6th-placed East Cowes Vics take on 2nd-placed Downton in Wessex Division 1 in the only football fixture on the Isle of Wight today (Saturday). The Boxing Day defeat to local rivals Newport – a game Vics were tipped to win – has led to period of reflection for the East Cowes club over the festive period. Manager Alex Smith says:
“We’ve acted promptly in addressing the errors we made during the loss against Newport. Whilst I was, of course, extremely disappointed in the performance on the day, I’m also proud of the way my players have reacted. “We have a young, but proud, reflective and brave group, who have had frank, honest and upfront conversations about the steps they can take in order to move forwards.”
Wiltshire club Downton – who have only lost once in the season to date – will prove difficult opponents. But Alex is hoping for a battling performance from his young side:
“The loss will not define us and hopefully we get our campaign back on track with a courageous performance against Downton. “Downton will have their eyes set on competing for the automatic promotion place, or holding onto their current berth in second place as a minimum.”
9-man Vics were narrowly beaten by Downton in the corresponding fixture back in September. Alex has said:
“Our away game earlier in the year was a very tightly contested affair, settled in the dying moments. The home side grabbed a last gasp winner against the 9 men we had on the pitch, after a harsh red card for Callum and a bizarre red card for Aedan Coode meant Jacob Reynold’s goal wasn’t enough to earn a point. “We’re looking forward to another competitive encounter between 2 teams looking to bounce back from poor results, after Downton drew at home to Ringwood last time out.”
Alex was grateful for the support shown to local footballers at Beatrice Avenue on 26th December, saying:
“Thank you to the huge 523 of you who were with us on Boxing Day. Your support of Island football is terrific and local clubs would simply not be able to function without your efforts.”
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Also in Wessex Division 1, 17th-placed Newport travel to Berkshire to face 3rd-from-bottom AFC Aldermaston. Newport’s Boxing Day win against Vics has shown the County Town club to be in a false position towards the bottom of the table. The Port have played far fewer games than any other Division 1 side – just 14 in the season to date.
In the Wessex Premier, 6th-placed Cowes Sports will be seeking a 7th successive victory at Hamble Club. The Yachtsmen have maintained a 100% record since losing to Brixham in the FA Vase back in November. Manager Max Draper says:
“Hamble is a tough place to go and like any game, we go into it knowing what we have to do to get a result. “The lads go in confident but understand we will have to problem solve and win the key moments to get the result. They are dynamic and have some match winners so we need to make sure those battles are won to have the best chance at ending the year on the highest of highs. “We go into the game welcoming back George Colson and Brandon Hayward but sadly still without George Carter-Knight and Conor White with respective injuries. “Fingers crossed we can get a few more back on the pitch as soon as possible ahead of a busy month.”
