Separated by 17 points in the uhlsport Hellenic Premier Division, Malmesbury Victoria and Cirencester Town have had vastly different campaigns in the league this season. However, as they prepare to face off tonight in the Wiseman Lighting Floodlit Cup, Cenurions Manager James Mortimer-Jones discussed not dismissing ‘The Vics’.
“We won’t underestimate them at all. I’d like to think it’s a friendly rivalry, we get along with a lot of people that are involved at Malmesbury, quite a few ex-players, whether it be in the first team or our old development team.
I watched them on Saturday and I was very impressed. I thought they didn’t look like a team that’s at the bottom of the league.
I know they’ve got a lot of games in hand, League-wise, I think it would be whether the game’s coming thick and fast might be too much for them. But if they can put in performances like they did on Saturday, I wouldn’t be surprised if they went up the table three or four spots.”
After reaching the quarter-finals through a dominant win over Corsham Town Mortimer-Jones expressed his teams’ excitement to go far in the competition.
“I think once you get to, you know, that we’d be in the semi-final stage, I think Westfield are already through and then there’s still some good teams still left in.
So, we don’t want to get carried away and look too far ahead. But, you know, they’re all teams that we’ve, in recent weeks, we’ve either got good results against or we’ve given good performances and nearly got there.
So, yeah, we wouldn’t fear anyone. Like I say, it’s just a bit of enjoyment that we’re still in a cup competition. We’ve got something to really have a buzz for.”
After Injuries against Slimbridge last week Cirencester Town will be without frequent starters Andy Lewis and Jack Freeman for tonight’s game but going to youth players for reinforcements has been a common theme for the Centurions this season,
“Two or three (youth players) will definitely be involved. Whether they start or not, we’ll see. But, you know, we’ve got a fairly young side as it is.
We’re calling the youngsters the under-18s at the moment, but we’re forgetting that we’ve got quite a young side as it is.
So, yeah, hopefully, they do play a part because they’ve got us through to this round so far. So they deserve to have a chance.”
Playing eight fewer games in the league this season than Cirencester Town, Malmesbury Victoria have struggled to play out their home fixtures, leading to concerns if the fixture will be played out tonight.
I haven’t been to Malmesbury for quite a while, but they used our facilities at our club on Saturday and I spoke to them, through no fault of their own, they’ve had a troubled time using their own pitch.
a bit, not free-flowing football, that sort of style. But you have to play in these conditions. Same for both teams, we might have to adapt what we try and do.
