30 September 2011

Jake Ash targets FA Cup win tonic

Source Western Morning News : LINK



TRURO City skipper Jake Ash admits the club's well publicised financial situation has had an effect on the squad but said they would put all that behind them when they travel to Bournemouth on Saturday in the FA Cup.

Victory over the Sydenhams Wessex League premier side in the second qualifying round tie would earn City a welcome £4,500, with the promise of more to come.

City have never got past this stage in the cup, but victory at Victoria Park would give the club a major boost.
Ash, who is unlikely to play because of knee problems, said of the club's financial situation: "It does affect the boys, but once you get on the pitch you forget about it. The uncertainty though does not help.
"It does play on the back of your mind. It is a tricky time, but the players have got a great bond and are sticking together.

"We have all got a job to do and hopefully everything will get sorted out.

"A win on Saturday would be great financially and for the supporters and players."
Although Bournemouth – nicknamed the Poppies – play three levels lower than Blue Square Bet South City, Ash is expecting a difficult game.
He said: "There are always some shock results in the competition and we have to make sure it is not us on the wrong end of one.

"It is not too often that we go into a game as favourites but I am sure we will be ready for it."
City will be without several key players through injury and suspension.
Both Barry Hayles and Barry McConnell will be serving one match bans, while Steve Adams (ankle), along with Ash, is also likely to miss the game.

City boss Lee Hodges said he was really looking forward to the game after what had been a difficult week.
He said: "I love the FA Cup and we will give it everything to get through.
"Bournemouth are three leagues below us, but that won't count for anything on the day.

"It has been a tough week, but they are a tight knit group and they will be all out to get the win."
Speaking of the club's off the field problems Hodges said: "My job is to pick a team to win the match, to get them to train properly and prepare the players as best I can. They are a great group of lads.

"We are in an OK position in the league but the main priority now is not the play-offs but to make sure we still have a club and stay in this league."

City's 1-1 draw at Thurrock on Saturday lifted them to tenth in the table – just three points of a play-off spot.
And Ash believes there is enough quality in the squad to challenge for promotion, if not this season, then next.
He said: "It is a difficult league but I am sure we are good enough to compete. If we can get into the top half this season it would be awesome. From what I have seen so far there is nothing to be scared about."

City fans will notice that their favourites are starting to look rather more hirsute than usual.
The squad has started a beard growing competition for the foreseeable future. Ash said the reasons why they started the competition would "remain in the dressing room".

"Some like Barry McConnell and Tom Brooks are finding it more difficult than others," he said.
"There are a few ginger ones, while we are calling Broady (Joe Broad) Gandalf as his has turned a bit grey."

29 September 2011

"The worst ground in the league"

An interesting fans blog from a visiting Maidenhead supporter's point of view has just come to our attention.  Its well worth a read and those pictures paint quite a sad story.

LINK HERE
Turnstile state of disrepair at the County Council end.

27 September 2011

A winding up order for Truro City

This article appeared on the popular football web site 200percent last week:

Source: LINK HERE

The London Gazette can be a treasure trove of information. The official journal record of the British government contains years and years of official information and one notice, published yesterday, really caught the eye – a winding up order issued against Truro City Football Club Limited. This story, which may yet end up turning out to be a case of much ado about nothing – specific details regarding the amount owed are somewhat thin on the ground at present – will be of particular interest to the supporters of Plymouth Argyle, of course, since the club’s owner, Kevin Heaney, has been at the centre of what is increasingly looking like a failed bid to buy Plymouth’s Home Park, with the former Leeds United chairman Peter Ridsdale being set to take over the running of the club. Perhaps the question that supporters of both Plymouth and Truro will be asking today is that of whether Heaney’s money, which has propelled Truro up from the South-Western League to the Blue Square South over the last few years, has run out, or whether there is more to this story than meets the eye.

