Malmesbury are at the opposite end of the One West division to Wootton Bassett as they are fighting the drop, and Vics boss Simon Winstone admits he would love to be in the position of tomorrow's opponents.
"I was reading in the paper that Wootton Bassett were disappointed to be in seventh, but that isn't too bad," he joked. "We would have taken that ourselves at the start of the season."
Chris Brooks, Paul Bains and Paul Hunt are among those expected to miss out for Malmesbury tomorrow.
Spirited Display - 20 January
Simon Winstone hailed a spirited display from his side that earned a point against high-flying local rivals Purton last weekend.
Second-placed Purton couldn't find a way past the Vics' defence and delighted Winstone said: "When we're in that sort of mood, we're hard to beat and that spirit and commitment was great from us. The lads got a head or a foot in where it mattered and when you play like that, nine times out of 10, you get your rewards. We had a good chance in the first half and Purton did create a few."
Vics go to Headington Amateurs tomorrow without Bobby Hunt and Chris Brooks, who cracked a bone in his ankle in the 0-0 draw with Purton last weekend. "That will give us a bit of a headache," admitted Winstone. "But we've got some other players that will come in and they can do a good job."
Alan Webb and Matt Wilkins will also play no part tomorrow, but Vics are boosted by the returns of Max Sparrow, Rhys Owen and Carl Taylor.
Headington won Division One West last season and while they have not rediscovered those powers this term, Winstone expects a difficult encounter, "Looking at their results, they do score a lot of goals, so they are going to be tough opposition for us," he said. "But we can take a lot of positives from the last four to five games. We're fortunate to have enough players to come in and cover our injuries."
Now Is Good - 13 January 2012
Malmesbury boss Simon Winstone reckons now could be a good time for his side to take on Uhlsport Hellenic Division One West high-flyers Purton.
Vics have struggled in the lower echelons of the football league all season but have enjoyed a purple patch of late, and picked up a morale-boosting 1-0 victory over Carterton on Tuesday night. Winstone said: "Purton are a good side, there's no two ways about it. What I like about them is they do try and play football, it's always nice to play against a side like that. We've won three out of the last four league games so we've got a bit of form."
Winstone admits his Vics rode their luck in their narrow victory on Tuesday night. Mark Field’s first half goal was enough for all three points and manager Winstone said: “I think that their manager had a go at them at half-time. In the second half we were a little bit fortunate with the chances they missed. But we haven’t got the luck in the past and it’s nice to have it go your way for once. I still think we were the better side.”
For the Purton game Winstone is without the unavailable Max Sparrow and Rhys Owen, while Bobby Hunt and Chris Brooks are injured.
Oh For A Goal! - 5 December
Simon Winstone would happily take a goal off any part of the anatomy after his Malmesbury side failed to find the net for another weekend.
Vics fell to a 1-0 defeat at Winterbourne as the home side converted the only goal of the game midway through the second period. Malmesbury have not found the net in seven and a half hours of league football, their last Division One West goal being on October 22.
Boss Winstone joked: "Maybe we need the ball smashed across the box and for it to go in off someone's ear when they are not looking. Our strikers just need something to go for them, maybe they need to mis-hit their shots because a couple on Saturday they struck too well. Ed Wilkins had a chance after about 20 minutes where he went through one-on-one and smashed it goalwards, but the keeper got a toe to it and the ball went out for a corner. Maybe if he had scuffed it, the shot would have crept under the keeper."
In spite of the result, Winstone insisted his side were unlucky to go home point-less following their trip to Parkside Avenue. "In my opinion wee were the better side for most of the game, but at the end of the day they got the goal and that's all that counts," he said. "We played really well but I suppose when you're near the bottom of the table and struggling it doesn't seem to happen for you."
Stop Potts - 2 December
Simon Winstone has identified Jimmy Potts as the man his Malmesbury Vics side must stop if they are to take anything from their trip to Winterbourne.
The striker has scored nine goals in 10 Division One West appearances this season and is a proven threat to any defence at that level. Winstone said: “They have got a very good striker who scores a lot of goals. He’s one of the leading scorers in the league and if we keep him quiet then we’ve got a chance.”
Malmesbury have a full squad apart from the sidelined James McCarthy, with Max Sparrow and Ed Wilkins both returning from suspension.
Looking For Win - 26 November
In uhlsport Hellenic Football League Division One West, Malmesbury take on mid-table Cirencester Development as they bid to end a five-match winless run in the league.
"Cirencester are a good passing side who have been coached very well," said Vics boss Simon Winstone. "We're not far away, we're just not getting the actual results at the moment. Once our strikers get a goal then they will have the confidence to get some more."
Max Sparrow and Ed Wilkins are suspended while James McCarthy (broken ankle) is still a couple of weeks away from fitness.
Allay Fears - 4 November
Malmesbury will hope to allay their relegation fears when they make the trip to fellow strugglers Lydney, and manager Simon Winstone has targeted a draw as a minimum from the clash.
"We really need to go down there and get something out of that game, it's really important for us," he said. "Over the last few weeks we've been playing reasonably well, but we don't seem to have got that little bit of luck, so hopefully it will start to come round. If we can get some consistency, we should be OK."
Striker Mark Field could miss out as he is struggling with a virus, while Carl Taylor has work commitments.
