football rambles

 Unfortunately, I have been short on time this week so I am only coming back to this game after nearly a week.  It was a well won game by Downham, who I thought would find it tough against Yarmouth. However, the Red Army got off to a flying start that put the Bloaters on the back foot. A cross from Charlie Royle was met at the far post by Dylan Edge in the first minute to put the home team ahead.  Downham remained on top and a strike from Charlie Royle on the 20 minute mark made it 2-0. The rest of the game was well managed by Downham who kept Yarmouth at bay and gathered a fine well earned win.

I was desperate to get to a game yesterday, but it was one of those Winter days when half of the local pitches were waterlogged and the other half were frozen. The day started with a constant refreshing of Twitter as the games started to be called off. Amongst the bad news was the Downham Town feed. They were confident that their game was on and they also seemed friendly and want people to attend. Ely Reserves were silent and King's Lynn looked on, but I wasn't in the mood for them, so we decided to start the New Year with a trip to a new ground and get along to the Memorial Playing Fields in Downham Market. It all looked straight forward on the map, but obviously when we reached the town I bore left instead of turning left and we ended up going around in a circle before being put on the right path at a local pub. The ground was quite unassuming and in marked contrast to the fallen glory feel that surrounds the visitor's - Great Yarmouth's ground - it didn't loo...

St.Patrick's day and a trip to the seaside, what could be better? Well, the weather for starters. Like last time Ely were at Great Yarmouth it rained all day, but that wasn't enough to dampen our spirits and after a trip round the town, to the funfair and the pub, which included spotting a couple of Ely players getting stuck into fish and chips we made it to the Wellesley for a pint of Guinness in their impressive clubhouse. We had time to enjoy it though as the kick off was put back by 15 minutes, as some of the Ely players had got caught up in a traffic jam. Things clearly aren't going to well at Yarmouth. They were relegated last week having only got 7 points from 33 games. The memorabilia that had adorned the walls of the clubhouse had gone and a crowd of just 50 with a large contingent from Ely says it all really. The people still doing work for the club are clearly keen and committed, but you feel that they are going to have to turn a lot of things round or the future...

Today Ely took on Great Yarmouth and with the visitors having let in 113 goals already this season I was expecting a big score for the Robins, but it didn't quite work out like that. Ely who seem to have two games a week for most of the rest of the season made a few changes and started with an unusual combination of Richard Gammon and Austin Diaper up front. It was clear from the start the way the game was going to go with Ely camping out in the Yarmouth half. Ely went into the lead on 13 minutes when Luke Parkinson swung a corner in and Ben Lawrence met it clearly on the edge of the 12 yard box and knocked it into the back of the net. It looked like this would probably be the first of many as Ely were crossing the ball in well and Great Yarmouth didn't look like they would be able to deal with it. In the few minutes that followed the opening goal Ely had several chances to increase their lead after a spot of head tennis from the forwards in the six yard box and then Sam Parkin...

In a list of the all time greatest games in the Eastern Counties is a match from 1960 where Ely City beat Great Yarmouth 9-5. I didn't expect this game to be a classic that would go down in the history books, but it was definitely a far better match than I had anticipated. Around the step 5 clubs over the last few weeks there has definitely seemed to have been a feeling that the season was already finished and that it was time to play out the last few games before the summer break, well at least at the clubs where the teams weren't involved in promotion or relegation battles. However, today saw both teams put up a spirited display that made the match look like it mattered. The Ely players turned up at the ground in fancy dress, but their good humour seemed to dispate somewhat once they entered the pitch. The opening encounters didn't create any real chances, but both teams were getting stuck in. After some bad tempered arguements between the players Ely were the first team ...

Tomorrow is Ely's last game and despite eulogising over the performance against Brantham a couple of weeks back I'm half thinking thank God for that! All of the Step 5 issues in this region have been settled and the players are looking knackered. Anyway time to be positive for once. Tomorrow the Robins take on Great Yarmouth Town at home. I went to the reverse fixture earlier in the season and I have to say I really like the Bloaters' set-up. They have a ground with the oldest stand still in use in the World, friendly fans and officials who run the club professionally and one of the best programmes at this level. Actually, I might be over-stating Yarmouth's programme, as since I visited the Wellesley last September they had to cut costs on the programme and the regular editor has been out of the country for a couple of months. Let's hope he comes back and carries on the good work next season. Yarmouth's Wellesley Road ground was opened on 6th August 1888 and the...

Great Yarmouth on the attack in the first half Lee Pacey clears for Ely in the second half

I have to say that the locals were friendly at the Wellesley, which reminded me of a Serie A ground (he says tongue in cheek) with the running track around it, although that is probably due to the fact that they share the ground with an athletics club. In terms of refreshments there was a tea bar, which also doubled as a souvenir shop with Ipswich and Norwich stuff as well as Bloaters' memorabilia. I have to say that they were quite friendly there and even did the ever demanding Nadiya some toast. They also did bovril at half time, which a lot more clubs in the region should do. There was also a posh tea bar and a proper bar. The proper bar was very comfortable and looked more modern than most Conferenc clubs provide. Again the people were friendly, but we did have to wait until 2.40 to get a drink, because they were waiting for somebody to bring some money to put in the till. I did think of suggesting they took the cash and gave me the change later, but I didn't feel like rock...

The ground is a short walk away from the seafront, here is part of the way to the Yarmouth ground. The locals were pretty friendly. Here's me questioning one around the corner from the ground. Here we are at the entrance to the ground.

A bit of an interlude. Here are some random photos of the kids at the seaside.

Yesterday Ely took on Great Yarmouth away at the Wellesley Recreation Ground. And although I have been lucky with the weather at the coast since coming back to England a couple of years ago the weather was dreadful yesterday. Ely had the weather on their side in the first half and Adam Dalby ( I think!) put Ely ahead on 19 minutes. It was a 35 yard blaster that I like the entire Yarmouth defence missed. At half time it remained 1-0 and Ely were unable to extend their advantage of playing with the wind and rain behind them. In the second half both Ely and Yarmouth played well and both keepers had saves to make, but Yarmouth managed to equalise on 69 minutes. After this Ely had most of the play and looked the more likely of the teams to steal the game especially when 15 minutes before time Impey broke through the Yarmouth defence, but unfortunately hit the bar. So the game finished 1-1 and it could have been better, but on balance it was probably a fair result.