Heacham host Downham in festive derby

Heacham and Downham Town go head-to-head for the first time this season in a festive derby at the weekend.Downham Town are chasing one of the play-off spots in the Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division, while Heacham have shown some improved form in recent weeks.The clash at the Heacham Sports Field is set to be an intriguing one, with several Magpies players facing their former club.Looking ahead to Saturday’s game, which is expected to attract a bumper crowd, Heacham boss Paul Hunt – whose side has become hard to beat lately – said: “Downham have been building for a number of years and had a good nucleus of players in place, which is one of the reasons why they’re pushing towards the top end of the table.”They’re a good side and the manager Dale (Stokes) has been there a while. They’ve got some very good ball players and some top lads who I’ve worked with before and they like to keep the ball on the floor.”It’s always a very difficult game but it’s one we’re looking forward to. You want to make your home ground somewhere powerful and we’ve performed well against the top sides at home this season.”Putting aside an away defeat at Thetford, the Heacham defence has only been breached once in five games. “The players have been brilliant and have put in a lot of hard work to get where they are now,” Hunt said. “In football, your shape and structure are the number one priority, even if you are not playing well – and the players have been working so hard every month since I’ve been here.”Downham boss Stokes said: “Heacham are a team that we know pretty well and they’ve got a few of our ex-players over there.”They’ve been dealt some bad hands with injuries to big players throughout the opening half of the season, much like ourselves.“It’s always hard when that’s happening and I can imagine Hunty has been frustrated not to have consistency because he’s put a very good squad together. “They’ve had to field some young sides at times, which is always nice to see as it’s something we’ve been advocates of over the years.”But one thing that’s guaranteed is no matter the personnel, they will be well-organised and hard-working. That’s a given when you play one of Hunty’s teams. “To be honest, I think they’re in a false league position anyway. From talking to neutrals as well it’s been a common theme that they’ve not necessarily picked up results that they’ve deserved and really should be sitting a lot higher than they are.”I’m sure it will be a great game for the neutral and we are looking forward to it. “It’s never an easy place to go to that’s for sure, so if we want to get anything out of it we will need to be switched on right from the start.”Heacham go into the derby off the back of a 2-0 victory at Stowmarket last Saturday where Ben Dear scored both goals, while Downham had Nick Castellan on target in a crucial 1-0 win against Woodbridge Town.