First games of 2019 as Cooks host Rugby Town.

Saturday 5th December 2018

FUTURE LIONS UNITED COUNTIES LEAGUE-PREMIER DIVISION
COGENHOE UNITED v RUGBY TOWN
Compton Park,
Brafield Road,
Cogenhoe
NN7 1ND
Kick-Off 3pm.

MATCH-SPONSOR; Dayla
MATCH-BALL SPONSOR-Roy Quennell

The current set up of the Butlin Road club, formally VS Rugby, are new to the United Counties League this season and have only recently slipped down the ladder after many successful seasons as a Southern League Premier Division club. They boast by far and away the best ground in our league and Butlin Road is a great place to watch football. I have been there many times over the years for midweek games and watched the improvements season after season which is a real credit to the club and all involved over the years. Life hasn’t been so good for them on and off the field in the last couple of years and demotion to the Midland League for the 2017/18 season was the first time the Warwickshire town hadn’t boasted a step-4 or higher team for many years, but this season a new manager (Craig Adams) and a revitalised squad has seen them launch a bid to return to that level and at this moment they look like the only realistic challengers to Daventry Town on doing so, although they now trail them by nine points after their neighbours from across the border won 2-0 at Butlin Road on Boxing Day. While we were left without a game on the last Saturday of 2018, The Valley were able to bounce back from their top-of-the-table defeat at home to Oadby Town and they did just that as three second half goals gave them a convincing 3-0 win. It wasn’t all plain sailing though as they didn’t make the breakthrough until after Oadby had lost their keeper to a serious injury in the first half, but the three goals will have rebuilt their confidence as they aim to bridge that gap before the end of April.
We are of course in superb form at the moment and took our unbeaten run into double figures on Boxing Day with a great 6-1 win at local rivals O.N Chenecks. We did this without 23 goal man Ryan Dove finding the target, although he did play a part in several of the goals as Ryan Ansell (2), Dan Stevenson, Montel Dore, Charlie Hynam and Tom Iaciofano all hit the target. Rugby also have a target man who knows exactly where the goal is in Danico Johnson who is thoroughly enjoying his first spell in the UCL and has netted 20 times so far this season. They have a couple of players who will be very familiar to the Compton Park faithful with recent signing Fazel Koriya joining former Cooks skipper Richard Bunting in their matchday squad. Koriya seems to have been revitalised in the move after failing to find his usual form at Newport Pagnell this season and has already netted three goals since his move to Butlin Road.

Just a bit on 2018, Jake Stone’s first full calendar year at the helm and it does make pretty impressive reading. The stats are as follows;
Played 45 Won 28 Drew 4 Lost 13 Scored 85 Conceded 58

Jake is clearly taking the club in the right direction and these are very positive times and what you have to remember is a village football club who don’t pay their players so a big thank you to Jake, Ben Stone, Luke Bartley and Amadeus Clements for keeping us thoroughly entertained all through 2018 and here’s to an even more successful 2019.

FUTURE LIONS UNITED COUNTIES LEAGUE-RESERVE DIVISION
ST ANDREWS Reserves v COGENHOE UNITED Reserves
Canal Street,
LE2 8LX
Leicester.
Kick-off 3pm.

December’s Manager-of-the-Month Craig Hayward takes his in-form team to struggling St Andrews tomorrow with his side having hit six goals in each of their last three games. Ben Drinkwater picked up the Goalscorers award after hitting nine goals in those last three matches and will be keen to keep this run going after the enforced Christmas break. This is St Andrews first season in the UCL at Reserve level, following their first team who were switched by the F.A the previous season. They started really well and won their first two games before a Jonny Shakespeare goal ended their 100% record at Compton Park, but since then it has been an upwards struggle and they have lost their last seven games, including a 9-0 thumping at Wellingborough Town.

Updated 07:10 - 30 Aug 2019 by Paul Jackson