NEXT HOME FIXTURE

Haverhill Rovers are the visitors tonight in the Thurlow Nunn Premier Division. Kick off is 7.45pm at Stoneylands, New Road, Long Melford.

Admission prices including a programme are £7 or £4 concessions. Concessions include Senior Citizens (over 65) and schoolchildren.

For hot food and tea, coffee etc visit Debs' Diner - for something stronger head to the Bar.

WEATHER FORECAST: Mild (9°) with a moderate breeze (15mph). There is a chance of some light rain,  but overall the weather looks a lot better than Saturday when Storm Dennis is due to arrive.

MATCH PREVIEW: Back to back wins against Hadleigh and Walsham have put Melford back on track after a little run where goals and points were hard to come by. The difference in those last two games was the clinical finishing; the Villagers were ruthless in front of goal, scoring 9 goals without reply. 

Previously Melford had been creating chances but were lacking that final finish. That’s the way it goes sometimes, but we are very lucky at Melford to have a squad of players with over 300 goals for the club between them. That always gives everyone a lot of confidence to know there’s players in every area of the pitch capable of scoring. 

Tonight’s opponents Haverhill Rovers started the season well before going on a run of defeats that saw them slide down the table. The return of player/manager Marc Abbott has steadied the ship and Haverhill are now heading in the right direction again, only losing once in their last 7 matches. In recent weeks they’ve drawn with high-flying Stowmarket and Stanway, so it’s certainly going to be a tough test tonight but hopefully an entertaining game.    

LEAGUE FORM (most recent at right): 

Long Melford (7th) L L D L W W 

Haverhill Rovers (15th) D W D L D D 

THE MANAGERS' VIEWS: 

"We’ll be looking for a similar display to our second half performance on Saturday, when two quick goals after half time put Walsham to the sword. Maybe the 5-0 scoreline flattered us, we were just clinical at key times, but we’ve also been on the wrong end of harsh scores, so you have to take these results when you can." 

"It will be a tough game as it always is against our rivals from up the road,  they’ll be keen to keep their run going too. "  (Long Melford manager Jamie Bradbury in tonight's matchday programme).

 "Although Long Melford have scored a few goals recently, we also know how to defend various styles of play. We were very happy with the outcome of the (Stanway) game, we put in a lot of effort, commitment and showed some real courage to take away a point.

We will be hard to beat, play with structure and we hope to have a positive result in a local derby." (Haverhill Rovers manager Marc Abbott speaking to the Haverhill Echo earlier this week).