In the Wessex Premier, 9th-placed Cowes Sports face 11th-placed Bournemouth (Poppies) at the Zilch Waste Stadium (Westwood Park).
A win would see the Yachtsmen rise to the top half of the Wessex Premier table, which would be a remarkable achievement for the management team of Ian Potts and Mark Woodhouse, as Cowes were bottom of the league when they took over at the end of September.
The 2 sides have already clashed twice at Victoria Park in Bournemouth earlier in the season, with the Yachtsmen winning 0-5 in the FA Vase before being beaten 1-0 the following Saturday in the Wessex Premier.
However, Ian Potts points out that the games at Victoria Park were under different management.
Co-manager Ian Potts says of the Yachtsmen’s prospects:
“The game Saturday will be tough. They are a team above us in the table, and we will look to give them a good challenge.
“We have had some great results recently and hope to continue this form.”
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Ian was full of praise for the Westwood Park faithful, with 228 attending the last home game, saying:
“The home crowd were excellent last week after a number of away games, and we hope for people to turn out again and give us their support.
“It is a busy time of year, and we are enjoying the challenge of Saturday/Tuesday football.
“The Yachtsmen faithful are amazing, and we regularly get 150 plus. It was a great crowd and we hope for more of the same.”
In Wessex Division 1, 8th-placed Newport take on 3rd-from-bottom Whitchurch United at Beatrice Avenue.
The Jam Boys – despite their lowly league position – have been in good form of late, beating 2nd-placed Frimley Green and drawing with league leaders New Milton Town.
Whitchurch are currently unbeaten in 4 games. Newport have been in poor form since losing 2-0 to East Cowes Victoria on Boxing Day (when they were in the playoff positions) but drew their last game 0-0 away to Totton & Eling on Tuesday to end a run of 4 successive defeats.
Port won the corresponding fixture 2-4 at the Longmeadow Sports Centre in November.
Co-manager Joe Butcher says of the game:
“Whitchurch have a lot of new players and have had some good results, so they are a bit of an unknown entity.
“We were a lot better mid week and were unlucky not to take the win, but it was a positive performance and we’ll look to carry that into Saturday.”
Also in Wessex Division 1, 4th-placed East Cowes Victoria travel to the New Forest to face 7th-placed Ringwood Town.
Vics have had a mixed bag of results of late, drawing 1-1 at Lymington Town, then beating Cove 0-2 before losing 0-2 to Folland Sports on Tuesday. Ringwood – who are in contention for a playoff place – are unbeaten in 3 games since losing 0-5 to Stoneham.
Wessex Division 1 table (top 8) below:
Wessex League fixtures for Saturday 6th March
Wessex Premier
Cowes Sports v Bournemouth
Division 1
Ringwood Town v East Cowes Victoria
Newport IW v Whitchurch United
Isle of Wight fixtures for Saturday 8th March
Harwoods Division 1
Northwood SJ v Brading Town
Osborne Coburg v W & B Sports
Shanklin v Binstead & COB
Vectis v Bembridge
West Wight v Ventnor
Division 2
High Park v Seaview
Niton Community v Newport Reserves
Sandown & Lake v Oakfield
Combination 1
Bembridge Reserves v Ventnor Reserves
Brading Town Reserves v West Wight Reserves
East Cowes Sports Reserves v Sandown & Lake Reserves
High Park Reserves v Osborne Coburg Reserves
W&B Sports Reserves v Binstead & COB Reserves
Combination 2
Newchurch Reserves v High Park A
Ryde Saints Reserves v Bembridge A
West Wight A v Niton Community Reserves
Junior B Cup
Ventnor A v Oakfield Reserves
