East Cowes Victoria are at home this afternoon while Newport cross the Solent to face Fawley – of course, weather permitting.
Cowes Sports are unfortunately without a game as their match against Hamworthy Recreation at the Zilch Waste Stadium has failed a pitch inspection.
13th-placed Vics will be hoping to bounce back from their midweek Gold Cup semi-final exit when they face 3rd-placed Portland United at Beatrice Avenue.
Vics have been without a Wessex Premier fixture since 17th January when they beat Bournemouth at home; Portland are currently on an impressive run of 4 straight wins.
The club have said about the forthcoming fixture:
“[This is] an immediate opportunity to bounce back from Tuesday’s disappointment in the Gold Cup.
“Portland United are our visitors, and it’ll be our first meeting of the season. They currently lie in 3rd spot in the league, a tough test is assured – but one the boys are very much up for.
“Kick off is at the usual time of 15:00 – we’d very much appreciate your support and the lads would certainly love to hear you.”
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UPDATE 09:30: Cowes Sports v Hamworthy Rec is OFF.
Also in the Wessex Premier, 15th-placed Cowes Sports take on 11th-placed Hamworthy Rec.
The Yachtsmen are currently on a disappointing run of 3 successive defeats; Hamworthy have lost their sole Wessex League fixture in February.
Cowes manager Mark Woodhouse says of his side’s chances:
“Hamworthy Rec are solid premier league opposition, so we will need to recover well from an excellent performance on Tuesday night.”
On the Yachtsmen’s prospects of lifting the Gold Cup were they to meet Newport in the final, Woody said:
“I can’t talk about the Gold cup final as we aren’t in it. We have lots of football to be played before we can even think about that.
“I would like to put out my congratulations to Newport. After watching them regularly at Westwood recently when our games have been off, I knew they would have a great chance to beat Vics [in the semi final], and it proved the case. I’m pleased for Butch [Joe Butcher] and Broughy [Steve Brougham] as they are top football people.”
Cowes Sports face Isle of Wight champions Whitecroft & Barton Sports in their semi final at Beatrice Avenue on Thursday 5th March.
In Wessex Division 1, 9th-placed Newport cross the Solent to faced 2nd-from-bottom Fawley.
Port are on a run on 5 successive league wins. Victory on Saturday could take them as high as 6th spot – 1 place below the playoff places. Newport still have games in hand on all the teams above them in the league table.
Fawley have been in miserable form in the league of late, having lost their last 6 home league games. The Oilers last win came back in September when they beat United Services Portsmouth 2-0.
Manager Joe Butcher says of the fixture:
“Fawley away notoriously isn’t an easy place to go, and they haven’t enjoyed the season they probably wanted to have. That being said, you have to approach every game with the right attitude, and we’ll be wanting to go there and get 3 points.”
Isle of Wight fixtures for Saturday 21st February
Challenge Cup semi final
W&B v Brading Town
Harwoods Division 1
High Park v Oakfield
Northwood SJ v West Wight
Osborne Coburg v Ventnor
Shanklin v Cowes Sports Reserves
Division 2
Binstead & COB v Ryde Saints
ECS v Newchurch
Newport Reserves v Seaview
Combination 1
Bembridge & Vectis Reserves v Brading Town Reserves
Oakfield Reserves v ECS Reserves
Sandown & Lake Reserves v High Park Reserves
Ventnor Reserves v Shanklin Reserves
Combination 2
Bembridge & Vectis A v High Park A
