Sponsored by
Nathanael Aatkins
Good afternoon everyone and welcome back to the Premier Plus Stadium for today’s United Counties League Premier Division South fixture against Knowle. Firstly, I’d like to welcome the players, management, officials and supporters of Knowle to St Neots. I hope everyone enjoys their visit. We come into today’s game following an unexpected weekend without a fixture after Stratford withdrew from the league. It’s frustrating because we had been building some good momentum, and as a manager you always want to keep playing when the team is performing well. Their withdrawal will also have an impact on the league table, with results involving Stratford needing to be removed. Several teams above us have already beaten them, so we expect the table to change once those results are taken into account. However, that’s something outside our control, and our focus remains firmly on what we do on the pitch. Looking back at our recent performances, I’m pleased with the progress we’re making. We’ve had a demanding schedule, playing Saturday and Tuesday for much of October, but the players have responded well. The 3-1 victory against Desborough was a good performance, followed by a convincing 6-1 win against Netherton United in the Hinchingbrooke Cup. We followed that with a 3-1 victory against Eaton Socon before producing one of our strongest performances of the season in the FA Vase, beating Saffron Walden Town 5-0. That result was particularly pleasing. Not only did we score five goals, but we also kept a clean sheet, which is something we place a lot of importance on as a management team. We’re currently sitting seventh in the league, but with games in hand on several sides above us, we know there’s a real opportunity to push ourselves further up the table.
Today’s opponents Knowle are having an excellent season. They arrive sitting top of the division with 32 points from 13 games, and their results show just how difficult an opponent they will be. They’ve started the campaign strongly, and we know we’ll need to be at our best. However, these are exactly the games we want to be involved in. Playing the league leaders at home is a great opportunity to test ourselves and show how far we’ve progressed. We have a group of players who are working extremely hard, and the standards within the squad continue to improve. The competition for places is healthy, and everyone understands what is expected of them. I’d also like to take this opportunity to welcome Rhys Thorpe back to St Neots Town following his return from Eynesbury Rovers. Rhys needs no introduction to anyone connected with this football club. He’s a huge figure here and played a massive part in our promotion two seasons ago, so it’s fantastic to have him back. I’ve made no secret of how highly I rate Rhys. In my opinion, he’s the best forward at this level of football, and I fully back him to go out there and prove that. I know exactly what he brings to the team, both in terms of his ability and his character, and that’s why I was so keen to bring him back. Hopefully, he can have the same impact he had during our promotion-winning season and play a big part in helping us achieve something special again. We also welcome Nathanael Aatkins as our new first-team physio. It’s an important role within the football club, particularly with the demands of the season, and we’re delighted to have him joining the backroom team. Finally, thank you to everyone who continues to support the players and staff. Enjoy the game, and hopefully we can reward you with another positive performance and three points.
Enjoy the game.
Cameron.
Good afternoon and welcome all for today’s game day match at the Premier Plus stadium. Today we welcome all the players ,officials and supporters of Knowle to the premier plus stadium for our first ever meeting between the clubs. Knowle have been setting the pace at the top of the UCL premier south since the start and will prove a real challenge for Cameron and the lads today and Saints will have to be at their top of their game to challenge for the points and keep up with the chasing pack in this extremely competitive league this season. Saints have had a very busy October of league and cup football and Cameron and the talented squad have been in good form and shown some excellent performances to find the results to maintain their quest to keep in the chase with the leading pack. Last week saw the Sad withdrawal of our opponents FC Stratford from the UCL which left the Saints with no game ,hopefully this would have given some of the players a chance to rest up and sort those niggling injuries and prepare for another challenging month of football at the premier plus stadium with the next 3 Saturday Home matches in both league and FA Vase in a busy November of football. We are delighted to continue with some excellent live music after the game and what will be a busy string of Events leading up to the Christmas period. So please bring your family and friends and come and enjoy some match day experience and fun and get Behind the lads and give them that Extra cheer and support to drive them on to secure the points and victories needed to maintain their push to challenge the leading pack. Look forward to seeing you around today. Best Wishes
Barry
Paul Revill is the man behind Castle Comedy. A Bedford based stand up comedian with 10 years and 1000+ shows experience. He has taken six shows to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where he also takes the opportunity to find the best talent for Castle Comedy. Paul Revill is an award winning comedian and one of the most likeable acts on the UK comedy circuit. He tells stories with vivid characters and involves the audience in the fun. A variety of personal anecdotes intertwined with observations and punch lines, ensure that the laughs just keep coming.
