Havant & Waterlooville turn their sights to the FA Trophy on Saturday as they host Cinderford Town in the third qualifying round. 

The Hawks have not yet played in this competition so far this campaign unlike our lower league opponents. 

There is no doubt that Paul Doswell’s men will be fired up for the cup encounter with a place in the first round proper up for grabs. 

The Hawks are also coming into the game with the wind in their sails after defeating promotion challengers Bath City last weekend in a thrilling two one encounter. 

Goals from Alfie Rutherford and Danny Kedwell was enough to turn around the early deficit, although a heroic double save from Ross Worner was without a doubt the moment of the match. 

The Hawks will have to put their title charge on the back burners this weekend as they go in search of another potential piece of silverware. 

The Foresters will go into the game full of determination to create a huge upset. Their last result in the league will give them confidence to do that as they came out on top after a thrilling 4-3 encounter against AFC Totton. 

Paul Michael’s side will not go down without a fight as they have shown throughout the competition, a tight 1-0 win at home to Potters Bar Town earlier this month was enough to send them through to face The Hawks. 

Doswell knows just how big of an opportunity the FA Trophy can be: “It’s a good competition the Trophy, I’ve just said to the players this week that it is one of the few chances you’ll get in your career to have a genuine chance of playing at Wembley. 

“I mean technically we are the 26th seeded side in the competition so it gives you a chance. It’s not like the FA Cup where the prize money is fantastic but the chance of winning that is nil. We are really looking forward to it.” 

The Hawks manager mentioned the significance of home advantage in these cup games: “It’s not dissimilar to what happened in the first two rounds of the FA Cup for us this year. 

“Cinderford we had them watched at Totton on Saturday. They’re fifth in their league at the moment which we know well. 

“We do watch games at that level and it’s a decent enough level so it is the same story, if your not at the races and they’re 10% above what they’ll normally be then they will have every chance on the day.”

If you want to find out more about this weekends opposition, head over to the website and have a read of the ‘Get to Know’ – Cinderford edition.

Make sure you keep up with all match day information and updates through the website and our official Twitter account @HWFCOfficial.

By Liam Rice (@Liam_Rice9)