trophy.

Both sides have battled through several rounds of football to reach this point and will be hoping to punctuate their respective seasons by putting some silverware on the shelf and win the show piece event.

Hoddesdon Town's route to the final was as follows:

26/09/23 RD 1 St Margaretsbury 1 - 2 Hoddesdon Town
14/11/23 RD 2 Hertford Heath 2 - 2 Hoddesdon Town (2 - 4 on penalties)
23/01/24 QF Hoddesdon Town 3 - 0 Cuffley
03/02/24 SF Letchworth Garden City Eagles 0 - 2 Hoddesdon Town

Royston Town U23's route to the final was as follows:

30/09/23 RD 1 Sandridge Rovers 1 - 4 Royston Town FC U23
07/11/23 RD 2 Royston Town FC U23 2 - 1 Wormley Rovers
09/12/23 QF Royston Town FC U23 2 - 0 Bishop's Stortford Swifts
27/01/24 SF Royston Town FC U23 2 - 0 Oracle Components

Our opponents currently sit 5th in the Spartan South Midlands League Division One, with a record of played 29, won 17, drawn 3, lost 9, for 76, against 43, goal difference +33 and 54 points. They are well in the hunt for promotion via the playoffs and mathematically, can still win the league, but it would take a mammoth effort and would rely on league leaders Northampton ON Chenecks dropping quite a few points during the run in. All told, it has been a good season for the young side and they would love to crown it with a cup win. They also claimed the SSMFL Division One Team of the Month Award

Royston Town Football Club (also known as The Crows) are based in Royston, Hertfordshire and have played their home games at Garden Walk since 1932. Founded in 1875, it is one of the few clubs that is older than Hoddesdon Town, being the third oldest club in Hertfordshire, behind Hitchin Town and Bishop's Stortford. Their first team won the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division in 2011–12, and now play in the Southern League Premier Division Central. The Under 23 side is a continuation of their former Reserve team, playing in the Spartan South Midlands League from season 2023/4, following promotion from the Herts Senior County League under the management of Dan Evans.

Royston Town Under 23s Honours include:

• Suburban League North Division Champions 2013/14
• Suburban League North Division Champions 2012/13
• South Midlands Reserve Floodlit Cup Winners 2009/10
• SSMFL Reserve Division Two East Champions 2008/9
• SSMFL Reserve Challenge Trophy Winners 2008/9

Their last 10 games gives an indication to form with 5 Wins, 1 Draw, 4 Defeats, Scoring 26 and Conceding 18. Last time out saw a home league game on Saturday (23rd) against 12th placed Long Buckby, resulting in a 4-1 win for The Crows, witnessed by a crowd of 139. They raced into a 3-0 half time lead courtesy of goals from Kian Harness, Astin Brace and Ryan Dean. Dean added a fourth in the second half and despite Long Buckby grabbing a goal themselves, they managed to see out the remainder of the game for a comfortable victory.

Royston are the 4th top goalscorers in their league and are not short of attacking threat. Daniel Baulk is the stand out player in the side, with 24 goals in 27 appearances. That puts him in third place in the race for the SSMFL Division One Golden Boot, behind Nathanael Ansu of Moulton (32) and Lewis Irwin of Northampton ON Chenecks (29). Although seven goals behind Baulk, Kian Harness arguably has a better record, certainly when it comes to goals per game. He currently boasts 17 in just 16 appearances, 13 from the starting line up.

Bradley Green and Oliver Williams have shared goalkeeping duties for the young side this season, with Williams (17) having donned the gloves five more times than Green (12) so far. Having said that, Under 18 goalkeeper Joshua Thake featured in the afore mentioned last outing against Long Buckby, so it remains to be seen who will be given the nod for the cup final.

Royston Town Under 23's have a strong core and Franco Ciuffa, Mason Cook and Joshua Fox are ever presents in the side this season and have all worn the captains armband at various stages this campaign, coupled with at least 24 appearances each. Again, it will be interesting to see who gets the armband this time around, and the potential honour of lifting the trophy.

For Hoddesdon Town, it is a very different side that finished 2023 to the one that we now see in 2024, maybe not in personnel but certainly in terms of performances. Since the turn of the year, Simon Riddle's side have Played 14, Won 7, Drawn 4, Lost 3, Scoring 27 and Conceding 17. Those figures have helped push the team back up the table and into 13th place in the Thurlow Nunn First Division South. From 10th place down to 22nd, Hoddesdon are the only side with a positive goal difference, testament to their improvement in recent months.

Connor Bolton remains the clubs leading goalscorer, with 10 in 29 appearances, with Dion Laughton (6) and Harrison Cage (5) forming the chasing pack. Goalkeeper Liam Nugent leads the appearance table with 32 showings in all competitions, closely followed by Captain Jack Gibbs and midfielder George Smith with 31 each. Recent additions to the squad in the form of Kyle Roberts and Connor Casey have further helped to bolster the squad and offer manager Simon Riddle something different for the run in, and both have grabbed a couple of goals each for their new club since signing.

A cup final is a proud moment for any club and both Hoddesdon Town and Royston Town Under 23s should rightly be proud of this achievement. However, as the old saying goes, 'nobody remembers the runners up' and the two teams will be fighting tooth and nail to go down in history.

Hoddesdon do have pedigree in this competition throughout their history and will be appearing in their eighth final of the Herts. Senior Centenary Trophy, which is a County record. Having been runners up four times and lifting the trophy three times in 1987, 2008, and their last appearance in 2009, when they retained the trophy by beating Hatfield Town 5-3 on penalties, there is a real love affair with the competition and fond memories have been made over the years. No doubt, those that were around at the club at that time, will once again be dreaming of lifting the famous old trophy one more time and adding another honour to the pages of history. Royston Town Under 23s are no pushovers however and the Lilywhites will need to be on their game if they are to repeat the heroics of those that have gone before them. Next year will be the 50th Anniversary of the famous FA Vase win at Wembley Stadium and hopefully the lads can channel the spirit of that side to create even more memories for the Lilywhites.

Whatever happens, we hope for an entertaining game and wish good luck to the players, management, officials and supporters of both teams.

Entry to The Country Ground is as follows:

Adults £10
Concessions £5
Family Ticket £15 (2 Adults + 2 Children) £25
Children Under 12 Free

Enjoy the game.

#COYL