We take on GNG Oadby Town at Bridge Road on Saturday in the first of our home matches to kick off at the earlier time of 2.00pm. Now that the clocks have now gone back an hour, the club will be making maximum use of the daylight hours so as to reduce our carbon footprint and avoid costly electricity costs, spending the money we save on other areas of benefit to the club.
But whatever the light conditions come 2.00pm on Saturday, the task ahead of the team is to get back to winning ways after our six-game winning run came to an end at March Town United on Tuesday night. To help us bounce back from that defeat, the squad will be boosted by the return of top scorer Connor Barnes. Joint Manager Matt Payne will also be back in the dugout after both Matt and Connor missed Tuesday night’s game due to them having made arrangements to be out of the country prior to the game being re-scheduled by the UCL. But a player who may not be available on Saturday is midfielder Marley Dalgado who has joined Lakenheath on a dual-registration basis for the remainder of the season.
GNG Oadby Town have experienced a traumatic year to date. After surviving a relegation battle at the tail end of last season, they suffered the sad loss of club stalwart Hardip Singh Dayal who passed away on the eve of their current league campaign. It is perhaps no coincidence that they then collected just one point from their first ten league fixtures which left them in danger of being cut adrift at the bottom of the table.
However, Oadby’s fortunes have changed since their earlier setbacks. They are still in a lowly 19th place in the table, but that is a somewhat false position given that they have won their last three matches, including a highly credible 1-2 win at March Town United. But while their form has improved considerably, it is possible that they might be a little ring-rusty by 2.00pm on Saturday due to their last two scheduled matches being postponed just prior to kick-off. Firstly, their game at Godmanchester Rovers last weekend was called off due to a waterlogged pitch, then their home game against Daventry Town on Tuesday night fell victim to a floodlights failure. They have therefore been without a game for the past two weeks, during which we have played three times. But Saturday’s game will also be the first since Oadby announced their new management team led by Jas Singh Johal as Manager and Robbie Paratore as Player-Coach.
We won both league fixtures against Oadby last season, but overall, we have met six times with the Stutes winning on four occasions, Oadby once and one game ending in a draw. Our best result came in the away fixture last season when we ran out 0-5 winners.
So, will we bounce back from our defeat at March on Tuesday night or will GNG Oadby Town make it four wins in a row as they set about turning their season around and climbing away from the foot of the table. We will know the answer by 4.00pm on Saturday.
The club bar will be open from 12.30 on Saturday for those who enjoy a pre-match bevvy and the food bar will be serving all your favourites throughout the afternoon. Our thanks go to the Cambridge Sign Company who are the match ball sponsors for the game.
Saturday’s match will be our last First team game at Bridge Road until 29th November, so it is your last chance to get behind Matt, Mark and the boys at Bridge Road for a few weeks. But don’t forget that we play Lance Key’s Soham Town Rangers under the floodlights at Julius Martin Lane on Tuesday night in the Second Round of the Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup. Kick-off for that one is at 7.45pm.
And for one last time, kick-off on Saturday is at 2.00pm.
