End of year football round up
January
The year started how it finished with bad weather leading to most games being cancelled. Highlight of the month was therefore the only game I got to, which would have been highlight of the month anyway, as Villa beat Fulham 2-0 at Craven Cottage. I enjoyed it, although my celebrating in the home end led to Macca banning me from the fixture this season.
one game two goals
February
I had a lot of work on in February, but thanks to the cancellations in December and January I managed to get to three games. The highlight being Ely's victory in a rearranged game against local rivals Mildenhall. The Hall had wanted the game cancelled and would have been really glad if it had been, as Ely totally outplayed them nad won 2-0. Lowlight of the month was undoubtedly Villa losing in the League Cup final. Villa went one up, Vidic should have been sent off and it was probably the last time that Rooney had a good game.
three games five goals
March
March saw the arrival of some much needed sunny weather and also saw me visit two new grounds. On the first day of sunshine I got to Histon who took on Gateshead. The game finished 0-0, but it wasn't that bad as a specatcle and I was impressed by the friendliness of the staff. The week later I went to Portman Road to see Ipswich take on Scunthorpe with the whole family. It was a good game and teenage sensation Connor Wicken scored in the last minute to send the Ipswich fans home happy. The other game I got to in the month saw Ely beat Debenham LC 2-0
three games three goals
April
April saw us go to Ukraine for a couple of weeks, but thanks to volcanic ash the holiday turned into a month long affair. The lowlights were probably the pathetic state of Arsenal Kyiv, propped up by and ageing Shatskhi and Vorebei and an ancient Reva and playing their home games outside of Kyiv in front of an apathetic crowd. I started the holiday seeing them win against Metalurh Zapporizhya in Boryspyl and then saw them lose at Dynamo. This brings me to another lowpoint of the month as the owner of Arsenal and his moaning about the advantages Shakhtar and Dynamo get from referees grated a bit. Mind you the amount of advantages Dynamo got in the game I saw them win against Dnipro would suggest that he may have had a point. One of the best points about the trip from a footballing point of view were the terrific atmosphere at Obolon Arena when Obolon took on Dynamo, the fantastic performance in that game by Andriy Shevchenko (who could have imagined him playing at Obolon in a competitive match when he was in his pomp at Milan and Obolon were in the regional divisions?)and sitting next to Artem Milevskiy and also the amount of cheap beer on offer. The other lasting football impression was actually going to see a game at Bannikov, which is situated near the flat, I skived off work for a few hours to watch the Ukraine Under 19s take on Dynamo's young players (it would have been Slovakia if not for the volcano). It made up for the game that we trudged up to Chapaevka that was called off when the Polish leader croaked it.
six games 20 goals
May
I didn't get to any games in May as most of the local stuff finished at the end of April
June
June was the World Cup. It wasn't great. My neutral team were Uruguay, but when they cheated Ghana I got sick of them. In fact it was probably one of the worst world cup's ever if you aren't Spanish.
July
Ironically, as the month of July is out of season I saw a shed load of games in preseason. Highlights were some fine performances by Ely in preseason, particularly in a game against a strong Hadley team, and despite draws against Swaffham and Stowmarket there were some really good individual performances. Other highlights included a good night out at Histon where they took on a strong Ipswich team and lost 6-0, but the weather was good and it was an entertaining game out. Villa also repeated their favour of the previous year by organising a friendly at Peterbrough just before my birthday. They also helped make it a good birthday by winning 3-2
five games 21 goals
August
August saw the end of the preseason and the start of the serious stuff, and it was another good month for getting to games. The month started with Ely thumping local rivals Soham Town Rangers 4-1 in the Unwin memorial cup, which was only spoilt by Soham leaving the cup at their ground. Ely also registered a fine 4-2 win against Histon Reserves and beat Stanway 2-1. In the FA Cup they could only draw with Wroxham after extra time, however they disposed of them in the subsequent penalty shoot out. Other games included a brilliant performance by Peterborough as they crushed Bristol Rovers 3-0, unfortunatley since then while the Posh forwards have continued to perform well, the defence has been found out and they have started to slip down the table a bit. I also too Matt to the Shabby Abbey where Cambridge ran out 2-0 winners against Eastbourne Borough on the bank holiday Monday.
