Crows On The Road: Colney Heath
NEXT UP: 'The Magpies' Of Colney Heath FC
Colney Heath FC v Royston Town FC
Herts Senior Cup Quarter Final
Tuesday 29th January 2013
The Recreation Ground
High Street
Colney Heath
Herts
AL4 0NP
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So, who has had Royston Town FC withdrawal symptoms? Well I certainly have and crossing fingers, toes and everything else possible with my body (A new career beckons) we may have a game this Tuesday!
A short trip to the charming village of Colney Heath is our reward after thrashing Stevenage FC in the previous round of the Herts County Cup. A place in the Semi-Final is tantalisingly close!
What can I furnish you with about Colney Heath. As mentioned above, a village that became a Parish in the year 1947, the year the lowest ever temperature was recorded at a freezing -63c in Snag, North America. Felt a bit like that in Royston over the last couple of weeks.
HISTORY
The Magpies were formed in 1907 and started playing in the Hatfield District league until 1919 when they joined the Mid Herts League.
It took a while before some silverware was captured in 1946 with the Mid Herts Benevolent Shield.
In 1952 the club moved from Fuzzen Field to the Recreation Ground and joined the Herts County League. The club won the league and cup in 1958. This was the glory era for the club because the following 30 years were like the Arsenal trophy cabinet, pretty barren.
Disaster struck the club in 1988 when during renovations of the club facilities, a fire took hold and the club burnt down. A new club house was built in 1989 and an extension was added in 1993 along with new railings. Floodlights were installed in 2000 and the club were ready to progress further.
Several top 5 finishes followed in the SSML1 before the Championship was secured in 2006 beating Brache Sparta by 9 points with only 3 defeats all season.
Lower table finishes were the norm until 2010 when the Magpies finished 5th, just a place behind our beloved Crows.
Further improvements to the facilities have followed and the Magpies are ambitious to follow us into Step 5.
Their Season So Far
Currently lying in 14th place in the SSML Premier Division with 9 wins, 3 draws and 9 defeats to their name.
Last time out saw the Magpies defeated 3-2 at home by London Tigers on the 12th January 2013. In fact you have to go back to the start of December 2012 when Colney Heath last tasted victory with a 4-2 home win against Harefield United. So ripe for the picking then? Definitely not, we do have a little bit of history with the Magpies and this is the cup, anything can happen, just ask Stevenage!
Ones To Watch
22 year old Aaron Clarke has 9 goals to his name so far this season. Excellent in the air and quite a physical presence. Scored a brace against Harefield United in their last victory. Former clubs include London Colney and Harpenden Town.
Also up front, we may come across 25 year old Kevin Ashwood. Formally of Cheshunt FC, Kev has found the back of the onion bag 8 times this season.
Defender Richard Cooke is a tough tackling but fair player. He will certainly give our forward players something to think about. Was signed from Hatfield Town.
The Man In Charge
A little confusing to say the least. The front of their website shows the position as vacant, yet on the profiles there is an entry for Glen Parry. I have scanned all the local papers for any news on a departure, so unless corrected Mr Parry must be the gaffer. Formally of Cheshunt, hence the former Cheshunt players connections! Glen took over the Recreation Ground hot seat in April last year. He was caretaker manager for Cheshunt for a brief while and after disappointingly missing out on the full time job, decided to play for Ware.
Have We Met Before
Many times, but the best ever encounter between us (from a Royston perspective) was on the 14th January 2012. We were having to play 50 minutes without Will Norris, who had got himself sent off and Jason Beck donned the gloves a produced without a shadow of a doubt, one of the best performances of his career. Save after save the young centre back produced and in the 94th minute, Carl Edwards popped up with a winner. Paul Attfield got himself sent off for some serious celebrating and many supporters felt that this game swung the pendulum for our title victory.
Maybe an excellent omen that Paul’s first game back is against Colney Heath FC?
Match Day Information
An easy journey is this. Follow the A505 until you reach the A1(M) Southbound at Letchworth gate. Follow the A1(M) all the way to Hatfield. Go through the tunnel and immediately take the first exit, signposted A414. At the round-a-bout, take the second exit onto the A414 north orbital. You will eventually come across the High Street. Take this turning and the ground is 2 minutes away. 28 miles and allow 35 minutes to get there.
Jez Izod
