Published: Friday, 22nd January, 2010 4:00pm

White ready to get going again

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NEIL White believes his Finchampstead side face a 'six-pointer' on their long-awaited return to action this weekend.

Finch have not played for six weeks since the 2-1 defeat at local rivals Wokingham & Emmbrook on December 12, as the big freeze saw the Hellenic League programme grind to a standstill.

But hopes are high that the Memorial Park pitch will be ready for the visit of Farnborough Reserves on Saturday.

And with their visitors sitting just one place ahead of Finch in the Division One (East) table - despite having the same points tally and goal difference as their hosts - White knows it is vital his side come flying out of the blocks in the second half of the season.

He said: "I would be upset if we didn't get anything out of the game because it's a bit of a six-pointer.

"We have got games in hands over them and some of the other teams around us so it would be nice if we could pull away from them and start looking up the table.

"The thing you worry about is the fact they are a reserve team and it means you never quite know what you are going to get.

"If they have got a couple of first teamers coming back from injury in vital positions like goalkeeper or centre forward, it can make all the difference to the game."

White is expecting Rob Yorke-Goldney to be his only absentee for the weekend's clash, with Dean Thomas nearing full fitness again after breaking a bone in his foot in the Wokingham game.

Despite that injury Thomas has missed no games in his spell on the sidelines due to the snowy conditions.

And while many pitches across the Hellenic League have been left waterlogged as the snow thaws, White is confident that the excellent playing surface at Finch should be ready for the weekend.

He said: "The only patch that might be a problem is the goalmouth towards the road, which doesn't get much sun.

"But because the pitch is part of the outfield for the cricket ground it tends to drain well and is usually in good nick.

"Anyway even if our pitch was ready, the fact that we still have to play them home and away should mean that common sense would prevail and the game gets played one way or the other."

White's men were able to shake off some of the rust that had built up over a month without football, by getting a runout in a hastily arranged friendly against Combined Counties Division One side Feltham last weekend.

It provided some much-needed action before the return to league duty for the villagers, who had not even kicked a ball since the Wokingham defeat.

White explained: "One of our old players Steve Potter, who is now involved with Feltham rang me up out of the blue last Thursday to see if we fancied a runout on an astro surface in South London.

"We sorted it all out, and then at the last minute, because everything thawed so quickly we were actually able to get out on the grass on the second pitch at Bedfont.

"It was good to finally get a game of football played and we scored a couple of nice goals.

"The only problem was the officials they had got in were terrible, and with about five minutes to go we agreed to knock it on the head when we were 4-3 down. But it was very useful to get a runout like that - an unexpected bonus."