Festive fixtures beckon for West Berkshire duo

Hungerford Town and Thatcham Town enter the festive period second and third in the league table respectively

WEST Berkshire's Evo Stik Southern sides are looking to maintain their positions at the top end of Division One South and West this Christmas.

Hungerford and Thatcham go into the festive fixtures second and third in the league respectively, with the prospect of a derby date between the two to look forward to on Monday, January 2 at Bulpit Lane.

However, both sides have other fixtures to focus on beforehand, with Thatcham facing two home games against North Leigh and Didcot Town on Boxing Day and New Year's Eve respectively, having only taken two points from their last three games.

Thatcham boss, Gary Ackling, said: “We have had a bit of a blip and we need to get back to winning ways.

“Hopefully we can get six points over these two games to get us back in the mix.

“Both are footballing sides who try to play and that seems to suit us, we seem to play better against those teams.”

Ackling will be without Shane Kingston for both those games as he continues to serve his three-match suspension, although defender Mark Hughes, who missed the weekend defeat to Bideford, is set to return for the visit of North Leigh, who Thatcham beat in the FA Trophy back in October.

Ackling will also be without Sam Flegg for the visit of North Leigh due to family commitments, although he said he was confident that his squad was strong enough to dig out the results to help them continue their push for a play-off place for a second successive season.

Meanwhile, Hungerford are without a game on Boxing Day, but face a visit to Wimborne Town on New Year's Eve ahead of the derby clash.

Boss Bobby Wilkinson, who hailed his side's 1-0 win against Paulton Rovers as a massive result, said he was only thinking about the trip to Wimborne though.

He said: “I know this will be one of our toughest games of the season.

“We have got to do a professional job.”

Hungerford have already defeated Wimborne 3-0 at Bulpit Lane back in August, but Wilkinson said it would be a test for his players.

Hungerford will be without striker Luke Hopper, who starts a suspension following his sending off against Paulton Rovers last week.