FA Cup First Qualifying Round - Hitichin vs. Aveley

Clouds over Hitchin's Fishponds Road ground.

For my next FA Cup game I headed back to Hertfordshire to see Hitchin's home tie against Aveley. Aveley have always produced exciting games whenever I've watched them. I saw them win 4-7 at Enfield and lose 2-4 at home to Carshalton in the FA Trophy last season. The game has a potential to be an upset as Hitchin are unbeaten at the top of the Zamaretto Central Division while Aveley are in mid table in the Ryman Premier Division.

The main stand which provides then only seating in the ground.

The ground is an interesting mix of covered areas. There is wooden standing around half of the ground with intermittent areas of cover. One end is a big concrete, uncovered terrace, where the home faithful gather in the second half. The other side of the ground is the main stand which provides the only seating in the ground. The stand is also home to the changing rooms, toilets and physio room.

Covered standing at one end of the ground.

Aveley score with two minutes and it looks like Aveley will stride through to the next round. They play decent football an dominate the first half hour. Hitchin start to get back in to the game and force a succession of corners and throw ins near the Aveley goal. Their best chance of the half comes when the left full back clips the top of the crossbar from a volley at the back post. He probably could have had a touch as he was completely unmarked.

Uncovered standing at other end of the ground.

In the second half, Hitchin come out and attack from the off. They have a lot of the ball but don't actually create any clear cut chances. They do eventually create an equaliser around the seventy minute mark, a free header at the back post goes across the goalkeeper and in to the back of the net. The winner comes just a few minutes later. A corner is not cleared properly and a shot from the edge of the box hits the back of the net via a deflection. Aveley huff and puff for the last twenty minutes but fail to really trouble the home goal keeper.

Other areas of covered standing and dugouts.

The clubhouse does have sky sports but is quite small. There are four pubs in-between the station and the ground. There is also another two around the park which is opposite the ground. The town is also a short walk from the ground. Hitchin is a 30 - 40 minute train ride from Kings Cross Station and the ground is a 20 minute walk from the station. A really fantastic leafy ground,  quite similar in feel to St Albans' Clarence Park. Hitchin now face a derby in the next round when they face Cambridge City. A match that is likely to feature in this very blog!

Main Stand and the first half home end.