With six of the last eleven scheduled games being postponed, including this week's cup Quarter Final tie v Cuffley, it will be nice for the team to feel the grass under their feet in competitive action, as they travel to neighbours Wormley Rovers in League action.

At the last count, Hoddesdon have been victim to postponement no less than FOURTEEN times this season (for a variety of reasons including wet weather, frozen pitches, dangerous pitches and excess goose poo..!!) and whilst the lack of continuity cannot be completely to blame for some of the poor results this campaign, it certainly isn't helping matters. A friendly run out last Saturday at Step 4 Ware FC proved to be a worthy exercise with many players getting crucial minutes in the tank, on top of a confidence boosting 4-2 win against higher ranked opposition.

It still remains very unclear as to who will eventually top the Thurlow Nunn Division 1 South come the end of the season, with at least seven teams still in the mix, and hosts Wormley are still very much in the conversation. Despite currently sitting 6th in the league table, ten points off of table topping Clapton Community, they have no less than five games in hand over the league leaders, and a good run of results would see them leapfrog many of those currently above them.

And they would love that run to begin this Saturday against the Lilywhites.

On Tuesday just gone, Wormley were humbled 2-0 at home to 10th placed Brimsdown, in what would have been a blow to their promotion aspirations. Goals from Dos Santos and Coster consigned 'The Worms' to just their second home league defeat of the season and their 6th of the season all told. Wormley have up till then made their Playing Fields home somewhat of a fortress this season, with only Cannons Wood scoring more goals at home, 43, in comparison to Wormley's 36. At the other end of the pitch, only Benfleet have conceded less goals at home, seven, to Wormley's fourteen. Incidentally, they share that record of just fourteen home goals conceded with none other than Hoddesdon Town, although Wormley have played four games more than the Lilywhites on home soil.

Back on the 23rd of September, these two sides met for the first time this season in the FA Vase at Lowfield. On that occasion, goals from Reece Olusola James Adekunle Mosanya and Mason Oakley saw the visitors progress to the next round but their dreams of Wembley were cut short by White Ensign, who consigned them to defeat with a 1-0 win.

The next meeting was in the league as Hoddesdon again hosted Wormley on the 21st of November. That game was a much tighter affair and a single Ryan Stevenson goal for the visitors proved to be the difference, as Hoddesdon slipped to a frustrating 1-0 defeat. It could be argued that a draw might have been a fairer result with the Lilywhites having the better of the first half and Wormley the better of the second. And, in the event, the game might easily have ended in a draw had the referee not decided to turn down the Lilywhites’ strong appeals for a penalty in the sixth minute of added time at the end of the game. Agreeing afterwards that there had been contact when Ben Clarke was sent tumbling in the box, he decided at the time to book Ben for diving, because he made too much of it.

Needless to say, the home bench were not amused.

In terms of one's to watch, George Beattie remains Wormley's most potent goal threat, with nine goals in eleven appearances this season, closely followed by Michael Mignot on eight. Former Lilywhite's Ryan Stevenson and Jonah Evans have proved to be worth their weight in gold this season for the visitors, with Stevenson making 24 appearances in total (and scoring four goals) and Evans making 23 appearances. Manager Ryan Wade will be looking at his experienced heads to put in a good performance and carry on their assault on the top two positions.

For Hoddesdon, ever present goalkeeper Liam Nugent is the only player to start every game for the Lilywhites so far this season and the bearded wonder can be relied upon to keep his side in the game until the end. Connor Bolton remains at the top of the goal scoring charts for the club with six goals, but he is slowly being caught by other players chipping in, namely the likes of Filip and Laugton on four each, and Bennison, Blackwood, Cage, Galya and Riddle all on three.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record for the game preview, Hoddesdon really must start collecting points and pulling themselves out of trouble. With so many games already being postponed this season, one has to imagine there will come a point where the Lilywhites may well find themselves playing three times a week in order to complete the season. And that's not ideal when trying to stave off a second relegation in as many seasons. Three points in a local derby match really would be something to savour and set the boys on the path to safety.

The short trip up the A10 could be one of the most important journeys of the season.

On a positive note, Riddle's side do once again have a large number of games in hand over many of the teams above, but those games now have to be converted into points to avoid a nail biting end to the campaign.

You can follow Wormley Rovers on Twitter/X HERE or check out their website HERE

Entry at Wormley is £6 Adults / £4 Concession

All travelling support is welcome and Wormley have excellent catering facilities for those wanting a hot drink or a pint in the bar.

See you Saturday.

#COYL