FA Vase 3rd Round Preview - Holbrook Sports v St Helens Town
Tue 14th December 2010 | St Helens Town | By Ian Templeman
St Helens Town are hoping to make the trip to Derbyshire at the third time of asking on Wednesday evening in the 3rd Round of the FA Vase.
The game at Holbrook Sports has twice previously fallen foul to some extreme weather, which saw 16 inches of snow remain on the pitch towards the end of last week.
Town Chairman John McKiernan said, "Our Club Secretary Jeff Voller has been in constant touch with his counterpart at Holbrook, and to be honest they seemed to have experienced something of a miracle thaw over the weekend.
"We had a report of over a foot of snow on the pitch prior to the weekend as well as some issues concerning the local roads, and by Sunday the pitch is reported to be in a perfect condition and there's been a significant improvement in the surrounding area.
"Hopefully the weather forecast will be correct, the return of the sub-zero temperatures won't happen until late in the week and we can get the game on at last.
Both teams had impressive wins in the 2nd Round with Town notching up a 0-2 victory at Winterton Rangers and Holbrook registering a 7-0 demolition of fellow East Midlands Counties League outfit Holwell Sports.
John added: "Both teams will be short of match fitness following the recent weather break and we obviously have the disadvantage of a mid-week two hour coach journey. However, the lads had an excellent training session on Saturday and are raring to go. I have spoken with our manager Lee Riley, who is expecting another tough encounter, and despite a couple of suspensions we will be fairly strong.
"It's a credit to the players and staff who have called in a host of favours to ensure they can travel. They realise this is a great opportunity to make progress in a prestigious national competition."
The reward for the winners will be a home tie against Lancing FC of the Sussex County League who ousted Witham Town 2-4 after extra time last Saturday.
FA Vase 3rd Round Preview - Holbrook Sports v St Helens Town
Tue 14th December 2010 | St Helens Town
By Ian Templeman
St Helens Town are hoping to make the trip to Derbyshire at the third time of asking on Wednesday evening in the 3rd Round of the FA Vase.
The game at Holbrook Sports has twice previously fallen foul to some extreme weather, which saw 16 inches of snow remain on the pitch towards the end of last week.
Town Chairman John McKiernan said, "Our Club Secretary Jeff Voller has been in constant touch with his counterpart at Holbrook, and to be honest they seemed to have experienced something of a miracle thaw over the weekend.
"We had a report of over a foot of snow on the pitch prior to the weekend as well as some issues concerning the local roads, and by Sunday the pitch is reported to be in a perfect condition and there's been a significant improvement in the surrounding area.
"Hopefully the weather forecast will be correct, the return of the sub-zero temperatures won't happen until late in the week and we can get the game on at last.
Both teams had impressive wins in the 2nd Round with Town notching up a 0-2 victory at Winterton Rangers and Holbrook registering a 7-0 demolition of fellow East Midlands Counties League outfit Holwell Sports.
John added: "Both teams will be short of match fitness following the recent weather break and we obviously have the disadvantage of a mid-week two hour coach journey. However, the lads had an excellent training session on Saturday and are raring to go. I have spoken with our manager Lee Riley, who is expecting another tough encounter, and despite a couple of suspensions we will be fairly strong.
"It's a credit to the players and staff who have called in a host of favours to ensure they can travel. They realise this is a great opportunity to make progress in a prestigious national competition."
The reward for the winners will be a home tie against Lancing FC of the Sussex County League who ousted Witham Town 2-4 after extra time last Saturday.
