football rambles

 The first competitive match that I have got down to an Ely City home fixture for and the first home win of the season too. To be honest, I wasn't expecting a win for the Robins or an exciting game, so it was a real bonus to get both. Goals from Capel (2), Townshend, Tom Williams and Foster saw off the Hares. March took the lead early on before Ely equalised and regained the lead again before yet another equaliser before half time making the score 2-2 at the break.  In the second half, March took the lead early again before Tom Williams drew the teams level with the linesman saying the ball had crossed the line. You couldn't see from where we were, but the March goalkeeper vehemently protested about it. Ely made it 4-3 from the spot in what looked like a bit of a soft penalty before Foster rounded off a fine victory. Finally Ely had some luck and a win.

Last night, as I have already said in the post below Ely City were at March Town United for the Preliminary Round of the Eastern Counties League Cup. Last week I said it was a bargain as we had a bounty of goals and extra time in the game in the FA Cup against Needham Market. We also had a bounty of goals and extra time last night (no surprise on the extra time front, eh?) but as the bloke in the paper shop said this morning it wasn't a good game. Nothing much happened in the first 20 minutes of the game with neither team seeming like they were particularly up for it. March had a shot stray just wide on 8 minutes and Nick Impey had a decent shot for the Robins on 11, but it all felt a little half-hearted. Ely did get a breakthrough on 20 minutes though when a long free kick from Ely keeper Lee Pacey took a bizarre deflection off a March defenders head sending the ball rocketing in the air and into the back of his own yet. If there had been a cameraman there it would have definitely...

Last night I made my first trip to March Town United's GER Ground. Pictured above is their stand with a couple of players. I took my camera but the light was so bad I had to make do with grabbing this one. The ground was opened in 1923 and is certainly showing its age, although for someone who has visited numerous lower division East European grounds it held a certain amount of charm and the locals were friendly enough, although not that numerous and there seemed to be more people from Ely there. The stand was wooden and a bit worm eaten and obviously posed a bit of a fire hazard as there were signs advising against smoking within 40 feet of it. Sitting in the stand for a night game was a bit of a weird experience too, as the lighting in the stand seemed to be stronger than the amp-age of the floodlights, which gave you the feeling that you were watching the game on TV in the dark apart from in reverse. The facilities were also lacking for fans there was a little kiosk selling tea,...

Tomorrow night we are going on the relatively short trip up to March to see Ely take on March Town United in the Ridgeons League Cup. It will be my first trip to the GER Sports Ground. I have thought about going there before, as it holds a bit of mystery as anyone you meet who has ever been there doesn't have a good thing to say about the place. The club who currently play in Division 1 of the League can trace their history back to two clubs who operated in March before World War 2; March GER United and March Town. The former of these clubs, United were founded in 1911 and moved to the present ground in 1923. March Town started life out in 1885 and had played at several different venues in the league before joining up with United after the War. In 1954 The Hares joined the Eastern Counties League and finished in one of their highest positions in that season, 3rd. In 1988 the won the league for the only time in their history up to now, by beating Chatteris Town in front of 2000 fans...