football rambles

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.

Yesterday Ely took on a strong Dereham side at the Unwin and the team played a lot better than they have of late, but unfortunateley they didn't get the reslult needed. All the team played well, but Lee Dixon and Nick Impey probably impressed the most. Ely fell behind early on with Dereham scoring from their first attack of the match on 4 minuites. However the Robins showed determination and a beautifully taken shot by Nick Impey that was both powerful and accurate put the teams on level terms on 18 minuites. One of the most pleasing things about the first half performance was that the players didn't let their heads drop when they went behind and the midfield was engaged with the match and equal to a Dereham side who beat them 3-1 a couple of weeks ago and who are unbeaten this season. The second half was also pretty evenly balanced game with Robbie Mason and Andy Pettit both coming close and Lee Pacey making a couple of good saves from the Dereham forwards. The midfield might ...