There was a time when the story of Truro City might have been regarded by some – or even many, perhaps – as a fairytale, but the days of most neutrals standing back and passively admiring the noblesse oblige of a benign dictator at a small club seem long gone. Heaney’s original plan was to turn the club professional in the belief that there would be sufficient interest in a professional football club for the whole county to make it self-supportive. As time has progressed, however, the plans for the club have become more modest, although it does retain full-time staff. The decision to stay part-time resulted in the departure of one manager, Dave Leonard, although his successors, Chris Webb, Sean McCarthy, Steven Thompson and Lee Hodges, have been able to maintain the club’s upward trajectory. Similarly, Heaney’s plans for a new, 16,000 capacity stadium in the the city were twice rejected by council planners, before finally being approved for a smaller stadium earlier this year, with the underwriting of the operating costs for its first 10 years of its operation being met by Dicky Evans of the Cornish Pirates rugby club.

On the pitch, meanwhile, Truro City have found the going in the Blue Square South more difficult than the Southern League, so far. They have won five and lost five of their opening ten matches of the season and sit in eleventh place in the table. It was, of course, always likely that the club would find that the going more difficult as it progressed through up the non-league pyramid and competing with the likes of Woking and Dartford was always going to be a challenge for any newly-promoted club, but even a season of relative consolidation would be a reasonable stepping stone towards further progress. Whether even modest progress such as this will be sustainable in a competitive division if the club has run into financial difficulties. Plans for the future are one thing, but the club’s present must be its most immediate priority, especially considering today’s news.

The last available club annual accounts, to the period ending on the thirty-first of December 2009, show a club that has been living off Heaney’s largesse. The accounts show the club’s liabilities to exceed its assets to the tune of £1,689,807, although it is noted that “£1,408,408 of the current liabilities relates to a loan from the director who has indicated his ongoing support to the company”. The freehold for the club’s Treyew Road ground, meanwhile, was transferred into the name of a company called Cornish Properties Ltd on the twelfth of February 2010 for £1,175.00, with the club continuing to play there under a one hundred and ninety-nine year lease. What is interesting about the Land Registry’s report on Treyew Road is the section regarding restrictions. Charges dated the twenty- fourth of January 2008 and the twelfth of February 2010 are in place – meaning that the ground cannot be sold without the written consent of Lloyds TSB.

Perhaps more curious than this is the other charge registered against Treyew Road. Dated the fifteenth of July 2011, it prevents “disposition of the registered estate (other than a charge) … without a certificate signed by a conveyancer, that the provisions of the clauses 12.1 and 12.2 of a Contract dated 8 July 2011 made between Persimmon Homes Limited (1) Cornish Properties Limited (2) Truro Retail Park Limited (3) Kevin Christopher Heaney (4) have been complied with or that they do not apply to the disposition.” To clarify, Kevin Heaney has been a director of Cornish Properties Limited 2003 and its company secretary since 2008, while Truro Retail Park Limited also appointed Kevin Heaney as a director and secretary in March 2011. Cornish Properties Limited and Truro Retail Park Limited both, for the record, have the same registered address as Truro City Football Club Limited. So, we may well wonder, what was the contract signed between Kevin Heaney, Kevin Heaney, Kevin Heaney and Persimmon Homes on the eighth of July 2011 and, even more specifically, what were clauses 12.1 and 12.2 of it?

We know that Cornwall Council’s feasibility study into the Stadium For Cornwall was completed less than three weeks after this contract was apparently signed and that Persimmon Homes South West has been listed as a lobbyist for a massive housebuilding project in or around the city. We also know that these plans “could also pave the way for a new 1,500-home housing estate nearby in an associated application.” In addition to this, at the start of August the Plymouth Herald was reporting that the “takeover of Plymouth Argyle hinges on the successful outcome of a separate property deal”. Could these disparate stories be linked? They were all reported within a few weeks of each other, for sure. Until anyone knows anything more concrete, though, they remain speculation.

