Farnborough Preview

If the Cherrywood Road pitch passes a 10.30am inspection tomorrow morning, then it will be a return to the club which Boro manager Graham Westley once owned and managed. Westley infamously left the Hampshire club in 2003 just days after taking them to Highbury to face Arsenal in the FA Cup and took a lot of players with him. He joined Stevenage and saved them from the drop. Since then Farnborough Town struggled both on and off the pitch, which ended in the demise of the club in 2007. A new club, Farnborough FC was formed and they are beginning to climb the non-league pyramid again. You can guarantee that Mr Westley won’t be given the warmest welcome back.

On to the game and I expect GW to name his strongest side available tomorrow afternoon in what could be a tricky encounter if Boro are not switched on from the start. Westley has said previous that he respects the FA Trophy as a competition and wants to win it. The team that faced St Albans in the last round was strong and it will be no different here. There maybe a debut in store for Irish midfielder Darren Murphy who along with Gary Mills will be hoping to dislodge both David Bridges and Michael Bostwick in the Boro midfield. It will be interesting to see if Steve Morison plays, with rumours about a imminent move to Millwall still rumbling on.

“It will take a very substantial offer from anybody who is interested to take him. There is nothing close at the moment.” Kenny Jackett on speculation regarding Morison

Opponents Farnborough are currently 5 points clear at the top of the British Gas Premier, although they have played a game more than second placed Merthyr Tydfil. They play in the same league as nearby Hitchin Town and Hemel Hempstead who are 17th and 4th respectively. Players of note in the Farnborough squad include Marcus Richardson, who spent some time at Cambridge Utd. Nick Burton and Michael Charles have remained at Cherrywood Road since from their days in the Conference. Charles could be one to watch and is currently the clubs top-scorer with 17 goals in 28 appearances. This will be Farnborough’s 4th game in the Trophy since they entered the competition back in October, with them already seeing off Soham Town Rangers, Braintree Town and Wingate & Finchley.

On paper it is a game Stevenage should win comfortably. We are on a good run at the moment and a big win here will only imcrease the confidence further, ahead of the Barrow game next weekend. I hope Stevenage put in a really good performance and beat Farnborough convincingly. It’s been a long time since we have given a team a real hammering and I think it will do the team a world of good. Obviously Farnborough will be well up for the game with it being a Cup game, plus the added feature of it being Westley’s return. It could be a tricky game, but if Stevenage can get an early goal, it should be an away win.

Prediction: Farnborough 1-3 Stevenage

UPDATE: Game called off after a pitch inspection this morning at 10.30am. The pitch was deemed unplayable, so the rearranged fixture will take place on Tuesday night, again weather permitting, with a 7.45pm kick-off.