Ely City v Wisbech Town, more great football but still no win
Last night Ely took on Wisbech in a Cambridgeshire Derby at the Unwin.
Ely were further down on numbers with yet more injuries and suspensions, so much so there was only one outfield player on the bench. Wisbech on the other hand had players on the bench that would have started in most teams in the Eastern Counties League. Furthermore, Wisbech have had a good start to the season, although it has to be stated that most of the good results they gained came from home games at their new ground, which has a bit of a hostile atmosphere or so I here.
Despite the lack of available players and the supposed quality of the opposition Ely got off to a great start with Andy Pettit heading the Robins ahead on 3 minuites. This set the scene for most of the first half with Ely playing a nice passing game with the ball on the floor and also creating numerous chances. In fact Ely could have easily been 2-0 up at half time when Andy Pettit hit the crossbar on 35 minutes. Wisbech's first real chance came 2 minutes later, but they didn't manage to get a shot in when Chris Strecki managed to steal the ball from the attacker at the last minute. Unfortunately though a mad 10 minutes followed which started with Robbie Mason getting booked after completely losing his rag and culminated with Wisbech getting an equaliser on 43 minutes. You just have to wonder if things would have finished differently if Ely had managed to hold the lead going into half time.
The second half didn't start off so well for Ely with a Wisbech dorward skipping through the defence before skillfully planting the ball in the back of the net just 4 minutes after the restart. Ely weren't finished yet though and on 49 minutes they came close to an equaliser on 51 minutes Robbie Mason came close and a few seconds later he came close with a rocket of a shot that bounced over the unfortunate Wisbech keeper into the back of the net to make the score 2-2.
However there was still three quarters of an hour left on the clock and with half an hour left Wisbech made it look all too easy to beat the Ely defence and the Fenmen were 3-2 up. Wisbech could have gone further ahead on 71 minutes when a brilliant move went just over the bar. Not that Ely didn't have chances either Andy Pettit was judged to be offside on 74 minutes in a move that would have probably led to a goal and on 76 minutes Robbie Mason again had a blaster that looked like it was going in.
That was to be Ely's last chance though and the last 10 minutes or so saw the referee go a bit mad shall we say. First on 82 minutes Strecki was sent off for a challenge which at worse was a booking and a couple of minutes later he gave Wisbech a free kick on the edge of the box after one of the best dives seen outside the Premier League. However, nothing came of that and the game finished 3-2 to Wisbech. You also have to wonder if the referee had been sent mad from all the arguing of the Ely players. It can't really do them any favours and the lack of empathy and or sympathy of referees that we see at the Unwin is probably connected with the lack of respect taht they tend to get. Maybe I should just shut up though and not be so judgemental.
Ely were further down on numbers with yet more injuries and suspensions, so much so there was only one outfield player on the bench. Wisbech on the other hand had players on the bench that would have started in most teams in the Eastern Counties League. Furthermore, Wisbech have had a good start to the season, although it has to be stated that most of the good results they gained came from home games at their new ground, which has a bit of a hostile atmosphere or so I here.
Despite the lack of available players and the supposed quality of the opposition Ely got off to a great start with Andy Pettit heading the Robins ahead on 3 minuites. This set the scene for most of the first half with Ely playing a nice passing game with the ball on the floor and also creating numerous chances. In fact Ely could have easily been 2-0 up at half time when Andy Pettit hit the crossbar on 35 minutes. Wisbech's first real chance came 2 minutes later, but they didn't manage to get a shot in when Chris Strecki managed to steal the ball from the attacker at the last minute. Unfortunately though a mad 10 minutes followed which started with Robbie Mason getting booked after completely losing his rag and culminated with Wisbech getting an equaliser on 43 minutes. You just have to wonder if things would have finished differently if Ely had managed to hold the lead going into half time.
The second half didn't start off so well for Ely with a Wisbech dorward skipping through the defence before skillfully planting the ball in the back of the net just 4 minutes after the restart. Ely weren't finished yet though and on 49 minutes they came close to an equaliser on 51 minutes Robbie Mason came close and a few seconds later he came close with a rocket of a shot that bounced over the unfortunate Wisbech keeper into the back of the net to make the score 2-2.
However there was still three quarters of an hour left on the clock and with half an hour left Wisbech made it look all too easy to beat the Ely defence and the Fenmen were 3-2 up. Wisbech could have gone further ahead on 71 minutes when a brilliant move went just over the bar. Not that Ely didn't have chances either Andy Pettit was judged to be offside on 74 minutes in a move that would have probably led to a goal and on 76 minutes Robbie Mason again had a blaster that looked like it was going in.
That was to be Ely's last chance though and the last 10 minutes or so saw the referee go a bit mad shall we say. First on 82 minutes Strecki was sent off for a challenge which at worse was a booking and a couple of minutes later he gave Wisbech a free kick on the edge of the box after one of the best dives seen outside the Premier League. However, nothing came of that and the game finished 3-2 to Wisbech. You also have to wonder if the referee had been sent mad from all the arguing of the Ely players. It can't really do them any favours and the lack of empathy and or sympathy of referees that we see at the Unwin is probably connected with the lack of respect taht they tend to get. Maybe I should just shut up though and not be so judgemental.
Comments