Mark Jones previews this evening's game for BN:
Assuming Hertfordshire isn't hit by an act of God today, it'll be third time lucky this evening at the Top Field, Hitchin, kick off 7:45pm. Earlier in the month, two attempts were made in a week to get the game on, but each time a waterlogged pitch caused it to be postponed. At the time, it was frustrating that with the Bulls in such a rich vein of form it would have been ideal to squeeze lots of games into that purple patch to garner the points haul necessary to win the league as soon as possible, and any postponement threatened to slow that momentum (the Biggleswade match was also postponed shortly afterwards).
Well, there was no need to worry, because that purple patch has simply gone on and on, the league championship's in the bag, and this match has become a 'freebie', an opportunity to further rewrite the record books.
The Bulls squad will presumably see one veteran out and another in. Rob Purdie bade an emotional farewell to the Edgar Street crowd on Saturday in the excellent 4-1 win against high-flying Kettering, with the club stalwart moving on to become a firefighter. It's thought that Purds may be able to play one or two of the final three games this season (the County Cup Final versus Lads Club follows the final league match at St Ives), but he's certainly unavailable for this evening. Meanwhile, fellow thirtysomething and multiple player of the season award winner Ryan Green returns from a three-match suspension, having recently made encouraging noises about wanting to stay at the club next season. However, it remains to be seen whether he'll slot back in as a central defender this evening, with Dara O'Shea and Jordan Liburd looking so assured, lively and capable on Saturday. It could be that Greener finds himself at right back if captain Jimmy Oates is still feeling the stamped foot he received against Kettering.
Otherwise, there are no fresh injury concerns, so the only speculation surrounds squad rotation. It could be that boss Peter Beadle looks at these final games of the season as an opportunity to take a final look at those players who have recently been peripheral to the starting XI, to fine tune the list of players he's looking to retain for next season in National League North-or-South.
It may also be the case that some who have started recently, and performed so well, could do with a rest! It's all very well talking blithely about a purple patch, with the suggestion that there's some element of luck at play, but this express-train finish to the season has resulted from good old-fashioned hard work and commitment, so it would be no surprise to see some fresh legs on from the start.
The Canaries experienced mixed emotions over Easter, with a defeat at home to Tiverton, marred somewhat by (journalistic cliche alert) an unseemly fracas early in the game (is a fracas ever anything other than unseemly?), followed by a win at Kings Langley. They then had little difficulty in seeing off Frome Town 5-1, before losing to Kettering. Since then they've kept things tight, winning or losing 1-0, before a 0-0 draw with Dorchester on Monday.
In the reverse fixture at Edgar Street, the hosts eased to a 5-0 win, during a period of the season when they were beating everyone in both league and FA Trophy. With current form mirroring that November run, we can but hope for a similar result tonight.
Hitchin are among the better supported clubs in the division, so along with an away following in celebratory mood, presumably swelled by a healthy London-exile contingent, the atmosphere could be a good one.