East Harling aim to take another step towards club history against Thetford Rovers

East Harling can take another big stride towards making club history when they play host to neighbouring Thetford Rovers tomorrow (2.30pm).

Stacey Lawrence’s men have racked up 12 straight victories since their last defeat in mid-October – form that has seen them open up an eight-point advantage at the top of the Fosters Solicitors Anglian Combination Division One table.

The club has never played in the Premier Division throughout its 102-year history, yet victory during this weekend’s derby would bring that ambition firmly into view.

“Saturday is going to be another very tough game. They’re unbeaten in eight, we’ve won the last 12, so it’s the division’s two form sides against each other,” said Lawrence.

“As you’d expect, confidence levels are high at the moment but nobody is getting carried away.

“February and March are the months when leagues are won and it’s just about us continuing to tick the matches off.

“We know that being at the top means teams will want to beat us and others will be checking the results as soon as they’ve finished to see if we’ve dropped points.

“It’s a big game against Rovers. They’ll be wanting to get one over us after we beat them earlier in the season, but a win is going to move us a step closer to the ultimate goal.

“We’ve never been in the Premier Division in our history and while that might not mean much to some people because we’re just a village club, it means a lot to the people connected with the club.”

While Harling have shared the goals around this term, it has been at the other end of the pitch where they have been particularly impressive.

They have shipped just 18 goals in 23 matches, with Sprowston having the next best defensive record (27 conceded).

Lawrence added: “We don’t claim to be the prettiest team in the world or even in the division – far from it.

“But what we do is work incredibly hard as a group, everyone knows their jobs.

“We don’t rely on just one player. Charlie Webb is our leading scorer this season and he’s not played since before Christmas because of injury but we’ve kept on winning.

“Sometimes if you rely on a 20-goal striker or have one main defender you build around, if they are missing for a month or two that can really kill your season.

“We’re solid, we’re performing well and as I keep telling the lads, we’ve got to up it again.

“If we continue to do that, keep working hard, we will not be far away come the end of the season.”