Rumours of the Truro City players not having been paid were circulating as long ago as the start of August, and this hasn’t been the only unrest at the club. After a home match against Dorchester Town in August, anti-Heaney songs were reportedly sung, and this led to the football club’s vice-chairman, Chris Webb, demanding, “that any TISA (The Truro Independent Supporters Association, which was founded last December) branded items, including TISA shirts, scarves and badges not be worn to Treyew Road, as of this Saturday 3rd September” and that, in addition to this, “Treyew Road gate security has been instructed to refuse entry to anyone wearing TISA merchandise.” We can, of course, all draw our own conclusions over what this may or may not say about those currently running the club, but if there is a constant theme running through all of the above, it can only be concluded that something is not right at Truro City Football Club.
Back in the present, the club’s reaction seemed to betray a lack of understanding of insolvency law. The full club statement on the subject can be seen here, but a couple of phrases stand out. Firstly, a company is responsible for the payment of its tax bill rather than HMRC, and the the fact that the club was “only recently … advised of the amount of debt due” is, frankly, irrelevant. The club states that, “This was as a result of HMRC failing to demand this debt over the last two years”, to which the only rational response should be to ask why the bill wasn’t paid by the club itself over the previous two years. In addition to this, the club states that, “TCFC are dismayed by the actions of HMRC in bringing and advertising the petition without allowing the matter to be settled privately and understand the issuing of petitions against football clubs is a matter of HMRC policy which has been effected against a number of football clubs in recent times.” That it was advertised yesterday shouldn’t have been a surprise, though: it was presented on the twenty-fifth of August.

To quickly summarise the procedure, in the first place a creditor will present a petition to the court, which will determine whether it is reasonable. The creditor will also have to prove that it took reasonable steps to recover the amount owed to it. Providing the court accepts the petition, the winding up order will be issued to the company concerned. At this stage, the company has three options: it can pay the outstanding debt in full with costs, it can reach agreement to pay the creditor, or it can request that the court prevents the proceedings from being advertised in the London Gazette because the debt is disputed. If none of these options are taken up within seven working days, the petition is advertised in the London Gazette and a date is set at court for a hearing, and this hearing must be at least seven working days after the placing of the advertisement. It is certainly not unreasonable to presume that the club should have been aware of this action prior to the advertisement being lodged in the London Gazette. It is also worth pointing out that HMRC is obliged to advertise it thus.

The Football Conference will, we dare say, be taking a keen interest in the goings-on in Cornwall. Their financial reporting initiative was introduced in 2009 and has led to a huge reduction in the amount of money owed in taxes. Failure to have the tax bill paid up to date doesn’t in itself lead to other sanctions, but more serious matters may lead to transfer embargoes, fines and points deductions. With debts massively outstripping assets, interest in the ground being related to an unreported contract with a house-building company, players reported as not having been paid on time, an independent supporters association being effectively banned from the ground and a winding up petition now having been advertised for the end of the month, it seems fair to say that there could be considerably serious matters ahead for Truro City.

26 September 2011

Late goal denies Truro three points as Truro rise to 10th

Thurrock 1-1 Truro City

Match report: http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Hayles-goal-puts-Truro-tenth-place/story-13405147-detail/story.html

Forum posts from the game:

SteveC: Before I forget, for me the funniest moment on Saturday was in the 1st half when a ball boy tried to throw the ball to Bazza from about 10 yards away for him to take a throw in and managed to actually throw the ball over the stand and out of the ground!!

I don't think anyone else saw it and I had to try and explain why I almost wet myself laughing.

EssexBoy: We really should have 4 up at half time. Yetti hit the bar and we came close on a number of occasions. Definite pluses were Barrington and Yetti who looked a lot sharper. Tim was okay after treatment and although we looked the better team (especially in the first half) Thurrock were well organised and had a decent (albeit 12 year old ) keeper.

Highlight of the day was Gary the Hat losing a quid in the Pringle machine. I did point out that this was 'bladdy Essex mate.'

Mountaineer: Home at 9.30pm, over 12 hours since I set out this morning, is it worth it? YES.
A game of few memories, Barry Hayles tortured the Thurrock defence all afternoon but blatent misses by Stewart Yetton (10 mins) and Dan Smith (16 mins).

