.png)
PICTURE:Old Windsor Chairman, Gary Wade, proudly shows off the Slough Town Senior Cup silverware after the Os won it for the first time in their history last season. PHOTO: Gary House Photography
Old Windsor Chairman Gary Wade has shown respect to the attacking options that Britwell have ahead of their mouthwatering clash at the Chicken Ranch this Saturday (2pm KO).
The two teams have been fierce rivals in recent years and Britwell drew first blood this season when luring Harry Farnan away from The Os after the forward finished the previous campaign as their top goalscorer.
The move has not worked out yet for the defending East Berkshire League Premier Divisions champions however, after an opening day win at Frontline was followed by a surprise defeat at home to Chalvey Sports Reserves last weekend.
Old Windsor, now steered by new first team manager Luke Wade, drew with Iver Heath on the opening weekend before thrashing new team Surrey Rangers last weekend.
Wade would love to see his new young stars down the defending champions in their own back yard but, believes whatever the result this Saturday, will not define how the title race will go in the 2022-23 season.
Wade explained: “Games against Britwell are always good. I think there’s a little bit of mutual respect between the two clubs. We’ve had some battles on the pitch and that’s the way it should be, but we will always walk off and have a drink together after, which is all you can do.
“We’re looking forward to it again. There’s a little bit added to it for both teams, I think Harry will be looking forward to scoring against us, and we’re looking forward to trying to stop him. But, really he’s only one of multiple threats from Britwell, they’ve got a lot of attacking options and they’ll always cause problems going forward. Hopefully we can get our young boys to play some good football and cause some problems for the Britwell team.”
PHOTO: Harry Farnan celebrates a goal for Old Windsor in a win against Singh Sabha last season. The former Os forward now stars for Britwell this season.
Wade added: “There has been quite a bit of change at the start to the season with a new manager in. We’ve lost a few players but brought in some nice youngsters.
“It’s going to take some time to get them together but we’ve had two cracking games. One a very tight game with Iver Heath, which finished 4-4, but leading four times that was disappointing. And then we had a great performance against Surrey Rangers, especially in the first half to be four goals up. The team played really well. It has been a good start with four points out of a possible six.”
The Os Chairman continued: “I think the league is going to be a lot tighter this season. You can already see the likes of Iver Heath and Chalvey Sports Reserves, who’ve already had a good result, and Frontline are going to be up there as well. And the other teams can all give us a real game on their day as well.
“Whilst it would be nice to get the points on Saturday, I don’t think it will be the be all and end all, but obviously it would be lovely for us to go over to the Chicken Ranch and get the three points.”
To enter the East Berkshire Football League ahead of the 2023/24 season, or for further information about the league, or an entry form for the upcoming season, please email the team at contactebfl@gmail.com