KNOWLE FC (the robins) Year founded: 1926 Chairman: Stuart Lanyon Club Website: www.knowlefc.co.uk GOOD AFTERNOON AND A WARM WELCOME TO KNOWLE FOR THEIR FIRST EVER VISIT TO ST NEOTS TOWN This is Knowles’s first season at Step Five and what an impact they are making! Having been crowned champions of the Step Six Capelli Sport Midland Football League Division One last season with a goals tally of 115 for and only 27 against in 40 league matches, they were promoted across the pyramid to the UCL Premier Division South and brought their outstanding league form with them. They did not concede a league goal until after a months’ football this season, and that was to second placed Rugby Town whom they beat by the odd goal in three away from home. Now leading the league table by four points with two matches in hand they will be formidable opponents for our lads this afternoon. They have suffered just one league defeat so far and that was to Moulton who beat them by the odd goal in three. They have recorded memorable League victories this season over Atherstone 4-3 (away), and Eynesbury Rovers 5-0 and Coventry Sphinx 4-0 (both at home). They kicked off their UCL adventure by defeating FC Stratford 7-0 at home in their first match but sadly that result has been expunged with the unfortunate demise of Stratford. In the FA Cup this season they began with a 2-1 home victory over Darlaston who play in the Midland Premier League, and then travelled to Step Four Coleshill, beating them by a goal to nil. Their third opponents in the National competition were Step Three Worcester City where they lost 1-0 in a replay following a home draw. Worcester then went onto feature recently in the First Round Proper where they lost narrowly at Colchester United. IN the FA Vase they defeated Stourport Swifts away from home before losing at home to Ashby Ivanhoe in a penalty shoot-out. Finally in the League Cup they won 1-0 away at Sheffield FC before knocking six goals past Blackstones, also away from home, but they were beaten 2-0 at home by Heanor Town. Their next Cup adventure comes in ten days’ time when they host Step Three Leamington in the Birmingham Senior Cup competition. Previous meetings of our Clubs none
John Walker
Another in a series of historical records looking back at our fortunes in a past season (both good and bad!)
ST NEOTS TOWN FC 2006/2007 SEASON This is another in the series of historical records, highlighting this time another season at our Rowley Park stadium depicting both the highs and the lows in the recent proud history of the Club. It was disappointing after the relative success of the previous season, mainly due to a serious dip in the number of goals scored. Leading scorer from 2005/06 Steve Kuhne departed for Potton in mid-September only to return with his new side later in the season to score the winning goal in a 2-1 victory. Manager Steve Young departed in January to leave Scott Houghton as Manager with assistance from the experienced John Taylor. However, the abiding memory from that season was the inclement weather (especially on Saturday afternoons!). In the worst season almost in living memory 10 senior matches were postponed and a further two abandoned and St Neots was not the worst hit club. As a result, the season was not concluded until mid-May with the first flooding postponement occurring as early as September at Wootton Blue Cross. Twenty-three league defeats in a season was a record following our return to football at Rowley Park. League Final League position: League playing record: Cup playing record:
UCL Premier Division seventeenth/21 P40 W12 D5 L23 For 47 Against 86 pts 41 P11 W4 D1 L6 For 16 Against 24
Ryan Francis claimed our only league hat trick of the season at home against Buckingham Town. The statistics underline our lack of goalscoring power because for the first time for 20 years no player reached double figures. There was one further treble scored by Sean Murray in a 4-2 Huntingdonshire Senior Cup victory over lower-graded Brampton. The Reserve side beat Fletton Reserves 3-1 in the Scott Gatty Cup Final at Somersham with goals from Joe Walsh, Shane Fox and Sean Cleaver. However, that match (according to my notes) suffered a 25 minutes’ delay in the second half because of a riot in the stand!! Our leading scorers were as follows: Wes Byrne 9 Mark Franklin 8 Ryan Francis 7 Craig Reynolds 7 Sean Murray 6 John Coley 5 Our Manager was Scott Houghton John Walker