17 mins 2 Thurrock players collide with each other resulting in a Truro free kick (work that one out),
20 Mins Thurrock hit the crossbar should have scored but it went to ground and was cleared.
21 mins, open goal and Thurrock miss,
31 mins GOAL Barry Hayles doing what he does best, turned the defence inside out and slotted the ball away.
32 mins Fantastic save by Tim Sandecombe, point blank range.
37 mins David Partridge (Thurrock) booked
44 mins Free Kick Walker to Yetton ball hits crossbar, out for goal kick.
From half time on the game died, little incident until the unforgivable happened Thurrock scored after 86 mins 1-1.
A draw was possibly the right result, Thurrocks determination v Truro's TIREDNESS, all the traveelling takes it's toll and two journeys in 5 days certainly contributed today.

THURROCK ...... (0) 1 Bowbitch 86 mins.
Booking David Partridge 37 Mins Yellow card.

TRURO CITY .... (1) 1 Hayles 31 mins.

Attendance 201.

Images from the game, courtesy Brian Thompson.
Main entrance to Thurrock's ground


Pughey climbs high


The dedicated few

Mark Lancaster, Ray Jennings, Gary Smith, Paul and Peter

Lapsed Marxist !

21 September 2011

Stunning 3-1 away win at Maidenhead

 First match report from MOUNTAINEER, as per his excellent post on Tiger Talk:

What a game, we had the same referee that refereed the Truro City v Evesham game at Treyew Road recently.
Scotty scored penalty on 63 mins.

This game was frustrating, to go in one nil down against 10 men was unbelievable, I bet there was plenty of swearing in the changing room at half time.

This was not a dirty game as games go, unfortunately the referee sowed the seed of discontent booking anyone who dared move, the Maidenhead fans at our end blamed me for their first sending off, they thought it would have been a yellow until I reminded the referee about it being a last man situation, think of Barry McConnell's sending off on Saturday and it was almost identical except this time we were on the edge of the penalty area.

Marcus scored on 71mins.
From a tame first half the second exploded into "The Referee Show" few if any knew why he booked so many, three sendings off and at least 10 other bookings, there was more going on off the ball that the referee missed, it was exhibition football for the last quarter with Truro City passing the ball about as they liked, I only wish they did it further up the pitch.
Another gutsy performance by the team feeling their way into the big league.

Maidenhead United (1) 1
Brookes (o.g) 19 mins

TRURO CITY ........ (0) 3
Walker (pen) 63 mins
Martin 71 mins
Afful 90+4

Attendance 301

The league website and others credit the second goal to Barry Hayles but Barry's shot was blocked and Marcus Martin following up scored, I was only 6ft away.

Our small band behind the goal did enough to waken the Maidenhead fans from their slumber.
Les Scored on 90 mins.

Another great awayday and superb 3-1 result.

20 September 2011

No time to fret over defeat – Hodges

Source: Western Morning News LINK

Truro City 0 Sutton United 3

Truro City boss Lee Hodges will rally his side as quickly as possible after Saturday's 3-0 setback against Blue Square Bet South high-fliers Sutton.
United swept up to fourth in the table after Saturday's win at Treyew Road but Hodges – whose side slipped to 15th – is already looking ahead to tomorrow's testing trip to fifth-placed Maidenhead United.

The City boss admitted: "There's no time to feel sorry for ourselves and, in a way, I suppose it's a good thing that we have not got any time to think about Sutton, because we are at Maidenhead now and that's the focus.
Sandercombe received a head wound
"It's my job to lift the lads, take the positives from Saturday – because there were some – and remind them that we should have got a result against Maidenhead here."

City lost 2-1 to Maidenhead at the start of the month, beaten by an 87th-minute winner.
Hodges said: "It's a quick turnaround – playing Maidenhead again so soon – but from my point of view, the good thing is that the defeat by them at ours will still be fresh in the minds of our players and I will use that as motivation because we should have taken something from that game."

