Bracknell hoping for joy against county rivals.
Bracknell Town v Thatcham Town
The FA Carlsberg Trophy
First Round Qualifying
3pm, Saturday 17 October
Larges Lane, Bracknell Town FC,
Winning clubs receive £2300
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Bracknell Town will be hoping that the notorious slope on their Larges Lane pitch will provide them with the upper hand heading into this weekend's FA Trophy First Round Qualifying tie against fellow Berkshire-based side Thatcham Town.
Thatcham have made a promising start to the current campaign, riding high in the Southern League Division One South and West table while Bracknell sit rock bottom of the same division.
However, Bracknell club secretary Tony Hardy believes that Larges Lane could make all the difference when the two teams meet on Saturday.
"Being at home gives us an advantage with the slope, the bumps and the lumps," he said.
"The lads play on it regularly and train there twice a week. It's not so much the venue, but more the pitch."
Hardy is hoping that The Trophy will give Bracknell the chance to build some much-needed momentum.
"I don't see it as a welcome break," he added. "We have a lot of hard work ahead of us and need to get a win from somewhere.
"But that's not to say we aren't looking forward to the game, it's like top versus bottom, so some people may see it as a minor miracle if we were to win the game."
With only 25 miles separating the two clubs, Hardy also explained that the game has a little extra bite to it.
"The game is sort of a local derby for us," he said. "We play very few games against teams in our own county, so it's nice."