|
|
Wood's Cup Trail - 28th November
Shortwood United are back on the trail of more cup glory when they visit Wootton Bassett Town tomorrow.
John Evans' side, who rounded off last season in style by beating Ardley United in the Supplementary Cup final, take on Bassett in round two of the SBJ Insurance Brokers Challenge Cup.
Wood are up to third in the Premier Division after they extended their unbeaten run to 12 games with a 3-1 win at Hook Norton on Tuesday night. They have now picked up 34 points out of a possible 36 and can boast the best defensive record in the division.
Wootton Bassett also won on Tuesday, a 2-1 home victory over Winterbourne United, and they are now ninth in Division One West. They defeated Hook Norton 2-1 in Challenge Cup preliminary round and stunned One West leaders Hardwicke in the first round to set up the clash with Wood, who won 3-2 at One East pace setters Ascot United in round one.
Wood will start as favourites at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground and they can look back to a previous knockout competition meeting between the two sides for inspiration.
Shortwood entertained Wootton Bassett at Meadowbank in the second qualifying round of the 2002-03 FA Vase and ran out 5-1 winners.
|
Top Three Spot For Wood? - 21st November
Shortwood can move inside the FTL Futbol Hellenic League Premier Division's top three with a 10th win in 11 league games tomorrow.
Wood, who have picked up 28 out of a possible 30 points in their last 10 Hellenic fixtures, are currently fourth and just two points behind Chalfont Wasps after a 4-0 win over Marlow United last week.
Mid-table Shrivenham visit Meadowbank tomorrow and they will be smarting from a FA Vase exit in midweek when they were defeated 4-1 by Wessex League Hamworthy United.
|
Top Five Task - 7th November
Shortwood can break into the FTL Futbol Hellenic League Premier Division's top five with victory at Bicester Town tomorrow.
John Evans' "Wood", who have the best defensive record in the division, have enjoyed a run that has seen them the take 19 points out of 21 in their last seven league games.
They knocked Division One East high fliers Ascot United out of the SBJ Insurance Brokers Challenge Cup last week and will be expected to beat a Foxhunters side that have lost their last eight league games. Bicester are in the bottom two while Shortwood are unbeaten on the road, winning six and drawing one of their seven outings.
|
Vase Prospects For Wood - 3rd October
Shortwood can erase the painful memory of their midweek FA Cup replay heartbreak with a good run in the The FA Vase this season.
Valiant "Wood", the last remaining FTL Futbol Hellenic League club in the FA Cup, were defeated by Havant and Waterlooville in Tuesday nights' home rematch when Matt Bennett's 89th minute penalty was saved to deny John Evans' side extra time.
Shortwood weathered the storm until 20 minutes from time when Gary Holloway scored the goal to end their interest in the competition and a Vase run would be the perfect pick-up.
After their 4-0 win over Devizes in the First Qualifying round of The FA Vase, Shortwood will feel confident of seeing off the challenge from another Wessex League outfit when they travel tomorrow to opponents Bemerton Heath Harlequins.
However, their last meeting ended with a Harlequins win when they knocked Shortwood out of the FA Cup with a 2-1 first qualifying round victory in 2002-03. The Salisbury based club have better Vase pedigree after reaching the fifth round in 1999 - Wood have not got that far since 1982.
But Evans' men have shown their knack for the knockout competitions once again this season and they should be too strong for a Harlequins' side that are down in their division's bottom five after three wins in 10 games.
|
 Eager For More Success - 19th September
"The Wood" will play Devizes Town in the FA Vase for a fourth time when the teams meet at Meadowbank tomorrow.
Wood won the first clash, a third round home tie in 1981-82, 3-1 as they went on reach the fifth round before being knocked out by local rivals and eventual winners Forest Green Rovers.
The second meeting was also at Meadowbank and again Hellenic Premier Shortwood came out on top with a 4-1 preliminary round victory in 1989-90.
But it was third time lucky for Devizes in 1989-90 when they won a second qualifying round tie at Nursteed Road 2-1. Devizes, Vase quarter-finalists in 2003, are currently in the Western League Premier Division's bottom three after one win in their opening eight games.
John Evans' Wood are eager for more success after last week's FA Cup win over Didcot Town, which included a hat-trick from in-form striker Chris Davis. The victory set up a second qualifying round tie at Blue Square South Havant & Waterlooville, who led at Anfield twice before going down to Liverpool 5-2 in last season's fourth round proper.
|
 Wood Face The Giant Killers - 15th September
Shortwood carry the Hellenic flag through to the 2nd Round Qualifying of The FA Cup, just as they did last year when they upset the odds by beating Gloucester City.
This year they have an even greater mountain to climb when they meet Blue Square South, Havant & Waterlooville, the non league Giant Killers from last season. Their astonishing FA Cup run went on gaining national prominence with a Third Round tie against League One leaders Swansea City. A two legged affair followed, with Rocky Baptiste’s equaliser at the Liberty Stadium setting up a replay at Westleigh Park watched by 4,400 fans in which the Swans were outplayed and sent back to Wales with a 4-2 defeat, much to the delight of the media.
Cup fever gripped the town when the Fourth Round draw handed the "Hawks" a trip to face European giants Liverpool, and 21 coaches helped move 6,000 Hawks fans to Anfield on January 26th 2008. An attendance of 42,566 watched as the non-league minnows shook the Kop and took the lead twice against the Reds before the inevitable defeat that seemed almost irrelevant after the magical journey the cup run had created.
But this time the "Hawks" immediate Cup fate is in the hands of the minnows from the Hellenic League, "The Wood". John Evan's boys have caused Cup upsets in the past and will go out at 3pm on Saturday September 27th, with nothing to lose, and the full intention of causing another 2nd Round Qualifying Cup upset.
|
Shortwood Preparations Going Well - 3rd August
FTL Futbol Hellenic Premier side Shortwood United’s build up to the new season continues a pace both on and off the field.
In pre season games Shortwood lost 1-3 to a strong Cinderford side with James Powell scoring for Wood and on Wednesday evening they lost 2-4 to North Leigh. Wood played some impressive football on the floor and the score line was very harsh indeed as they more than matched their Southern League opponents. Wood could easily have been two or three goals to the good before North Leigh took the lead and James Coates gave the side parity. Defensive lapses cost Wood as North Leigh gave themselves a two goal lead before Chris Davis pulled one back. A further breakaway goal finished the scoring. On Saturday Wood travelled to Pershore and came back with a 2-1 win thanks to goals from Davis and Matt Green.
Wood have lost the services of Will Steadman to Almondsbury, John Cant to Hungerford and Ben Pugh has joined Southern League Outfit Cirencester. For all that Wood look to have an impressive squad and can look forward to another successful season.
Off the field the Dressing rooms have been given an excellent facelift and other important work to improve facilities continues. The Wood pitch is in superb condition and is a real credit to the club.
|
Shortwood Eager For The Off! - 18th July
Shortwood United are looking forward to the start of the FTL Futbol Hellenic Premier Division's new season with a sense of eager anticipation and hope to build on last season's top 5 finish in the Premier Division.
There has been a good turn out at training. The vast majority of last seasons team have reported back, including top goalscorers James Singh and Chris Davis, experienced midfielders Ross Casey and Matthew Green. Two new signings have come from Hartbury - midfield / defender Will Whitney and Goalkeeper Rich Thomas join James Baldwin in also signing.
Shortwood started their pre season games with a good workout in a competitive game with Brimscombe. First half goals from Matt Green and Chris Davis secured the 2-0 win.
|
|
|
|
