football rambles

Last night bottom placed Ely took on second placed Godmanchester. After getting only their second home win against Felixstowe last time, and the only one I had seen this season, we were not that hopeful. Ely had given a good account of themselves at Godmanchester the week before drawing 0-0, but on paper they had a much stronger side, which included ex-Ely players Tom Meecham, Austin Diaper and Lewis McDonald. It was clear from the start that Ely were hoping for a 0-0 as they stuck 10 players behind the ball and relied on some super saves from Craig Gailbraith in between the posts. It seemed inevitable that they would eventually get something and when Austin Diaper was fouled in the box    just before half time and Tom Meecham stepped up to take the penalty, it looked like Goddy were going to take the lead with a very Ely flavour. It wasn't to be though as Gailbraith guessed right and saved a penalty for the second game in a row. The second half started in the same way as the ...

After what was probably the best performance of the season at Felixstowe, Ely put in what was perhaps the worst performance of what has been in general a poor season. In just the third minute Godmanchester beat the Ely offside trap and instead of playing to the whistle the defence froze and Godmanchester were 1-0 up. After 10 minutes the game already seemed to be slipping away from Ely when Godmanchester doubled their lead, this time with a well worked team goal and a well taken volley. For the rest of the half Ely were chasing the game, but the long ball pumped up front looked a little unimaginative. Ely did finally get a lifeline though in the 43rd minute when a corner from Townshend caused problems in the box and somehow went in with Austen Diaper apparently getting the last touch. So Ely went in at halftime still in with a chance. For most of the second half Ely were fighting to get back in the game and Godmanchester seemed fairly confident that they could hold on without t...

Last night Ely took on Godmanchester Rovers and again it was a disappointing game. Ely are finding it hard to regain the form that they hit last season and the performance was more on a par with the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 seasons when the midfield seemed to lack creativity, the defence was prone to mistakes and the goals tended to come from Ben Lawrence throws into the box. This comes as a bit of a surprise as the basis of last season's team are still at the club and if anything they have managed to add some quality to the ranks. One noticeable absentee last night though was Adam Murray, who has formed a good central defensive partnership with Ben Lawrence over the last two seasons. As most of Godmanchester's attacks tended to go down the middle it is a worry that Murray, who was actually at the ground, has been linked with a move to Kettering. The game started quite slowly, but after 10 minutes it was Ely who looked the livelier of the two teams. However, despite being the ...

Tonight Ely City take on Godmanchester Rovers in the Eastern Counties League. Both teams have played 3 games so far this season and both of them are looking for a first league win of the season. Godmanchester are enjoying their first season at this level after pipping Thetford to first place in the first division last season. In fact the game between the 2 last season, which more or less sealed their place in the premier division saw a record crowd of 150 at Bearscroft Lane. As you can imagine from that record attendance Godmanchester are one of the minnows of the league. The first record of the team was in 1928-29 when the club won the Hunts Junior Cup. They spent most of their formative years in the Huntingdonshire League which they won in 1989. They then went on to win it again in 1992 and were promoted to the Cambridgeshire League's top division. They also won the league's cup in 1995 and 1996, before being relegated to Senior A of the Cambs League in 2000. They were...