It’s been over a week since we’ve tasted first team action at Wingate & Finchley. But a weekend without football will soon be a distant memory as our match against Bury Town kicks off a busy October for the Blues, with no fewer than eight games this month, 6 of which will be at the Maurice Rebak Stadium.
During the brief hiatus for the first team, our U18s have managed to secure progress to the Third Qualifying Round of the FA Youth Cup after beating St Albans 2-1 on Wednesday evening, and we wish them well on their journey in that competition
Our opponents
Bury Town of the Isthmian North are the visitors on Saturday, based in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. They are managed by former Ipswich and Bristol City midfielder Cole Skuse, who took over in the summer, and he has led them to 7th position in their division, following an impressive undefeated September. Perennial top-half finishers in the North division, they were last in Step 3 in 2014/15, where they were relegated from the Ryman Premier League, a year in which the Blues finished 12th.
Head To Head
The two sides last met in that 2014/15 Ryman Premier League campaign, where the Blues pulled off the home and away double, winning 4-0 at Summers Lane, and 2-1 at Ram Meadow in Suffolk. David Knight picked up 4 of the six goals for the Blues in those two games, where both current and previous managers, Rifat and Weatherstone featured prominently.
Last Time Out
This is our first foray into the FA Trophy this year, having got past Kingstonian at this stage last season, only to be stopped by Uxbridge in the following round. Our last game was an impressive 2-0 victory against Brentford B in the London Senior Cup, and there is no doubt that the side will be looking to carry the good performance into this tie, despite the long break.
Bury Town have got this far in the competition by virtue of wins against Biggleswade Town, and Walthamstow, the latter coming via the unanimously feared penalty shootout. And even more impressively, they turned over Isthmian North opponents Stowmarket Town 5-0 away from home to continue their previously mentioned unbeaten run, though four of the five goals came with their hosts reduced to 10 men. It means that they come into this game having not lost since August.
Players To Watch
With a week off to recuperate, and with a few suspensions to serve, it will be interesting to see who Ahmet picks for the game. Long and Newton combined well against Brentford, and Tommy Roberts played beyond his years before picking up an injury in the second half.
For the visitors, their top scorer this season is Luke Brown, and all eyes will be on the Wingate backline as they look to secure consecutive clean sheets for the first team this season.
All indicators point to it being a cracking game at the Maurice Rebak stadium on Saturday afternoon. There will be hot food and a bar available as usual, and we will have the Luton vs Spurs game on before kickoff.
Tickets are £12 (£8 for concessions, and £5 for U18s), and we look forward to welcoming you as we take our first step on our FA Trophy journey this season
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