The first piece of news to report is that last season’s club captain and stalwart Tom Stone has decided to join a team closer to him (he was travelling from London each weekend) and we wish him well. In his place, we have named Tom Rowe as the club captain for the 2016/17 season. ‘Rowey’ is a strong figure in our changing room and vocal on the pitch, and he will add an intensity to our game.

Secondly is the appointment of Luke Stone as David’s new number 2. Luke suffered a serious knee injury towards the back end of last season, away at North Leigh United, and is unlikely to be back playing again this season. Luke will provide a valuable link between David and the players, and will bring fresh ideas to training and pre-match warm-ups.

Furthermore, it is looking increasingly likely that Des Williams will be running our Reserve side this season. They will again play in Hellenic Division 2 West, and any interested players can contact Des on 01235 764130.

Results

We started our pre-season campaign with a home game vs Kintbury Rangers. Kintbury, who won the North Berks Division One title last season, were a stiff test and gave our boys a tough test. We drew the game 1-1, with Jordan Davies scoring his first goal for the club in an energetic performance.

Next up, we hosted Didcot Town Reserves where we gave debuts to the likes of Richard Guy and Josh Cottrell (both former Hellenic Prem players with Wantage Town) and again Jordan Davies scored in a 2-0 victory.

The first team’s most recent game came in the Faringdon Thursday Cup – a competition we have won several times over the years, although not since 2006. We needed penalties to overcome a resilient Faringdon Town (new to the Hellenic set-up after many years in North Berks football). The game finished 1-1 after 90 minutes, with Tom Eatwell scoring our goal.

In between fixtures, our Reserve team have also hosted a pre-season friendly. They drew 1-1 vs a youthful Abingdon United Development Squad, with Luke Faircloth scoring a free-kick from over 30 yards.