football rambles

Yesterday we went up to Downham Market to see Downham Town play Halstead in the last home game for Downham of the season. At the start of the game the two teams were in 10th and 11th with the visitors having the slight advantage. If this was a chance for the teams to sit back and relax they clearly weren't showing it.  The game set off at a blistering pace with both sides pressing. The home team though were clearly the ones with their bit between their teeth and started pummelling the Halstead goal. An early chance for Downham Town Downham were given their first break on 18 minutes when the winger was pulled down in the box and the centre forward put the ball in the back of the goal to make it 1-0. Downham go 1-0 up from the penalty spot. The only shock was that it took another 13 minutes for Downham to make it 2-0 when a cleverly worked passage of play saw the centre forward get his and Town's second. Things weren't really going Halstead's way and even the decisions we...

Yesterday I went to see Thetford play Halstead in Divsion 1 of the Eastern Counties League. Going into the game Thetford had played 8 and won 8 in the league and are also still in the FA Vase having beaten Premier League high-flyers Dereham 3-0 away in the last round. Considering that they have gone on this run without centre forward Matt Blake or winger Bruno Tavares playing much of a role is even more impressive. Both Blake and Tavares were back for the game, but as Halstead themselves had a record in the league of won 5 drawn 2 and lost 1 it didn't look like it was going to be a pushover. The game started off with both teams appearing to be fairly equal, although Thetford had the best of the early chances. A speculative shot by Bruno Tavares on 7 minutes nearly went in over the keepers head and Matt Blake had the ball in the net on 11 minutes, but was offside. Matt Dixon, who in Blakes absence has scored 7 league goals and 7 cup goals came close 26 minutes and hit the crossbar. ...

On Saturday I will hopefully going to see Thetford take on Halstead Town in Division 1 of the Eastern Counties League. Halstead town at first glance look like they are probably a pretty likeable team, who can't like a team that where quartered shirts like it's still the nineteenth Century? Their record in the Eastern Counties League and the way they lurch from unparalleled success to abject failure also endears them. At the moment they are in one of their boost rather than boom periods. That said I shouldn't get my hopes up too much, as they will perhaps turn out to be an objectionable bunch as teams who wear black and white quite often do! Halstead were formed in 1879, but due to the relative geographical isolation of the town only played friendlies until they were admitted to the North Essex League in 1894. Their first piece of silverware coming 8 years later when they beat Chingford in the final of the 1902 Essex Junior Cup. After this early success Halstead flirted with...