A disappointing result from nine seasons ago (10/10/2017)
LATE GOAL FOILS SAINTS
St Neots Town 2 Dunstable Town 2
Saints extended their unbeaten league run to five matches on Tuesday evening, but were left regretting that they failed to capitalise on their dominance in possession for large parts of the match, which allowed the visitors to equalise with a late penalty to take a share of the points. St Neots started well and created an early chance when Sembie-Ferris broke from his own half and raced half the length of the pitch but his cross towards Meechan was intercepted at the price of a corner by Sonuga. Dunstable took an early lead after eleven minutes when a cross cum shot from the left by OseiBonsu deflected in off the head of TAYLOR PARR. Saints gradually took control of the match with some slick first time passing in midfield, and after long range efforts from Meechan and Knight flew over the bar, the visitors’ keeper was soon in action to save from a Parr header before watching a Bradshaw free kick deflect just wide of his post for a corner. St Neots drew level after twenty-five minutes when Sembie-Ferris beat his marker on the half way line and once again his pace took him clear of the defence before he crossed for TOM MEECHAN to score. Saints continued to dominate possession but failed to create any good chances, and whilst the visitors were quick to counter-attack by playing long balls out from the back the central defensive partnership of Parr and Bradshaw comfortably dealt with any threat. On the stroke of half time a Jack Bradshaw free kick struck both posts but did not cross the line. The second half began much as the first had ended, with Saints in control but failing to create many clearcut chances. Dunstable had struggled to cope with the pace of Sembie-Ferris for most of the match and he almost created another chance on fifty-five minutes but after beating two men he could not get his shot away. Meechan then went close with an overhead kick after Bradshaw had flicked on a Herd throw in, but it was once again the pace of Sembie-Ferris that created the Saints second goal after sixty-five minutes, who latched on to a ball from Wiltshire and beat his marker before crossing for DYLAN WILLIAMS to slot the ball home. Knight then almost added a third from 20 yards a minute later, but his shot flew just wide. The final third of the game was a little scrappy, with the game broken up by numerous free kicks being awarded, and this suited the visitors, who equalised in the seventy ninth minute from the penalty spot after the referee adjudged that substitute Ogden had been fouled less than a minute after coming on when challenging for a loose ball in the box, and AREL AMU fired in the spot kick. Despite pushing forward in the final ten minutes Saints were unable to test keeper Harker and had to settle for a draw, which probably felt like two points dropped, rather than one point gained. St Neots: Emery, Sinclair, Herd, Knight, Bradshaw, Parr, Sembie-Ferris, Wiltshire, Meechan, Horne, Williams Subs: O’Malley (for Horne 16), Bridges, Davison Scorers: Meechan (25), Williams (65) Cautions: Wiltshire (37), O;Malley (76), Williams (88), Bradshaw (90) Dunstable: Harker, Kioso, Okito, Barnett, Sonuga, Betts, Young, Osei-Bonsu, Amu, Silva, Collins, Subs: Makuendi(for Silva 61), Ladipo (for Barnett 40), Ogden (for Young 78), Odusoga, Chidiyausiku Scorers Parr (OG) (11), Amu (79) Cautions: Kioso (38), Young (59), Collins (74) Attendance 180 (Peter Naylor)
FA VASE ROUND TWO SAINTS BLOW AWAY THEIR VISITORS TO REACH THIRD ROUND St Neots Town
5
Saffron Walden Town
0
