Cowes Sports will be seeking their 8th successive victory against league leaders Shaftesbury at Westwood Park this afternoon. Shaftesbury are likely to include the Wessex Premier’s leading scorer – former Portsmouth striker Brett Pitman – in their line up. Pitman has already netted 38 goals in the 23 games he has played in the season to date at an average of 1.65 goals per game. Last Saturday, the Rockies striker knocked in 7 goals against Christchurch. Pitman has scored over twice the number of goals as the league’s 2nd highest scorer – Duarte Martins of AFC Stoneham – who is on a total of 18. Cowes manager Max Draper has said of the fixture:
“Shaftesbury will be one of if not our hardest test to date at Westwood this year. They’ve established themselves as one of the front-runners in the league and have put together an experienced and talented side. “However, our aim doesn’t change. We will go out and try to play our way and to play front-footed football and create those chances which we have over the previous few months. We know on our day we can put ourselves up against good sides and this is another opportunity to test ourselves against one of the best teams in step 5 football. “We will respect but also challenge what they do and how they play and see where that gets us at 5 o’clock on Saturday. “Hopefully, we will get another good crowd at Westwood to cheer the lads on in our first game of 2024.”
A home win could see the Yachtsmen rise to the 4th playoff position. Cowes Sports currently lie 2 points behind 5th-placed Brockenhurst but have 2 games in hand on the New Forest club.
In Wessex Division 1…
6th-placed East Cowes Vics take on 16th-placed Ash United at Beatrice Avenue. Vics – like Cowes – are 1 place below the playoff positions, 5 points below 5th-placed Cove but with a game in hand. 17th-placed Newport travel to North Island to face 14th-placed Folland Sports. Kick-off is at the earlier time of 14:00.
In the Island Echo Challenge Cup…
Ventnor take on Brading Town at Watcombe Bottom in the quarter-finals of the competition. Binstead, W&B, and Bembridge have already reached the semi-finals.
In the Hampshire Cups…
3 Isle of Wight teams travel to North Island to play in the 4th round of the Hampshire Trophy: W&B face Hampshire Premier Colden Common; Bembridge play Crofton Saints of the Southampton Saturday League; West Wight take on Harvest FC who play in the Hampshire Premier League. In the Hampshire Vase, Osborne Coburg Reserves play Bournemouth at Victoria Rec
Wessex League fixtures for Saturday 6th January
Wessex Premier: Cowes Sports v Shaftesbury Wessex Division 1: East Cowes Vics v Ash United Folland Sports v Newport (IoW)
Isle of Wight football fixtures for Saturday 6th January
Hampshire Trophy: Colden Common v W & B Sports Crofton Saints v Bembridge OFF Harvest v West Wight Hampshire Vase: Osborne Coburg Reserves v Bournemouth Development Island Echo Challenge Cup: Ventnor v Brading Town Harwoods Division 1: Vectis v Shanklin Division 2: Newport Reserves v Ryde Saints OFF Seaview v Osborne Coburg Combination 1: ECS Reserves v Osborne Coburg Reserves Northwood SJ Reserves v Binstead & COB Reserves Sandown & Lake Reserves v Ventnor Reserves OFF Shanklin Reserves v Vectis Reserves West Wight Reserves v Brading Town Reserves OFF W&B Sports Reserves v ECS Reserves Combination 2: Bembridge A v Seaview Reserves Niton Community Reserves v Newchurch Reserves OFF Ryde Saints Reserves v West Wight A OFF Ventnor A v AFC Wootton Reserves OFF
