Overdue Returns and the End of the Shelford Saga
On Tuesday night Ely finally got past Great Shelford in the Cambridgeshire invitation cup to set up a tie against Soham away. If you haven't been following it the hole story started in October when Ely beat Shelford 1-0, but the result didn't stand because the floodlights failed on 87 minutes. The game was subsequently postponed twice because of bad weather. The match was finally replayed on 9th December and Ely anhilated Shelford 5-1, this time though Ely won with an allegedly unregistered player. The rules weren't clear, so the match was replayed yet again.
On Tuesday night we finally, finally got a result, but it was a long time coming. For most of the match Ely pressurised the Shelford defence and Shelford, as they had for most of the time in the previous matches, didn't look like scoring. It was afterall a team that had struggled past the reserves on Saturday. However, Shelford hung on for extra time, which was the last thing we wanted with the freezing weather. Fortunately the game didn't go to penalties, which was probably what Shelford were waiting for, but was resolved by 2 goals from Robbie Mason. This was the first start Mason had made since returning from Cambridge City where he warmed the bench for a couple of months. It was good to see him back and scoring and if he can link up with Andy Petit and Nick Impey Ely should be able to avoid the drop.
It wasn't only Robbie Mason and Great Shelford who made returns to the ground though, the kids from the Red Army were back after missing the Wroxham and CRC games. Nobody knows exactly why they disappeared it could have been the telling off they got at the Lowestoft match or the fact that the club couldn't run to giving them a mini bus for away games. Anyway Dennis Lightning, the manager called for them to come back on the club website and they were there again on Tuesday. As there isn't a home game until February 21st, and I'm working on that day it looks like I won't be down there for a while though.
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