Cowes Sports travel to North Hampshire to face Alton in the 2nd Qualifying Round of the FA Vase later today (Saturday).
Their opponents Alton are currently midtable in the Combined Counties Premier (South) – the same level as the Wessex Premier.
It has not been plain sailing for the Yachtsmen over the past fortnight in which they have suffered 3 successive defeats.
However, Cowes manager Max Draper is confident of an improved performance against the Brewers after a disappointing 5-1 loss at Portland last Saturday.
Max says:
“We look forward to our trip to Alton on Saturday and are hoping to bounce back from a lacklustre showing last weekend at Portland.
“We have made some great strides in a short space of time, and we look forward to another good test.”
In the only Wessex League game to be played on the Isle of Wight this Saturday, 11th-placed Newport face 13th-placed Fawley in Division 1.
The County Town club have further improved their squad with the signing of highly-rated centre-forward Nicky Vyse from Shanklin.
The Port have also announced the resigning of influential forward Joe Craig, who has been a key player and has scored 42 goals in 66 appearances over the last 2 seasons.
Port Chairman John Davies says:
“Port will be looking to bounce back from a difficult game last week and go into our 2-week league break with a positive result. Fawley are proving difficult opponents this season but like ourselves received a defeat to Hamworthy midweek, so we have to make home advantage count. Being the only home team again this weekend, it would be nice to match last week’s crowd, our biggest so far this season.
“We have also added to our squad during the week, Nicky Vyse joining us and giving us further depth in a forward position, a player our manager has been chasing for a while. We welcome him and hope he enjoys his time at the club.
“We are also delighted to welcome Joe Craig back to Newport. Joe’s signing is a further endorsement of the club’s management and I am sure it will give supporters a lift”.
The game kicks off at the earlier time of 14:45.
Also in Wessex Division 1, 9th-placed East Cowes Vics travel to 3rd-from-bottom Andover Town, who have chalked up only 1 win in their 9 games in the season to date.
Island Echo asked Vics manager Alex Smith whether the game was an opportunity to reignite the East Cowes side’s promotion push or a potential ‘banana skin’.
Alex said:
“We’ve had an outstanding week of training that leaves us looking forward to delivering an improved performance after last weeks disappointment at Ash.
“Every game we play is a good opportunity to take three points as well as being a potential banana skin – regardless of whether the opposition are top, middle or bottom of the table.
“From our first 7 games, we’ve learnt that the focus is very much on ourselves because we know with our best performance can beat any team in the league. We just have to deliver our best as often as possible.
“We’re nowhere near at our peak yet, and our young squad are on a positive trajectory in terms of their understanding and their performance.
“We’ll continue to build momentum and hopefully start by improving our away record with a win on Saturday.”
Isle of Wight Wessex League fixtures for Saturday 23rd September
All games to start at 15:00 unless otherwise shown
Isuzu FA Vase Second Round Qualifying
Alton v Cowes Sports
Wessex Division One
Andover Town v East Cowes Victoria
Newport (IoW) v Fawley AFC (14:45)
Isle of Wight fixtures for Saturday 23rd September
All games to start at 14:00 unless otherwise shown
Harwoods Divsion 1
Whitecroft & Barton Sports v Binstead & Cob (13:00)
Brading Town v ECS
Northwood St Johns v Bembridge
Shanklin v West Wight First
Vectis v Cowes Sports Reserves
Ventnor v High Park
Division 2
Sandown and Lake v Newchurch (13:15)
Newport (IOW) Res v Osborne Coburg
Niton v Oakfield
Combination 1
Bembridge v Northwood St Johns
Binstead & Cob v Ventnor
ECS v Brading Town
Osborne Coburg v West Wight
Sandown and Lake v Shanklin (15:00)
Whitecroft & Barton Sports v Vectis (15:15)
Combination 2
AFC Wootton v West Wight A
Bembridge A v High Park FC
Seaview v Ryde Saints
Ventnor A v Niton
