Boss looking for positive Upwey response (From This is Hampshire)

Boss looking for positive Upwey response

6:00pm Thursday 14th February 2013 in Hampshire Sport By Adam Summers

UPWEY & Broadwey will be out to bounce back from their shock Dorset Senior Trophy exit when they make the short trip to Piddletrenthide United on Saturday (2pm).

The Redlands outfit crashed out at the quarter-final stage to Division One side Milborne Sports last weekend but should be much stronger for the away league clash.

Upwey boss Steve Reynolds said: “We had a few missing last Saturday but hopefully several of them will return this weekend.

“Ty Young remains a doubt but Richard Frost, Charlie Kenderdine and Frank Budden could all be back which would be a huge boost. “We beat Piddletrenthide 7-1 last month and if we play like that again then I would expect us to win again but they had a good victory over Portland United Reserves last weekend and will no doubt be full of confidence.”

Upwey currently sit ninth in the Dorset Senior League but hold as many as six games in hand on some teams following a long list of postponements.

Portland United Reserves and manager Steve Coward could do with a change in fortunes having not won in eight.

They could reverse that trend on Saturday with a trip to Pamphill Village Green to take on Kingston Lacy (2pm).

A 5-1 defeat to Piddletrenthide last time out was harsh on the islanders, according to Coward, who is excited by some of the youngsters he has under his stewardship.

Centre half Che Curran and striker James Hansford have caught the eye this season and the Portland boss is confident his side can turn things around.

“Last Saturday’s scoreline was quite harsh on us,” he said. “We played some really good stuff and could have got something out of the game.

“We went 2-0 down, pulled one back, then hit the bar before they caught us on the break as we looked to equalise.

“The score doesn’t look good on the likes of Che and James but they’ve done really well since coming in.

“Che has been superb in the last few games and has come on in leaps and bounds while James has done well too.

“We’ve got a mix of young and senior players and they’ll keep going to the end.”

Third from bottom meets third from top at Weymouth College as Weymouth Sports entertain Sturminster Newton United (2pm).

Sports co-manager Chris Hicks wasn’t surprised to see last Saturday’s game against Gillingham Town Reserves fall to the weather but is hoping home advantage will pay dividends on this occasion.

“We’ve got couple of lads who are going to be away so we’ll have to shuffle things a bit,” he said. “But we’ve got a big squad at the moment and we’re fortunate that when people are missing we can bring some others in.

“We need to make the most of playing at home and look to go on a little run to pull away from the bottom of the table.

“Hopefully we can carry on where we left off against Portland a couple of weeks ago but it will be tough.

“We drew 1-1 up at their place earlier in the season and played well and had chances to win it after going a goal down.”