East Cowes Victoria take on the Bulldogs, Cowes Sports host Wincanton Town, while Newport continue their play-off push on North Island this afternoon (Saturday).
In the Wessex Premier, 13th-placed East Cowes Victoria welcome 7th-placed Laverstock & Ford to Beatrice Avenue.
Vics ended a miserable run of 5 successive defeats with an emphatic 4-1 victory over Petersfield Town midweek. The Bulldogs have had a mixed bag of results in recent games but beat Wincanton Town in their most recent game.
The corresponding fixture earlier in the month saw Vics go down to 3-1 defeat in Wiltshire.
Vics manager Alex Smith said of his side’s prospects:
“It’s a game in which we know there can be joy for us. We know they are a good side – there are no illusions there – but it’s a game in which we think we can compete and get a result.”
Also in the Wessex Premier, 14th-placed Cowes Sports take on 2nd-from-bottom Wincanton Town at the Zilch Waste Stadium.
The Yachtsmen have gone 4 games without a win but were denied 3 points by 2 late goals at Christchurch on Tuesday in a game that ended 2-2. The Wasps have had 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats in their last 6 league games, including taking 3 points against Baffins Milton Rovers and Brockenhurst away from home.
The 2 sides have already met twice earlier in the season, with Cowes winning 1-2 in Somerset, and drawing 5-5 at Westwood Park in the FA Vase.
Cowes manager Mark Woodhouse says of his teams prospects:
“It’s a massive game in terms of the context of the relegation battle. Wincanton are on a great run, in great form and looking to preserve their Wessex Premier league status, which makes this an extremely tough challenge.
“We hope to welcome and couple of players back to the squad, and we are relishing a home game after 3 out of the last 4 being away.”
In Wessex Division 1, 7th-placed Newport travel to 15th-placed Alresford Town.
Port – who are just 3 points behind 5th-placed Yateley United but with 2 games in hand – have won 3, drawn 2 and lost 1 of their last 6 games. The Magpies have won just 1 of their last 6 games.
The corresponding fixture saw the Island side beat Alresford by the best of 3 goals at Westwood Park back in September.
Port manager Joe Butcher says of today’s game and his side’s prospects of reaching the play offs:
“Anyone can beat anyone in this league, so you need to approach each game the same way.
“If we have aspirations of making the playoffs then we need to go there and win. Alresford are a good young side but have been inconsistent, and it won’t be an easy game.
“This period now coming up will probably make or break the playoff run.
“There’s still 10 games to go and a lot of the top teams to play each other. We have 6 games in 14 days from Saturday. I think if we get through that, we’re in the mix.
“There’s still 30 pts to play for, so let’s see where we end up. The goal at the start of the season was to better last year, and we’ve already beaten out points total with 10 games to play and a Gold Cup final to look forward to.”
Isle of Wight football fixtures for Saturday 28th March
Memorial Cup semi final
Brading Town v Bembridge & Vectis
Harwoods Division 1
High Park v Northwood SJ (13:30)
Shanklin v Oakfield
Division 2
Binstead & COB v Newchurch (13:15)
Niton v Seaview
Pan v Ryde Saints
Sandown & Lake v Newport Reserves
Combination 1
ECS Reserves v Sandown & Lake Reserves
Osborne Coburg Reserves v High Park Reserves
West Wight Reserves v Brading Town Reserves
Combination 2
Newchurch Reserves v Oakfield A
Sandown & Lake A v Ryde Saints Reserves
Binstead & COB Reserves v Bembridge & Vectis A (15:15)
High Park A v West Wight A (15:45)
