Exciting times at Histon
Saturday, November 15
THESE are exciting times for Histon FC.
Riding high in the Blue Square Premier, the Cambridgeshire club now know they will face Leeds United in the FA Cup at home at the end of this month.
Histon have made massive strides over the past decade since they were a Ridgeons League club - and so it was interesting to watch their reserve side, who these days play in the Premier Division of the competition, in action at the weekend.
Histon Reserves belied their lowly 15th position before the start of play with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Norwich United at Plantation Park.
The Histon side included John Kennedy and Erkan Okay, two former Ipswich Town youngsters who failed to make the grade at Portman Road.
Kennedy did actually briefly appear in the first team, starting six matches at right back in the 1998/99 season between the sale of Mauricio Taricco to Tottenham Hotspur and the arrival of Fabian Wilnis.
He was subsequently released and dropped down to non-league level, playing for Canvey Island before joining the Histon Revolution, where he was was supporters' player of the year last season.
Both players have appeared in the first team this season but were lining up for the reserves on Saturday along with Robbie Nightingale, another to have played in Blue Square Premier during the current campaign.
Right back Tyrone Cameron and Alexis Charalambous, who played on the right of midfield, caught the eye and the young centre back pairing of Luke Upcott and Adam Dalby also look to have exciting futures ahead of them.
Referee Chris Francis was another to produce a polished performance - displaying firm control throughout to the extent that he achieved the rare distinction of not handing out a single yellow card.