Match Preview | Havant & Waterlooville

Havant & Waterlooville v Tiverton Town 

Isuzu FA Trophy Third Qualifying Round 

Saturday 4^th October 3pm Kick off 

Westleigh Park 

Big cup competitions and Tiverton Town has not been an agreeable marriage for many years. Favourable draws and not so favourable draws, have both ended with early partings of the ways. The Yellows enter the FA Trophy on Saturday with a tie that falls into the second category. 

That said, there is little between the two sides in the table. Havant & Waterlooville have played eight games in the Southern League Premier South and are 15^th, with ten points whilst the Yellows are in 19^th place after nine games and are on seven points. 

Asa Hall and Steve Orchard’s side will be aiming to put their disappointing 4-1 defeat at Weymouth behind them when they make the journey to Hampshire to take on the Hawks. An afternoon to forget saw them rocked by the conceding of three goals in the opening 13 minutes. 

Dean Moxey is close to making his return and will come into contention for a place in the eleven on Saturday and Asa Hall will be hoping to have a fully fit squad to choose from. A below par Yellows know that they will have to show more quality and focus at the weekend if they’re to make it through to the next round. 

Louis Jagger Cane’s rich vein of scoring form continued in Dorset, as he added a fifth to his league haul. Although others will have to come to the party, as we seek more of a ruthlessness in front of goal and defensively as a team, it’s clear we need to be better. 

Hawks boss Shaun North holds the highest UEFA coaching qualification and 20 years of honing those skills at Portsmouth with both the first team and the academy sides is sure to serve him well in our division. He additionally has been an assistant manager at Torquay and Bristol Rovers. 

North has the attacking talents of Ryan Seagar to call upon. He already has 7 goals to his name this term, after an enviable 35 goal return last season in the Southern League Premier South. He was good enough to make an appearance in the Premier League for Southampton. 

The gifted marksman also played in the EFL for Yeovil, Crewe Alexandra and MK Dons. In non-league surroundings, he has amassed over 100 goals in the past five seasons and many of them were scored in the higher climbs of the National League and the National League South with Dorking Wanderers and Hungerford. 

Winger/wide midfielder Nana Owusu came through the ranks at Reading, but following his release has enjoyed a fruitful football career in non-league circles. His first taste of senior football came with Basingstoke, where he attracted the attentions of National League Maidenhead. 

After making over 30 appearances for Maidenhead, the skilful technician has gone on to play many games in the National South for Oxford City, Hemel Hempstead and Dulwich Hamlet. In recent times he has spent time with Bracknell, Walton & Hersham, before joining the Hawks in the latter part of last season. 

The vastly experienced Harvey Bradbury who earlier on his football journey was on the books of Portsmouth, Watford, Millwall, Morecambe and Oxford United is a strong striking option. His non-league CV includes stints at Woking, Oxford City, Welling and Dartford. Bradbury moved to the Hawks last season, being at Farnborough previously. 

Starting at Reading, midfielder Olly Pendlebury made 4 EFL appearances for Wycombe Wanderers. He was a regular with Farnborough prior to moving to Westleigh Park last term. His pedigree and that of fellow midfielder Alfy Whittingham can’t be taken lightly. This is Whittingham’s third spell with Havant & Waterlooville, and the talented 27-year-old also spent three seasons playing higher up the pyramid with Aldershot Town and of course with the Hawks. 

Young defender’s Josh Dockerill and Harvey Laidlaw, both are products of Portsmouth’s academy and made solitary appearances for Pompey. The cultured pair are joined by Matthew Hayden, a centre back on loan from Premier League Brighton. 

Fellow centre back, George Milner-Smith was a loanee last season from Aldershot is a permanent signing for the Hawk’s this time around, following the big impression he made on the Hampshire clubs' followers. 

Taking the gloves will be Ben Dudzinski who established himself as first choice keeper during the last campaign, having been with the club earlier in his senior career. He has played nearly 150 times in National South for Oxford City, Eastbourne Borough, Dartford and his current club. The Hawks stopper is a top keeper in this division. 

Exiting from the FA Cup and others progress means that our hosts didn’t play on Saturday and their last League game was a midweek 2-0 loss at Chertsey on September 23^rd. 

Each week I give a rundown of our opponents and on paper the strength of the opposition, often looks daunting. We have many threats and qualities of our own and with belief and by executing a game plan, we have the ability to prosper every time we cross the white line.