Northern Senior League Division Two
Mitcheldean 2, Huntley 3
HOW to stop high flying Huntley?
That's the aim of every team in the Senior League this season as the village side sweeps all before them in a surge for the league title and their second successive promotion.
Manager Ian James is telling his boys they are good enough and all they need to do is concentrate.
"We have beaten all the top teams but the crunch could come immediately after Christmas when we play Longlevens, away. They beat us 2-1 on our own ground in the first game of the season and we need to come away with a point.
"If we do that I believe we can win promotion. It's as simple as that," said James.
Reflecting on Huntley's outstanding run of wins, James said everyone was now out to stop them.
"We have to wear teams down now. That was the case at Mitcheldean on Saturday where we had to come from behind and at Whitecroft the week before when for half an hour we had a real battle. But once we scored we were able to pull clear," he said.
James is delighted with his team's attacking potential and an increasingly tight defence.
"We've got better and better, scoring 45 goals and conceding only 16. That's not a bad defensive record," he said.
Huntley have a mean goal scoring machine in deadly front runner Marc Matthews.
"He has scored 38 goals in all games this season and is now a marked man but he still pulls them out of the bag," said James.
"I'm the second best scorer with 10 from midfield. It's a reflection on Marc's ability that he has been able to score so freely," said James.
Struggling after picking up a slight knock in a midweek game at Ledbury last Wednesday, Matthews failed to score at Mitcheldean. Against determined opponents who scored first through an own goal, Huntley gradually asserted themselves and by the interval were sharing the spoils with two goals scored by Matty Curtis.
With 25 minutes to go James brought on Liam Morgan and 10 minutes from time he scored the winner to keep Huntley four points clear and with a game in hand on Longlevens.