IT’S on. Huntingdon Town and St Ives Town will meet in the preliminary round of the FA Cup on Saturday, August 25, after both teams scraped through their extra preliminary round ties over the weekend.

At Fakenham Town on Saturday, David Cobb provided the only real moment of quality when he scored the only goal of the Saints’ 1-0 win, while, on Sunday, Huntingdon were down to bare bones for their game at Irchester Town, but Joe Jordan’s tap-in was enough for another 1-0 win.

In Northamptonshire, watching that match, was St Ives’ joint manager Jez Hall. He told The Hunts Post: “It’s perfect really to have a local derby this early in the season - but both teams will need to play better than we have this weekend.

“There should be a good crowd and a good game. A lot of their side are our old players. It will be nice to see Ricky Dear, Jamie Blackwell and Dan Moyes playing against us. Game on.”

Game on, indeed - though the home side will be hoping to have a few more players on their books by the time it kicks off at Jubilee Park.

At Irchester, Huntingdon manager Ricky Marhineke was only able to name two substitutes, and within half an hour both Craig Green and Sam Spencer were on the pitch following injuries to Moyes and Jake Waterworth. Captain Dear soldiered on in bandages after receiving a nasty gash above an eye.

“We were pretty much playing with seven or eight fit players,” said Marheineke. “But the most important thing was to win. Financially for the club it was important that we won.

“We have never hidden away from the fact that financially we cannot compete with most of the teams in our league. An FA Cup run is a nice little earner and this sets up a game against St Ives as well so there will hopefully be a big crowd and a bit more revenue for Huntingdon Town.”

Both teams have already won �1,000 for winning their extra preliminary ties and there is another �1,750 prize money on offer for the winner in the next round.

Godmanchester Rovers also went through to that round when they beat Thetford Town 2-1 at Bearscroft Park.

Mike Hyem and James Hall got the goals in what was already Goddy’s third competitive match of their season. They will now host Daventry Town on August 25.

St Neots Town will join the competition at the first round qualifying stage in September with a home game against either Peterborough Northern Star or Thrapston Town. At that stage, Huntingdon or St Ives will be away at Cambridge City.