football rambles

Lowestoft in blue and Kirkley & Pakefield in their change strip of yellow feeling the pressure.

It might seem a bit incongruous, but what a brilliant idea Lowestoft Town FC had on Saturday, which was my birthday, and they managed to combine two of my favourite things when they held a beer festival and also had a free match to attend with the Trawlerboys taking on local rivals Kirkley & Pakefield. Lowestoft used to play in the Eastern Counties League, but they are now riding high in the Ryman Premier, so they were always going to be favourites against the team from down the road. The Trawlerboys dominated the first half hour and the Royals were pinned in their own half. The home team didn't create that many chances though with Michael Frew hitting the post being the closest they came from scoring. They did take the lead on 38 minutes when Chris Henderson who didn't seem to realise it was a friendly at a beer festival put the team into the lead with a well struck 20 yard shot. In the second half the home team seemed to have found their shooting boots and ...

It might be two weeks still before most of the football gets under way, but yesterday saw the Step 5 teams kick off their season and I was at Ely City's opening game against Kirkley & Pakefield. Last season Ely finished runners-up and will be looking for a top 6 finish this season after adding to the squad that did so well last year. That said Kirkley & Pakefield always prove to be strong opposition and I think that Gorleston and Wisbech are going to be the sides to beat this year, with Brantham also looking worth a punt after the way they improved in the second half of last season. K & P did prove to be strong opposition, but it's always hard to tell what the season holds early on with players still coming up to full fitness, being on holiday and new players getting used to their new clubs. Like in most of the matches played in the Eastern Counties Premier yesterday the game ended in a draw; Gorleston, Norwich United and Brantham being the only sided to get 3...

It's really rare to see a 0-0 at the Unwin, in fact the last 0-0 I can remember was not at the Unwin, but an away game to Newmarket at the start of last season, though I might be wrong. Ely had a makeshift defence due to injuries, illness and suspensions and they were up against Kirkley & Pakefield who going into the match were top of the league with a goal difference that suggested they had a decent forward line and a decent defence. However, it was Ely who had much of the early play and they nearly went ahead on 5 minutes when Robbie Mason hit the post and they also had a decent chance 5 minutes later when there were a few chances for players in the box to make contact with the ball, but it somehow went past everyone. The best chance K&P had in the first half was on 29 minutes when one of the forwards was clear through on goal, but Adam Dalby forced the plater to go wide. The reason that this was the only real chance the visitors had during this half was probably testimo...

On Saturday Ely took on Kirkley and Pakefield and as predicted Kirkley and Pakefield won. The result also put them top of the league, and they should be there or there abouts at the end of the season, although it is very very early days yet. Russell Stock put the visitors ahead on 5 minutes when he beat the offside trap and not long after Chris Henderson, who had a blinder for the visitors, beat 3 Ely defenders to make the score 2-0. It remained 2-0 for most of the match and again Ely didn't look like getting back in the game. When Stephen Bell and Chris Strecki were introduced with 10 minutes to go, Ely looked a lot more lively and in the final minute Strecki scored a goal that nobody thought was going in, least of all the extra wide Kirkley goalkeeper. He must have been doing something right though, as it was the first goal that Kirkley and Pakefield have let in this season. However, for Ely it was too little, too late.

Last week I was on holiday just up the road from where Kirkley and Pakefield play, so perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise that they have a badge that looks like it belongs on a sign for a caravan park. Kirkley and Pakefield take on Ely this afternoon and it would take someone with a lot of optimism to predict a win for Ely. Ely have had a very mixed start to the season, but Kirkley and Pakefield have got off to a flyer. The first records of a Kirkley Football Club come from 1887 when a Kirkley team merged with East Suffolk to form Lowestoft FC . In 1890 another Kirkley team was formed and in 1897 they reached the final of the FA Amateur Cup. For most of their history though Kirkley have been in the shadows of Lowestoft, who are certainly the best supported club in the Eastern Counties League and probably are the best supported of step 5 clubs as a whole. Kirkley started to step out of the shadows in 2004 when they won promotion to the Eastern Counties from the Anglian combinati...