Published by Herts and
Essex Newspapers
Ltd, North Street,
Bishop8217s Stortford.
Origination
by Herts and Essex
Newspapers Ltd, Ware
Road, Hertford, and
printed by Cambridge
Newspapers Ltd,
Winship Estate, Milton,
Cambridge. Registered
as a Newspaper at the
Post Office.SportObserverSPORTSEDITOR:
Alan Scott
SPORTSREPORTER:
David RimmerCALL
(01279) 866367 with your sport stories or email
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Skipper hopeful of play-off spotwww.hertsandessexobserver.co.ukFollow the Blues
every matchdayLOCAL pride is at stake
when Bishop8217s Stortford
visit rivals Hertford in the
Herts President8217s Cup
semi-final this Saturday.
And Stortford forward
David Rose,
pictured right,
says a victory can give the
Silver Leys men a lift
ahead oftheir vital league
8216four-pointer8217 against Old
Albanian as they bid to
beat the drop.
8220It will give us a massive
boost ifwe can win. It8217s a
step up and people who
have played in previous
[county cup] semi-finals
know what it is about,8221
Rose said.
8220It8217s hard when you play
away. They [Hertford] have
a lot ofsupport and we
will need all the support
we can get.8221
8220I am confident the guys
can front up. We need to
improve on things such as
first-up tackling and
communication. It8217s also a
question ofdesire and pride.8221
Stortford will be without
unavailable flanker Tom
Stokely, prop Richard
McMillan and lock Alex
Colenso plus injured centre
Alex Stockley. Number
eight Mark McCraith
(shoulder) is doubtful.
On Sunday (2pm KO), all
eyes will turn to the
Stortford Colts team who
host Weston-super-Mare in
the English National Colts
Club Plate competition 8211
just seven days after
winning the Herts &
Middlesex League east
division title.
Stortford8217s coach Peter
Curtis said: 8220They [Weston-
super-Mare] have beaten
and lost to Dings
Crusaders [the team
Stortford beat in the last
round].
8220Their fly-halfis a good
kicker and has got 75 per
cent oftheir points so we
will have to be careful not
to give away penalties.8221
He added: 8220We will aim to
play our normal game and
not worry about theirs.8221
Stortford clinched their
league title with a 22-11
win at Saracens on Sunday.
Joe Foster (2), Liam
Caulfield and Mitch Clare
got the tries while Alex
Mumford kicked one
conversion.PAUL Goodacre is deter-
mined that the win at Havant
& Waterlooville is built on by
the Blues in their Blue
Square South match against
Bromley at Woodside Park
this Saturday.Confidence was wavering after
four games without a win but last
Saturday8217s victory has given
fresh hope to Bishop8217s Stortford8217s
play-offhopes.The Blues skipper said: 8220We have
given ourselves another chance. It8217s
in our hands and it rests with us. 8220There are nine games left and we
really need to build on Saturday. It
was good to win there as they have
had a good run.8221
He added: 8220We could have hurt any-
body going forward on Saturday and
the second-halfperformance was
something special.
8220I thought Sosthene Yao was fan-
tastic on the right wing and with
Ahmed Deen on the left we looked
dangerous.8221
Top scorer Greg Pearson misses
the Bromley game. He is serving a
one-match ban after being sent offin
the Herts Senior Cup semi-final at
Ware 16 days ago.
With strikers Danny Harris and
Steffan Gaisie out with hamstring
injuries and Roy Essandoh serving
the second ofa three-match ban,
Stortford8217s resources are being
stretched to the limit.
But Goodacre is confident that
Stortford, now seventh, can cope and
is determined they can gain revenge
on a Bromley side who beat them 3-1
in Kent in September.
8220Greg is always going to be missed.
He has been great for us but we have
quality in the squad,8221 he said.
8220Loui Fazakerley can do a job and
Sam Higgins has shown he is capable
when he came on in Saturday8217s game
and in training.8221
He added: 8220We owe them
[Bromley]. We played badly at
Bromley and want to settle matters.8221
Blues boss Martin Hayes is keeping
his options open about bringing
another striker in on a short-term
basis but is pleased Stortford8217s busy
period ofgames is almost at an end.
8220We have had eight games in four
weeks and I am pleased that most of
the midweek games are over,8221 he
said.
8220There are 11 teams still in it [the
play-offs] and they all have a chance.
It8217s too close to call and all we can do
is get as many points as we can.8221 qBISHOP8217S Stortford FC will host a Barclays
Premiership Reserve League match between
West Ham United and Reading on Tuesday March
18 (kick-off 7pm).By
David Rimmerrimmerd@hertsessexnews.co.uk HOPEFUL:
Paul GoodacreSTUNNING
FRAMES
AT GREAT
PRICES24 North Street Bishop8217s Stortford Tel: 01279 757 767Bringing you21 years of20/20 visionSTUNNING
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