For a third consecutive weekend, after visits to Farnham and Bishops Cleeve, Wimborne embark on another Saturday away-day. And for the third time this season, after playing Uxbridge and Farnham, they face a first-ever fixture against a club new-to-us – Berkhamsted.
The Hertfordshire side finished bottom of 21 teams in Southern League Central Premier in the 2023/24 season. Then The Comrades bounced back last season to finish runners-up (W27 D8 L5, GF 94 GA 47) in the Southern League Central Division One, beating Flackwell Heath 5-0 in the play-off final in front of 1,963 fans to earn promotion back to Step 3, and for supporters to (maybe) sing “Up where we belong”.
This time around, Berko have made an excellent start to life in the Southern Premier South. An opening day 1-0 home victory over Bracknell was followed by a 1-0 win at Chertsey, a 1-3 loss at Gosport, a 1-0 home win over Dorchester, and a 1-1 draw at Hanwell. Those results leave them sitting sixth in the embryonic league table, just one point behind early pace-setters Sholing and Farnham. And in the FA Cup last Saturday they knocked out St.Ives 2-0 at home – they’re away to Billericay in the next round. Which means that manager Chris Devane’s team have scored in all six games they’ve played in this campaign, have kept four clean sheets, and have yet to concede a goal on the grass pitch at their Broadwater Stadium.
Amongst other signings during the close-season, Devane brought in Charlie Horlock, National South Slough’s first choice keeper; Ghanaian midfielder Kwadwo Kyei, also from Slough; defender Pierce Mitchell who numbers Taunton, Swindon Supermarine, Tiverton Town and Frome among his former clubs; and American forward Michael Harding. Harding was on target against St.Ives, and Horlock saved a Jack Mazzone penalty against Chertsey. A player to keep an eye on is skipper JJ Lacey who scored the winner against Chertsey from near the half-way line.
Wimborne, too, have made a good start to the season. After that disappointing opening-day 2-0 loss at Basingstoke, Tim Sills’ squad are five games unbeaten: a 3-1 win over Havant & Waterlooville, a 2-2 draw with Uxbridge, a 1-1 draw at Farnham where the boys were denied all three points by a soft 97th minute penalty (not that I’m still bitter about that decision, of course), that 3-0 derby demolition of Weymouth, and Saturday’s 5-2 cup victory at Bishops Cleeve when the boys scored some stunning goals including a Lewis Williams hat-trick. With Sam Roberts still recovering, and this the first of three games in eight days, manager Sills is carefully rotating his small squad. Max Bustamante will be keen to be involved as he did well for The Comrades in the 2023-24 season to be their leading scorer.
This fixture has all the ingredients for another cracking, competitive contest. There’s a few spare places on the team coach – if you’re interested in joining us, please contact Paula.
Berkhamsted’s Ground: Lower Kings Road, Berkhamsted, Herts, HP4 2AL c.110 miles
Average attendance: 413
Admission: Adults £12; over 65s £6; accompanied children free; unaccompanied children £2
Weather Forecast: Sunny intervals; 20oC; <5% chance of rain.
