football rambles

After a few weeks away I was back at the Unwin to see Ely take on CRC on Saturday. I have to admit to getting a bit distracted. First of all Jon Birkin was in town, secondly the kids were with me and thirdly the phone kept ringing. The first half was a bit dreary with one long stoppage for injury at half time the score was still 0-0. At half time I had my own injury time when I slipped on the steps and then spent most of the second half winded. Darren Coe, who was playing in central defence in place of Ben Lawrence, was having a great game in defence and it was him who put the Robins in the lead. A miscued goal kick from Lee Pacey allowed CRC to get back in the game with a flukey lob before Austin Diaper got the winner. A poor first half and an excellent second half all in all. Hopefully, I'll be back with a proper report next time.

Today was an FA Cup day, but as Ely were handed an away match on the other side of Northampton we decided to stay in the Eastern Counties League with a match at the Abbey Stadium between CRC and Mildenhall. The game started off with some bad weather, but was clear enough for the first couple of minutes. However for the first 10 minutes or so, the weather got worse .... ... and worse for the first 10 minutes. We did get a bit of a rest bite from the weather though and Mildenhall seemed to settle into the game first of all. On 13 minutes they wasted a gilt-edged chance, but the greasy pitch could have been to blame for this. CRC came back at them and had a decent chance on 18 minutes, but Pope in the Mildenhall goal was as always on excellent form. For the first 35 minutes Hall had the better chances, but were often caught offside. CRC on the other hand looked skilled, but often gave the ball away cheaply when in the Hall half. How the game would have played out though we won...

At least this includes a photo of CRC on the attack.

The photos here all show Wroxham on the attack and one where they have just missed the target. It was impossible to take any photos of CRC attacks because of the angle of the sun.

Here follows a few photos from CRC V Wroxham. This one is from the team line up.

Yesterday we saw a game that led to Ely going back to the top of the league without seeing Ely play. The game in question was CRC V Wroxham at the Abbey. It was the first footballing Saturday of Spring and when the weather improves at the tail end of the season the local non-league football starts to deteriorate, mainly because the teams I follow never have much to play for. This season is different though with Ely challenging at the top of the Eastern Counties Premier and Thetford going for promotion from the first. They both have finals to look forward to with Ely taking on Soham in the Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup and Thetford facing Gorleston in the Norfolk Cup. Yesterday CRC who are in 4th might have been excused for taking their foot off the pedal a bit, especially after a fixture full couple of weeks and playing on a particularly hot day. Wroxham on the other hand have everything to play for and are hopeful of promotion to the Ryman League. Therefore it was a bit of a shock tha...

Although it might be known locally as the shabby, Cambridge United's Abbey Stadium feels like Wembley when you are watching Step 5 football. Last night Ely City took on CRC at the Abbey in the Eastern Counties League Premier and again there were plenty of goals and unlike in recent seasons they weren't all in Ely's net. The game started off in the drizzle and the referee seemed likely to be the star of the game after booking Richard Chadwick for diving in an innocuous looking place on the pitch and stopping the game twice as two Ely players were showing the bottom of black shorts under their red shorts, which must have 'clashed' with the black shorts of CRC. And that was about all that happened in the first 25 minutes. During this period CRC put some nice passes together and Ely showed a decent level of commitment and tenacity, but nobody showed any real ability to put a decent shot on target. Then CRC got a penalty out of nowhere, literally out of nowhere as when t...

Yesterday Ely took on CRC in a fixture that Ely hardly ever get anything from. However, Cambridge United parted with their manager Martin Ling and this had ramifications for CRC, so it was probably the best chance Ely had of registering a result against an even younger than usual CRC side. The weather was warm for the time of year but the wind speed, which had seen the market in the city being abandoned meant that the game was always going to be played under difficult circumstances. Ely were playing against the wind in the first half, however CRC never really looked like capitalising on their advantage, despite Ely keeper Lee Pacey doing his best to help them out by booting the ball in the wind under every opportunity. CRC could also have perhaps considered themselves lucky not to have been down to 10 men when a late, late tackle on Ebanks-Blake was punished only by a yellow card. It was arguable if he was the last man, but the lateness of the tackle would have been dealt with more ser...

Tuesday night saw Ely again lose to CRC. This time it was in the league and the result was a convincing 4-1 victory for the visitors. Nick Impey scored a rare goal in the first half to pull the Robins back to 2-1 and up until half time it looked like Ely could get back into the game as they pushed for an equaliser. However, it was not to be and eventually CRC pulled clear with 2 goals to win the game convincingly. It also looks like I'll have to wait a while for some higher level football, as I planned to go to the Cambridge v Kidderminster tomorrow, but it means that I might not get back for the fireworks, so I might have to make do with Ely reserves v Lakenheath tomorrow.

That's the question I had when I first started watching Eastern Counties League football and saw the name CRC in the league. This was rather stupid on my part as I walk past a bus that goes to CRC everyday on the way to work. Put simply, CRC stands for Cambridge Regional College, but the club operates as Cambridge United Reserves. I'd heard rumours that the club called itself CRC, as they wouldn't be allowed in the league as a reserve team. This seems a bit proposterous though, as Kings Lynn Reserves and Histon Reserves are in the same league and CRC took the place of Cambridge City reserves in 2006. The club is actually named such as CRC provided the initial coaching and outlay to form the club. The club are based at Cambridge United's Abbey stadium and wear the same colours as the first team. There has also been sponsorship from Cambridge United fans to help the team get more recognition and there were a few of the Amber Army in attendance at the game against Ely City...