On Saturday's defeat by Sutton, Hodges said: "We felt we should have had a penalty when Barry Hayles was bought down at 1-0 and that would have made a huge difference because we could have made it 1-1."
Sutton had taken a 28th-minute lead through Harry Beautyman, sweeping in to convert Tony Taggert's cross with a first-time strike.

City striker Andy Watkins shot straight at keeper Kevin Scriven as City attacked from the start of the second half and Andy Taylor shot just wide.


Hayles booked for ungentlemanly conduct
In the 56th minute, Hayles received his fifth caution of the season after he was felled on his way to goal.
A minute later, City were 2-0 down when after home keeper Tim Sandercombe saved Craig Dundas' shot but Sutton's Craig Watkins followed up the rebound to net.

City defender Barry McConnell was red-carded for a foul on Dundas as he broke through in the last minute and Sutton took full advantage to make it 3-0 from the resultant free-kick, smashed in by Sutton substitute Tom Kavanagh.

Truro City: Sandercombe, McConnell, Walker, Pugh, Adams, Ash, Taylor, Martin, Watkins, Hayles, Afful. Substitutes: Palmer, Clay, Broad, Smith, Yetton.
Sutton United: Scriven, Telfer, Bray, Watkins, Downer
, Page, Riviere, Beautyman, Griffiths, Dundas, Taggart. Substitutes: McCrae, Kavanagh, Piper, Orilonishe, Shaw.

Goals: Beautyman 28, Watkins 57, Kavanagh 90.

Referee: C Lymer (Hampshire).
Attendance: 558.

19 September 2011

FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round

Truro City have been drawn against Bournemouth Poppies.  This should be a decent day out and by all accounts, the Poppies are also looking forward to it.  The draw is apparently the biggest game in their long history.  Date Sat 1st October. Link:  Bournemouth Poppies

11 September 2011

Boreham Wood match report

A brief summary match report by Rhod Mitchell:  Link here > MATCH REPORT

Tiger Talk Forum quotes:

Mountaineer: This was a victory for the CLUB.

We won with only 30 seconds of added time left.

The away support did what I have been mentioning for some time, they were united as one, TISA, Exiles and individual travellers getting behind the team, we out sung the Boreham Wood fans attendance 290, our only competition was a geezer with a strimmer in one of the gardens, when that packed in they sent in a helicopter.

We all showed our support for everyone, team and officials.
The team and officials showed their support for us fans.

Today was a great day for the football club, the pleading of the last week was left in Cornwall, today looked like a unification, the great away support raised the volume, everyone was singing from the same hymn sheet - This has to be the future.

The Boreham Wood players were doing their fair share of 'Effing', so the song went out to them 'No more swearing, no more swearing, no more swearing on the pitch'. One of their subs was called Inih Effiong, I asked the question, if he comes on are we allowed to chant 'Who the Effiong are you', I was told I was being naughty.

Maybe today witnessed something everyone can build upon.

ESSEX BOY:

Great result today. Game of two halves really. We were all over them in the first half but didn't play at all well in the second. Fantastic free kick by Ting Tong to secure the points. Truro army in fine voice today and we were good boys and didn't swear Very Happy

HALFMAN HALFBISCUIT

Marcus opens the scoring (photo: Mark Brent)
A few more photos (*btw if anyone, i.e the match prog' want to use any pictures please ask first), hopefully the guy from When Saturday Comes will send us some better photos in due course

Generally a decent tidy ground, crowd wasn't large (207) but a good away following made sure there was an atmosphere, apart from Boreham Wood scoring we didn't hear a peep from the home support, although the Starlings on the floodlight pylon had a go too. The away supporters did Turo City proud and the players led by Hodgey were terrific at the end in coming over to us.

Friendly enough club, decent clubshop, Admission £12, Prog' £2 (good), Chips (from clubhouse) 7/10, Burger (from catering van) grim, less said about the tea the better, Bar-girl:  Cool ! Big thanks to the TISA guys who did the driving today, away days are, and continue to be, the best!

10 September 2011

Truro Fans flags at Boreham Wood

Some up-to-date TISA flags on show at Boreham Wood today.



