Support the Locals




The first weekend in Ely gave me the opportunity to visit a number of games. I could have gone to Soham V top of the table Leamington or Cambridge City v Bashley. These games yielded 5 goals each with Leamington winning 3-2 and Cambridge City beating promotion hopefulls Bashley 5-0. However, I witnessed a 1-1 draw between Ely City and Harwich and Parkeston and I can't say that I regretted the decision.

First of all Ely is a pretty friendly club and its fans include pensioners, young kids and vocal support from teenagers. Although the walk from my house was a bit of a nightmare as most of it was along the A10 and close to the ground are also a tennis court, a golf course and several rugby pitches, which makes the narrow road to it a bit of a traumatic journey and not something to relish when the weather is worse and they have a midweek game on. That said the programmes cost 50p, they have Greene King IPA in the clubhouse and there are some nice views of the cathedral, and it has a stand that is better than a lot of other clubs at this level.

As for the game it was a pretty enjoyable match and Ely went 1-0 up through an Andy Petit goal and could have gone further ahead if he hadn't managed to miss an absolute sitter a few minutes later. Harwich must also have been woeing their bad luck, as they had previously had the chance to go 1-0 up when they hit the bar with a thunderbolt of a shot.

To be honest in the second half Harwich had the better of it but never looked like really scoring. They were clearly frustrated by the ELy offside trap and a linesman who seemed a little bit to happy to oblige with any calls from the Ely defence. The right back and goalkeeper were also fairly ruffled by the kids chanting from the bit of terrace at the ground, as the keeper got booked for his reaction and the right back somehow managed to escape caution. However, disaster for the Robins struck in the last minute when an Ely defender managed to do what the Harwich forwards couldn't and put the ball in the back of the City net.

The coach gave the kids a big cheer when the players left the pitch, I wonder if he asked them to wind the opposition up? And I was back at the Unwin Ground the following day for the car boot sale, where I managed to get some dining room chairs for £2!

Notes on photos:
Top: The Entrance board to the ground
Middle: View of the stand when entering
Bottom: The cathedral in the distance

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