Mixed Feelings - 30 September
Malmesbury striker Mark Field could be forgiven for having mixed feelings about taking on Division One West strugglers Trowbridge tomorrow.
The hitman (pictured) experienced an eventful time of it when the Vics beat Trowbridge 5-1 back in mid-August, not only banging in a hat-trick but also breaking his toe in the process. He has featured in just one game since then, the 6-0 loss to Tytherington at the end of August, and a holiday has put him out of the reckoning recently, until this weekend.
Flying Monk boss Simon Winstone explained: "He stayed on against Trowbridge because he didn't feel anything, but then I suppose you don't if you score three. The next day he couldn't walk on it, he helped us out against Tytherington when we were short, but he shouldn't really have played in that game."
Although Field may be back, Malmesbury are missing centre-back Rhys Owen as he is at a wedding, while Wayne Buckland and Neil Fisher are sidelined, both for around a month.
Vics are on a losing run of seven games in the league with their last win coming at home to Trowbridge, a game Winstone refuses to draw too much confidence from. "When we beat them we caught them with two very early goals," he said. "At 2-0 they had a good chance to score but missed it, and then we caught them again. The final score was probably a little bit flattering. You'd like to think we've got a chance this weekend and we've got to be looking to pick up points, but they will be thinking the same as us. In fairness to them they have picked up a bit, they drew with Purton at the end of August."
Vic's Hope To Strike Oil For Charity! - 29 September
Malmesbury Victoria are holding a charity football match on Sunday 2 October against Castrol Swindon, 12.15 hours kick off.
This game is being held as a memorial to Rita Walker and all money collected will go to Cancer Research UK. Before this game, Malmesbury Youth and Chippenham Youth Under 9s will play a game on the Flying Monk Ground your support will be most welcome and we hope to be able to give a large donation to Cancer Research UK.
If you can help please come and buy a raffle ticket on the day, we would like to thank Frazer Digby, ex Swindon Town and Manchester United goalkeeper for coming down to make the draw.
Big Thanks To Chippenham Town - 7 August
Malmesbury Victoria manager Simon Winstone has thanked Chippenham Town boss Adie Mings for allowing him to bolster his striking options with Bluebirds youngster Jordan Mathews.
The 18-year-old striker, who made one appearance for Chippenham last season in their 3-2 Red Insure League Cup win over country rivals Salisbury City in January, has signed on at Hardenhuish Park and subsequently joined Winstone's Hellenic League Vics on loan for the coming season.
Mathews, who lives close to the Flying Monk ground, had the option of signing for another club but instead chose to join his local side for his first full season in men's football. "They've spotted him and seen a bit of potential in him and we've got him on loan for the year," said Winstone. "We were a little bit light up front but now we've probably got four good strikers – Adie Mings wants him to come and play regular football and if something happens and they need him, we'll let him go back there. If they get any other young lads, Adie might be quite keen for them to try and come over here and play and maybe we can forge a bit of a link with Chippenham because it's good for them and good for us – we want to say thanks to him for letting Jordan come over to us."
Mings added that Mathews could be one to watch in the future. "Jordan's had a good pre-season and I'm looking forward to seeing a bit more of him," said the Chippenham chief. "He's probably six foot two or three and he's got the potential to go on and become a very good striker in the future. It's important that he gets some regular football at Malmesbury because he's only really played college football but we'll probably get him back this year for games like the Red Insure Cup or the Wiltshire (Premier) Shield."
Young Talent - 15 July
Malmesbury boss Simon Winstone is trying to achieve something similar to what Sir Alex Ferguson did at Manchester United fifteen years past by putting his confidence in youth.
Granted, a Hellenic League Division One West title and Challenge Cup trophy may be out of reach for a side that struggled to win a game for the greater part of 2010/11, but success is relative, and Winstone is keen to achieve that, and with kids. The 36-year-old, who captained Stoke City's reserves as a teenager, is combining a dual role as Vics manager with his job as boss of Malmesbury Youth Under 15s, and he wants to see the two clubs work more closely together for mutual benefit.
"Malmesbury Youth has never really been a feeder club for Malmesbury Vics, but because I'm involved there it makes sense to link them," said Winstone. "There's 200 players there so it's quite a big setup. We've had meetings and now instead of their players going to other clubs, they will be fed into the adult side. We're getting some of the under 16s and under 17s along to training at the moment, and we'll give some of the older lads the chance to be involved with the first team on match days. That will depend on who we're playing and what players we've got available, but when they are involved, hopefully it will bring them on and give them some encouragement."
He added: "In pre-season we've had at least eight or nine 17-year-olds at training most weeks, which has been good. We know we can't put a team of 17-year-olds out so we've signed some more experienced players as well, so we can bed them (the youngsters) in."
Vics will also give Malmesbury Youth the opportunity to use their Flying Monk pitch on certain occasions, the intention being that this experience will help persuade them to make the jump to adult football. The adult side do not possess the riches that allow them to pay players to turn out, but Winstone, a former FA Vase semi-finalist with Mangotsfield, would rather place his focus on hungry players rather than those who are just searching for a few extra pounds. "It's very difficult for us because we don't pay, but a lot of clubs do," he said. "We want to give lads a chance who may not otherwise be given a chance in Hellenic football, and with the players we've brought in and the players we've already got, we will be competitive."
Winstone has already raided his former club, Cirencester and District League side Oaksey, for three players this summer including Chris Brooks and Wayne Buckland.
