HELLENIC LEAGUE: Is the wait finally over or Vics? (From Swindon Advertiser)

HELLENIC LEAGUE: Is the wait finally over or Vics?

6:00am Friday 11th January 2013 in Sport By Ned Payne

SIMON Winstone would just be happy to get a game on at all following Malmesbury’s recent luck.

Poor weather has meant the Vics have not played 90 minutes of Division One West since December 8.

That is a state of affairs that has not helped Malmesbury’s plight in the league and they still occupy bottom spot with just four points from 14 games.

Weather-permitting, Winstone’s troops will travel to Lydney tomorrow and if his team can get a game under their belts, the boss will be a relieved man.

“We’ll just be glad to get a game on, it’s been five weeks since we last played,” said Winstone.

“Before we went through the run of games getting called off we were starting to hit a bit of form, so the break seems to have come at the wrong time for us.

“When you haven’t played for that long you lose a bit of match fitness so it is a concern. We need to get playing again.

“We’ve got a lot of games to catch up on and it’s important that we pick up points in those.

“I imagine we’ll be playing twice a week for a while, which is asking a massive amount of players who have to work.”

Vics are without Max Sparrow tomorrow as he is still struggling with an ankle injury, while Mike Alexander is unavailable due to work commitments.

Elsewhere, Fairford are missing the suspended Nathan Gambling for their away game at lowly Letcombe while centre-half Richard Stubbs is away.

Cinder Lane boss Paul Braithwaite said: “Letcombe are towards the lower end of the league but they seem to be involved in the majority of games they play, they aren’t getting walked over.

“We certainly won’t be going there expecting everything on a plate. We know we’ll need to work hard to ensure we come away with three points.”

Wootton Bassett are at full strength as they target their fifth win in a row when they make the journey to Old Woodstock, while Lambourn face a tough task when they make the trip to Brimscombe & Thrupp.

The one remaining game involving a local side sees Cricklade welcome Tytherington to Stones Lane.