Sam Molsam chooses Weymouth

Source Weymouth Town FC site LINK HERE

Sam Molsam, previously reported as taking an interest in Truro City, has now decided to sign for Weymouth Town.  A pity for TCFC but if he didn't feel comfortable with the move, it's best not to sign.

08 September 2011

Boreham Wood match preview

By John Mead - Boreham Wood FC

Source: BWFC LINK

Truro City visit Meadow Park this Saturday, the first time a Club from the most south Western County of England have made the trip.

The White Tigers are playing their first ever Season at this level after a meteorical rise through the ranks of Non League Football.    Backed by local businessman Kevin Heaney who saw a niche for higher level football in the area, his input allowed the side to rise from the Carlsberg South Western Football League, through the Toolstation Western Football League and into the Southern Football League.

His optimism is clearly paying off with five promotions in six Seasons and regular crowds of over 500.    This Season will be a real test for the Cornishmen as Wood themselves found out last Season.   Travelling enormous distances every other game may well be a good grounding should they win a further promotion to the Conference National, but it will take some getting used to.

This game has somewhat slipped under the radar compared to the return fixture which was bizarrely rostered in for a Tuesday night in March!    It is no secret that every team in the Division checks the date of the away match with Truro Cityas a priority.    Here at the Wood some fans have already secured the days off work to include the fixture in their plans.

Truro City flew out of the blocks in August, winning their first three games, beating the likes of Chelmsford City and Dover Athletic, two of the perennial promotion favourites, before losing their last four matches.
The thought that they would be impregnable at home was laid to waste by suddenly high flying Maidenhead United last weekend, when the Berkshire side snatched a last minute winner to make the return coach journey one to remember!

Amongst their ranks The White Tigers can boast the services of veteran front man Barry Hayles who at thirty-nine years of age is still a force to be reckoned with.    Starting his rise to fame just down the road at Stevenage Borough, he was to cost Fulham a staggering £2 million pounds back in 1998 when joining from Bristol Rovers.    He went on to play for a further five professional sides before dropping down to the level where he started out from CheltenhamTown.

Let’s hope our reasonable home form continues as the walking wounded of Wood are in desperate need of a pick me up!

05 September 2011

Truro Fans take a liking to Sofia

Several Truro Fans made the trip to watch England beat Bulgaria 3 - 0 in Sofia last Friday.  If you were wondering where the TISA flags were on Saturday, then look no further than two thousand miles away in an easterly direction...Cherish the memory because it's unlikely you'll see them for a while at home games.

JT enjoying a beer at the fans park in Sofia.

Matchday experience from a Maidenhead Director

The link below takes you to a well written insight into a weekend at Truro City from one of the Directors of Maidenhead United.  You'll need five minutes or so but it's well worth a read.

LINK HERE

04 September 2011

City sunk by late goal

Written by Rhod Mitchell, West Briton Link HERE.

Truro City 1 Maidenhead Utd 2
 Despite a much improved performance, Truro City slumped to their fourth successive Blue Square Bet South defeat when they conceded a goal two minutes from time at Treyew Road on Saturday.


The game looked to be heading for a 1-1 draw when the visitors broke from a City corner after Les Afful missed his tackle and with the home defence stretched, substitute  Anthony Thomas finished well shooting under a possibly unsighted Tim Sandercombe in the home goal to give the Berkshire side  all three points.


There was no way back for City  who had battled well to come back to level the scores after conceding a goal at the start of the second half when Martel Powell scored with a well placed shot into the far corner.

The White Tigers piled on the pressure and were rewarded after 65 minutes when Barry Hayles followed up to score his first goal of the season after Scott Walker's free-kick had comed back off the post.

Truro then seemed set to go on and win the game and the visiors' goal had several narrow escapes as Truro piled on the pressure.

But they were then caught out by a classic sucker punch and have now slipped to 13th in the table ahead of next Saturday's trip to Boreham Wood.

