This Saturday at 2.00pm we round off 2025 with a home fixture against Eynesbury Rovers as we look to make it four wins in a row and consolidate our position in the higher echelons of the league table. Last Saturday’s win over Bugbrooke St Michaels put us two points behind league leaders Nuneaton Town, who we beat at their ground in mid-November, and eight points ahead of Atherstone Town in the last of the play-off places. But with most sides having played fewer games than us, we need to keep our foot on the gas for a little while yet before we can consider ourselves to be serious promotion contenders.
After a successful run of results since taking charge, Co-Managers Mark Critoph and Matt Payne will want to ensure our players go into Saturday’s game and the start of the New Year in the correct state of mind and ready for whatever eventualities might come our way. For the rest of us, we can look ahead to 2026 with a measure of cautious optimism, safe in the knowledge that our club is again heading in the right direction.
But before the New Year celebrations get under way, Eynesbury Rovers will be making the journey along the A428 with a view to taking home one or more of the league points up for grabs on Saturday. Rovers finished in the play-off positions themselves last season and are the current holders of the United Counties League Cup, so they are a side that has to be respected. They are also a side with a few players who know their way around the Bridge Road pitch. Ollie Brookes, Luke Young, Bubba Camara and goalkeeper Chris Gough are all former Stutes players who will no doubt be looking to make an impact on their return to their old stomping ground.
Rovers are also a side with several players who know how to score goals. Luke Young is on twenty goals for the season, the same as our own Connor Barnes, and Victor Osobu was last season’s UCL Premier South top scorer. Plus, Jordan Brown has scored three goals in his four appearances since returning to the club earlier this month. The Histon defences, which has been rock solid of late, will therefore need to be at its very best if we are to record a third successive shut-out at Bridge Road.
The Stutes have not struggled in front of goal this season either. In fact, only Hinckley have scored more league goals than us and our current total of 52 is only five short of our total for the whole of last season!
The game on Saturday will be the first meeting of the two sides this season. Our record against Rovers in the UCL shows that we have won 2, drawn 2 and lost 2 of our previous meetings. The corresponding fixture last season ended in a 2-2 draw with Rovers equalising late into added time to deny us the win. History suggests therefore that we are in for a tight game that will keep us on the edge of our seats.
Kick-off on Saturday is at 2.00pm, but with larger numbers than usual expected to attend the game, you may wish to arrive a little earlier than normal. Admission will be at the usual rates of £10 for adults, £6 for concessions, £2 for 12 to 17-year-olds and accompanied under 11s admitted free of charge. You can keep up your Christmas alcohol intake in the club bar from 12.30 onwards, and the food bar, serving hot and cold drinks and snacks, will be open to those who haven’t already eaten too much over the previous two days. The award-winning matchday programme will be available at £2.00.
What better way is there to finish off the Christmas festivities than with a hard-fought game of football, so get down to Bridge Road on Saturday to see if The Stutes can make it four wins out of four in December.
Saturday’s game is sponsored by Campkins Cameras of Cambridge.