St Neots equalled their best FA Vase win since 2010 with a stunning 5-0 victory over visiting Saffron Walden who ply their trade in the Essex Senor League. Despite the two sides bragging more than 300 years in existence between them and being just 33 miles apart, this was their first ever meeting at senior level. The visitors defended well in the first half, but once St Neots got into their stride after the break, it was almost one-way traffic for the remainder of the contest. With Michael Amaeshike and Magloire Muyembe both returning from injury, St Neots were arguably at full strength, with Joe Sutton and Will Grocott both dropped to the bench. The visitors had enjoyed a bye to this stage of the competition after a fine run last season, but they never looked likely to repeat that form against a host side looking confident and hungry for success. Skippering the visiting side was former St Neots player Jordan Gent who started his senior career with the Saints making 101 appearances plus 19 as substitute up to the 2010/11 season. The only blot on an otherwise highly successful afternoon was another booking for Manager Cameron Mawer following a first half verbal exchange with the match Referee. The early signs were that St Neots were well prepared and eager to impose themselves on the contest. After nine league and cup matches in just a 28 days’ spell in the month of October there was little sign of fatigue as the home side dominated play. Particularly prominent early on was the returning MJ Muyembe who after bringing an early save from visiting keeper George Coton, set up the lively Connor Furlong, but the keeper touched his effort over the crossbar. Lloyd Asimoah then cut in to rattle the crossbar with his rising shot, and Harvey Henderson rose to head a long throw from Lewis Burgess onto the roof of the net. Asimoah was then brought down as he wove his way through the visiting defence, but the Referee waved play on – and all this action was in the opening twenty minutes. The visiting team looked shell shocked and after 25 minutes they conceded the first goal as Burgess joined the attack to cross for Connor Barnes to send a looping header into the far corner of the net. The visitors responded with their first serious attack, but Olly Miles dragged his effort just wide and then an MJ header rebounded from the crossbar to safety. The half ended with almost nine minutes of added time during which Furlong forced a full length save from Coton and MJ had another effort blocked on the goal line. The second half was only three minutes old when the lively Lloyd Asamoah added his name to the scoresheet picking up an inch perfect cross from Furlong with the visiting defence absent. Michael Amaeshike saw an effort blocked but after 53 minutes he netted with a close headed finish. Just past the hour another long throw from Burgess created panic in the home defence as goalkeeper Coton pushed the ball into his net to give St Neots a 4-0 lead. Still the dominant home side were not finished and after 72 minutes Michail Amaeshike struck again from a cross by substitute Dammy Nickels. The visitors’ agony was complete when defender Jack Clark was sent off as he picked up a second yellow card. St Neots: Heath, Kerins, Burgess, Parker, Henderson, Joseph, Furlong, Amaeshike, Barnes, Muyembe, Asamoah Subs: Sutton (for Muyembe 62 mins), Nickels (for Henderson 62 mins), Baulk (for Asamoah 75 mins), Grocott (for Furlong 83 mins), Robinson (for Barnes 83 mins) Cards: Mawer (Y – 20 mins) Scorers: Amaeshike 2 (52 & 72 mins), Barnes (24 mins), Asamoah (48 mins), OG (61 mins) Saffron Walden: Coton, Salman, Black, Barton, Gent, Clark, Amir, Osei-Saahene, Miles (O), Deering, Lopez: Subs: Woodley (for Lopez 56 mins), Armstrong (for Barton 56 mins), Poxon (for Osei-Saahene 62 mins), Young, and Miles (C) Cards: Clark (RED – 2xY – 56 & 74 mins), Gent (Y – 22 mins), Salman (Y – 56 mins) Scorers: none Referee: Alex Birnea (Cambridge)
21 DEC 2026
St Neots Town Ben Heath Jake Kerins Dammy Nickels Lewis Burgess Robbie Parker Harvey Henderson Scott Joseph Micahel Amaeshike Magloire Muyembe Will Grocott Danny Baulk Connor Furlong Rhys Thorpe Joe Sutton Lloyd Asamoah Milai Perott Dimagio Robinson Manager : Cameron Mawer Asst Mgr : Steve Kuhne Coach : Caolan South GK Coach : Gary Dean Physio : Nathanael Aatkins Kitman : Graham Horgan
Knowle Odane Barnes Dylon Bennett Joshua Bindley Anton Caines-Powell Lewis Clarke Talib Copeland Dylan Daniels Jack Duggan Ethan Green Brady Floyd Matt Horton Mitch Mollison Connor Mort Wayne Muyabi Josh Parsons Zak Parsons Sebastian Pearsall Flynn Powell Hayden Purves Callum Scott Toby Scott George Seeley Sonny Sheasby Jamie Spiers William Steward Owain Taylor Liam Wilson Jt Managers – Clive & Matt Seeley