Urchins start new season at Salisbury

Hornchurch will begin their Conference South campaign with a trip to Salisbury City on August 18.

And Jimmy McFarlane’s men entertain Boreham Wood in their first home match of the 2012/13 season four days later, following their promotion from the Ryman Premier Division.

Chairman Colin McBride said: “It’s stating the obvious, but you’ve got to play them all. After 10 games we’ll know a bit more.

“We played Salisbury in the FA Trophy when we were at Thurrock, a week before our FA Cup match with Oldham, and won 3-0 down there.

“I saw them last year when I was working down there and they’re a big, strong outfit, like any.

“Boreham Wood have established themselves in this league, but you just don’t know.

“It’s exciting and we’re looking forward to it. There’s a lot to look forward to.

“You’ve got old Southern League clubs like Bath and Dover, who have got money like Eastleigh.

“It’s about getting ourselves sorted and seeing how good we are and how we compete as we go on.

“When we went up with Thurrock with ended up finishing third. We probably wouldn’t have thought that at the start of the season.

“It’s a lot of hard work, but Jimmy thrives on that.”

Urchins visit Essex rivals on August Bank Holiday Monday, then host the Blues in the return during the festive period.

Welling are the visitors to Bridge Avenue on Boxing Day, with Urchins due to travel to South London on New Years Day.

Other fixtures of note are the meetings with Chelmsford (home, October 30; away, January 19).

Jimmy McFarlane’s men beat Lowestoft in a thrilling play-off final at Bridge Avenue and have kept most of the squad together.

Matchwinner Michael Spencer, Rickie Hayles and Carl Rook have all left, but are replaced by Paul Goodacre, Sam Cutler and Alex Bentley.

Urchins began their pre-season training on Saturday and play their first friendly against Brentwood on July 14.

Hornchurch 2012/13 fixtures (home matches in CAPITALS) — August 18: Salisbury; August 21: BOREHAM WOOD; August 25: DOVER; August 27: Billericay; September 1: WESTON-S-MARE; September 4: Bromley; September 8: Basingstoke; September 15: DORCHESTER; September 29: FARNBOROUGH; October 2: Maidenhead; October 13: Staines; October 20: EASTBOURNE; October 27: Bath; October 30: CHELMSFORD; November 3: Truro; November 17: EASTLEIGH; December 1: Hayes; December 8: Weston-super-Mare; December 15: BASINGSTOKE; December 22: Dover; December 26: WELLING; December 29: BILLERICAY; January 1 Welling; January 5: Havant & W’ville; January 12: SALISBURY; January 19: Chelmsford; January 26: TONBRIDGE; February 2: Eastbourne; February 9: SUTTON; February 16: MAIDENHEAD; February 19: Tonbridge; February 23: STAINES; March 2: Farnborough; March 9: BATH; March 16: Dorchester; March 23: HAVANT & W’VILLE; March 30: Boreham Wood; April 1: BROMLEY; April 6: Eastleigh; April 13: TRURO; April 20: Sutton; April 27: HAYES.