Harleston Magpies Ladies' I manager John Adams bids to round off 'Super Saturday' with a win

John Adams is hoping Harleston Magpies Ladies’ I can round off the club’s ‘Super Saturday’ with a much-needed victory tomorrow.

Magpies’ men’s and ladies’ first and second teams are all playing at home on Saturday, in what is a rare occasion, as the club’s leading men’s side are usually in action on Sundays.

But a rearranged home clash with St Albans I will see Kevin Ridley’s Men’s I bidding for a sixth straight win in the Men’s Conference Midlands tomorrow (2.30pm).

And with the day starting with the Men’s II (1.30pm) and Ladies’ II (12pm) both in action, Harleston’s ‘Super Saturday’ concludes with the Ladies’ I’s crunch encounter against Cambridge City I, in Vitality Women’s Division 1 South (6pm).

A run of four consecutive defeats has left Adams’ side third-from-bottom in eighth place, just three points clear of the bottom two sides Witney I and City.

“We’re calling it ‘Super Saturday’ and we’re hoping there will be plenty of people about to watch and support the teams,” manager Adams said.

“Normally the men play on a Sunday and we play on a Saturday.

“It is totally a one off, as we normally wouldn’t be playing at six o’clock either. At the start of the season the men played some home games away early on, so they’ve now got a run of home games.

“Because we’d already arranged to play at six o’clock, it just so happened we could actually get two National League games in the same day, which is unusual.

“It’s quite good how it’s worked out. It should be a good atmosphere at the club to have both the first teams at home and lots of people watching on the same day.”

Last weekend, Adams’ Magpies returned to action for the first time since their Super 6s Championships Division One title-winning campaign indoors and were beaten 3-0 at home by Slough I.

The defeat stretched their winless run outdoors to seven games ahead of a crucial next two weekends, with tomorrow’s clash with basement side City followed by a trip to second-from-bottom Witney next week.

“There’s no getting away from the fact that it’s our biggest game of the season so far,” Adams said.

“It’s an old cliché. It’s a six pointer. If we win on Saturday it gives us a bit of breathing space.

“We’re playing Witney the following weekend, so we’ve got two games that potentially could make or break our season.”

Magpies will be without captain Ella Picton (ankle) this weekend.