Sabbath history-making Moneyfields ready for hectic run-in to Wessex League campaign

Moneyfields manager Glenn Turnbull, whose club still have 21 of their 38 Wessex League games left to play. Picture by Martyn White

Glenn Turnbull’s promotion chasers will play only their 18th Premier Division fixture of 2023/24 when they welcome Brockenhurst to their temporary home of Chichester City’s Oaklands Park.

That still won’t mark the halfway mark of their 38-game ninth tier campaign which began back in early August - 26 weeks ago, to be exact.

So after 17 games in 26 weeks, Moneys now have to shoehorn their remaining 21 Premier fixtures into a 77-day window.

As it stands, the Wessex League season’s final day is on Saturday April 20 with play-offs taking place in the following week.

However, here could well be some leeway involved; after all, last season’s Wessex League Premier fixture list was extended by a few days.

That saw Horndean claim their first-ever Wessex title after playing their final eight Premier games between April 4-25 inclusive, winning seven of them.

Moneys are by no means the only ninth tier club facing a host of midweek games between now and the summer break.

Fareham Town, who have only played two league games since December 23, will reach their Premier fixtures halfway point if their game at Laverstock & Ford goes ahead this weekend.

Baffins only reached their halfway point on Tuesday of this week, while Hythe & Dibden - whose last home league game was on October 7 – have also got exactly half of their Premier games left to play.

Contrastly, four clubs – including top two Stoneham and Shaftesbury – have played 25 of their 38 games. Providing there’s no posponements, by the end of next Tuesday’s game at Fareham Shaftesbury will only have 11 league games left

This weekend’s Moneys v Brock game, meanwhile, is being held on the Sabbath as Chi are hosting East Grinstead in an Isthmian League South East fixture 24 hours earlier.

It starts a run of eight games in February - as many as Moneys managed between November 7 and January 30 inclusive.

Tuesday’s 3-1 loss at Hythe & Dibden - one of only two games the club played last month - at least meant Moneys don’t have to worry about the Russell Cotes Cup any more.

They do remain in the Portsmouth Senior Cup, though, and are booked in to go to Gosport Borough for a quarter final tie at the end of this month.