Truro:  Sandercombe;  McConnell, Pugh, Adams (Palmer h-t), Walker, Taylor, Ash (capt),  Martin, Afful,  Hayles, Watkins.
Subs (unused): Yetton, Clay, Smith,  Broad.

Maidenhead Utd:  Lumley,  Behzadi, Solomon,  Brown, Henry, Scarborough (capt),  Wall (Holgate 68), Hendry, Williams (Saroya 89), Powell,  Worsfold (Holgate 68).
Subs (unused):  Silver, Tison-Lascaris.

Referee; Brett Huxtable, (Torrington).
Crowd: 576.




02 September 2011

Truro Fans [TISA] Opinion

Following poor results on the pitch in the last week, relations off the pitch have also taken a serious tumble.

The chants sung from the terraces last week were unquestionably of a personal nature and no one from TISA condones that. Following an immediate apology in person from one of the perpetrators, an official statement of apology from the Supporters' Association, the resignation of the Chairman of the Supporters' Association, the life-long ban of the same person from Treyew Road and now the blanket ban of any Supporters' Association regalia to be worn at any match from this Saturday is monumentally heavy-handed to say the least.

With the banning of TISA regalia and merchandise, it would appear that a Supporters' Association of any nature is not actually wanted by TCFC. Like it or not, every football club has a supporters' club to organise away travel, functions, speaker dinners, all of which ultimately supports the players on the pitch. The impression has been given that none of this is required at Treyew Road?

For the sake of the club and its continued progress, surely there can be some middle ground?

01 September 2011

Hodges acts to boost squad

Source: ThisisCornwall Link HERE

TRURO City have not been used to losing over the past six seasons as they have steamrollered their way up the Pyramid system with five promotions.

But they go into Saturday's home game against fifth-placed Berkshire visitors Maidenhead United (3pm) bidding to end a run of three successive defeats – the latest a 1-0 home reverse against struggling Dorchester Town on Bank Holiday Monday.

It is their worst run since Steve Thompson was briefly in charge.
It is also uncharted territory for City boss Lee Hodges who has enjoyed virtual non-stop success since succeeding the hapless Thompson towards the end of the 2009-2010 season.


Sam Malsom (courtesy Hereford Utd FC)
 And it is understood that Hodges has acted by strengthening his squad with the signing of much travelled former Plymouth Argyle striker Sam Malsom.

Since leaving Argyle the 23-year-old Malsom, who was a prolific goal-scorer for the Plymouth Argyle youth and reserve teams during Ian Holloway's time at Home Park, has played in Brunei, Latvia, Iceland and the Faroe Islands.

But it is thought that the Torquay-based striker now wants to stay in the country and Hodges has decided to give him a chance with City, though the club need international clearance before he can play.
Hodges has been looking to boost his injury-hit squad for several weeks and Malsom should provide him with more options.

Despite their poor recent run City are still a healthy tenth in the table and club chairman Kevin Heaney said the recent results had been a "reality check".

He said: "Six games in 16 days is a big ask for any team and we have had a few injuries.
"We always knew coming to this level we would find out a lot about ourselves and I am sure we will be fine.
"We have got to remain positive, any negative vibe is going to take you back further.

"After starting the season with three wins the expectation becomes enormous. "It's an awfully long season. I don't get too excited when we win and not too excited when we lose. It's about the whole season. If we can get used to this level and then kick on again like we did in the Southern League then we'll be okay.
"Its a big game on Saturday and we need a win."

And Hodges has challenged his squad to show they can compete at this level. He said: "They have been used to success at several leagues below where we are now.


"And they have got to up the ante to stay at this level if they want to be in this team and play in this league."
Hodges was also unhappy with what he described as the spoiling tactics employed by Dorchester.

He said: "They were a spoiling team. People come to be entertained and you cannot entertain them if the referee allows them to slow game down. But that is not an excuse.

"The boys look a little bit low and possibly lacking in confidence. There have been a lot games in a short space of time.

"We are not getting the rub of the green at the moment but we have to pick ourselves up. We will train on Thursday night and I will pick a team to hopefully win the game on Saturday."