six games 19 goals
September
My football in September was constrained to Ely City games in what proved to be poor run for the club and culminated in Dennis Lightning quitting from the post of manager. Ely are cash strapped and could have done with a decent cup run. However, they started the month by being dumped out of the FA Vase in a replay at the Unwin by Gorleston from the division below after extra time. Just four days later they were out of the only other cup with any potential for boosting the budget when they lost 1-0 at home to Stewarts & Lloyds, and Dennis was on his bike. This was followed by a 2-1 defeat at home to an impressive Dereham side. The month finished with us going on a day trip to Great Yarmouth, which was a good day out despite some appalling weather. I also always love going to a different ground and Yarmouth was both intersting and welcoming. Luckily Ely also played well and came away with a 1-1 draw.
four games seven goals
October
This was another disappointing month for the Robins with the best performance coming in a 0-0 draw against a strong Kirkley & Pakefield side. The lowlight of the games I was present at for the Robins was definitely when they lost 5-2 after extra time against Fulbourn Institute in the Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup. It might not be a prestigious competition, but I think the decent run the club went on in it a couple of seasons ago really helped boost the squad and provided us with a lot of entertainment. I also went to Soham Town Rangers against Daventry Town in a game that ended in a disappointing 0-0 draw. However, it perhaps wasn't too disappointing as my dad was down and he had the golden goal with no goal scorer on it, so we had a free day out. If the public transport was a bit better and cheaper I'd be tempted to go their more often. I also had a bargain trip to Craven Cottage where I saw Fulham beat Wigan 2-0 for a fiver.
five games 14 goals
November
Work and bad weather meant that November was a bit of a wash-out as far as football was concerned. Dad came down for a clash between Peterborough and Charlton in the middle of the month. Peterborough had the worst defence and the best strike rate in the league and the Addicks were coming into form, so we expected to see goals. We saw six, but unfortunately five of them were in the back of the posh net.
one game six goals.
December
The weather was the worst for December on record and games all over the country were cancelled. Ely only managede to get one game on and it was the Saturday that I had to go to work. We finally got to a game with Jake and Tony on the 28th. Again the home side, who had done so much to make sure the game went ahead lost 5-1. This time it was Cambridge who lost 5-1 against a buoyant Mansfield side, at least a good time was had by all.
one game six goals
The year started how it finished with bad weather leading to most games being cancelled. Highlight of the month was therefore the only game I got to, which would have been highlight of the month anyway, as Villa beat Fulham 2-0 at Craven Cottage. I enjoyed it, although my celebrating in the home end led to Macca banning me from the fixture this season.
one game two goals
February
I had a lot of work on in February, but thanks to the cancellations in December and January I managed to get to three games. The highlight being Ely's victory in a rearranged game against local rivals Mildenhall. The Hall had wanted the game cancelled and would have been really glad if it had been, as Ely totally outplayed them nad won 2-0. Lowlight of the month was undoubtedly Villa losing in the League Cup final. Villa went one up, Vidic should have been sent off and it was probably the last time that Rooney had a good game.
three games five goals
March
March saw the arrival of some much needed sunny weather and also saw me visit two new grounds. On the first day of sunshine I got to Histon who took on Gateshead. The game finished 0-0, but it wasn't that bad as a specatcle and I was impressed by the friendliness of the staff. The week later I went to Portman Road to see Ipswich take on Scunthorpe with the whole family. It was a good game and teenage sensation Connor Wicken scored in the last minute to send the Ipswich fans home happy. The other game I got to in the month saw Ely beat Debenham LC 2-0
three games three goals
April
April saw us go to Ukraine for a couple of weeks, but thanks to volcanic ash the holiday turned into a month long affair. The lowlights were probably the pathetic state of Arsenal Kyiv, propped up by and ageing Shatskhi and Vorebei and an ancient Reva and playing their home games outside of Kyiv in front of an apathetic crowd. I started the holiday seeing them win against Metalurh Zapporizhya in Boryspyl and then saw them lose at Dynamo. This brings me to another lowpoint of the month as the owner of Arsenal and his moaning about the advantages Shakhtar and Dynamo get from referees grated a bit. Mind you the amount of advantages Dynamo got in the game I saw them win against Dnipro would suggest that he may have had a point. One of the best points about the trip from a footballing point of view were the terrific atmosphere at Obolon Arena when Obolon took on Dynamo, the fantastic performance in that game by Andriy Shevchenko (who could have imagined him playing at Obolon in a competitive match when he was in his pomp at Milan and Obolon were in the regional divisions?)and sitting next to Artem Milevskiy and also the amount of cheap beer on offer. The other lasting football impression was actually going to see a game at Bannikov, which is situated near the flat, I skived off work for a few hours to watch the Ukraine Under 19s take on Dynamo's young players (it would have been Slovakia if not for the volcano). It made up for the game that we trudged up to Chapaevka that was called off when the Polish leader croaked it.
six games 20 goals
May
I didn't get to any games in May as most of the local stuff finished at the end of April
June
June was the World Cup. It wasn't great. My neutral team were Uruguay, but when they cheated Ghana I got sick of them. In fact it was probably one of the worst world cup's ever if you aren't Spanish.
July
Ironically, as the month of July is out of season I saw a shed load of games in preseason. Highlights were some fine performances by Ely in preseason, particularly in a game against a strong Hadley team, and despite draws against Swaffham and Stowmarket there were some really good individual performances. Other highlights included a good night out at Histon where they took on a strong Ipswich team and lost 6-0, but the weather was good and it was an entertaining game out. Villa also repeated their favour of the previous year by organising a friendly at Peterbrough just before my birthday. They also helped make it a good birthday by winning 3-2
five games 21 goals
August
August saw the end of the preseason and the start of the serious stuff, and it was another good month for getting to games. The month started with Ely thumping local rivals Soham Town Rangers 4-1 in the Unwin memorial cup, which was only spoilt by Soham leaving the cup at their ground. Ely also registered a fine 4-2 win against Histon Reserves and beat Stanway 2-1. In the FA Cup they could only draw with Wroxham after extra time, however they disposed of them in the subsequent penalty shoot out. Other games included a brilliant performance by Peterborough as they crushed Bristol Rovers 3-0, unfortunatley since then while the Posh forwards have continued to perform well, the defence has been found out and they have started to slip down the table a bit. I also too Matt to the Shabby Abbey where Cambridge ran out 2-0 winners against Eastbourne Borough on the bank holiday Monday.
six games 19 goals
September
My football in September was constrained to Ely City games in what proved to be poor run for the club and culminated in Dennis Lightning quitting from the post of manager. Ely are cash strapped and could have done with a decent cup run. However, they started the month by being dumped out of the FA Vase in a replay at the Unwin by Gorleston from the division below after extra time. Just four days later they were out of the only other cup with any potential for boosting the budget when they lost 1-0 at home to Stewarts & Lloyds, and Dennis was on his bike. This was followed by a 2-1 defeat at home to an impressive Dereham side. The month finished with us going on a day trip to Great Yarmouth, which was a good day out despite some appalling weather. I also always love going to a different ground and Yarmouth was both intersting and welcoming. Luckily Ely also played well and came away with a 1-1 draw.
four games seven goals
October
This was another disappointing month for the Robins with the best performance coming in a 0-0 draw against a strong Kirkley & Pakefield side. The lowlight of the games I was present at for the Robins was definitely when they lost 5-2 after extra time against Fulbourn Institute in the Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup. It might not be a prestigious competition, but I think the decent run the club went on in it a couple of seasons ago really helped boost the squad and provided us with a lot of entertainment. I also went to Soham Town Rangers against Daventry Town in a game that ended in a disappointing 0-0 draw. However, it perhaps wasn't too disappointing as my dad was down and he had the golden goal with no goal scorer on it, so we had a free day out. If the public transport was a bit better and cheaper I'd be tempted to go their more often. I also had a bargain trip to Craven Cottage where I saw Fulham beat Wigan 2-0 for a fiver.
five games 14 goals
November
Work and bad weather meant that November was a bit of a wash-out as far as football was concerned. Dad came down for a clash between Peterborough and Charlton in the middle of the month. Peterborough had the worst defence and the best strike rate in the league and the Addicks were coming into form, so we expected to see goals. We saw six, but unfortunately five of them were in the back of the posh net.
one game six goals.
December
The weather was the worst for December on record and games all over the country were cancelled. Ely only managede to get one game on and it was the Saturday that I had to go to work. We finally got to a game with Jake and Tony on the 28th. Again the home side, who had done so much to make sure the game went ahead lost 5-1. This time it was Cambridge who lost 5-1 against a buoyant Mansfield side, at least a good time was had by all.
one game six goals
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