Old fashioned football
Last night Ely took on Wroxham in what could only be called by the media as a good old fashioned game of football. The game was played in the freezing cold on a pitch that has seen better days, especially after a few days of torrential rain and was big on commitment and the more physical side of the game. I wasn't sure whether to applaud the referee for letting the game flow or be a bit appauled for him only giving out two yellow cards and a straight red. The only thing that the game lacked was a few goals. In fact there weren't any goals, but it was an entertaining enough affair and Ely would probably have settled for a 0-0 draw before the game started.
As I suggested before there were a lot of hard tackles going in during the game, some which were fair, but would have probably been penalised at a higher level and some which were definitely outside the laws of football. One criticism that could be levelled towards Wroxham is that they gave away a lot of freekicks that put their defence under pressure. The first chance for Ely that came from a free kick was after 5 minutes when Chadwick came close but couldn't quite get the ball on target. Wroxham had a good chance themselves to go ahead on 9 minutes, but the final shot was fairly feeble and didn't worry Lee Pacey in the Ely City goal. Ely then had a chance on 11 minutes, but Robbie Mason's shot glanced across the goal, the chance again coming about due to a free kick.
The middle part of the first half was most characterised by battles in midfield that showed a lot of passion, but didn't lead to many meaningful chances. The next chance came on 29 minutes when Wroxham put the ball into the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed. If the Yachtsmen of Wroxham felt a bit hard done by after that decision then Ely also felt aggrieved just 2 minutes later when they were denied what looked like a clear cut penalty. That wasn't the end of the action for the half though, as on 39 minutes Wroxham had another chance to go ahead, but the shot that was well placed towards the bottom left hand corner of Lee Pacey's net was well saved by the keeper. Ely retaliated with a chance of their own 2 minutes later, but Robbie Mason was unable to get the ball into the back of the net either.
The second half more or less continued in the same vane. Chadwick was fouled on 50 minutes, which led to another chance for the Robins, which again didn't find its way into the back of the net. There was one difference though as on 53 minutes the referee finally found his cards and yellow carded a Wroxham player, which was probably just luck, as it could have been 5-5 on the card count with a different referee. Wroxham were unperturbed and after dealing with the resulting free kick had a chance to go ahead, however Ely hit them on the break in turn and Nick Impey was unlucky to score at the other end.
The next meaningful chance came on the 64th minute when Ebanks-Blake, who had come on for Andy Pettit flicked the ball on from (you guessed it) a free kick, but none of the Ely players in the six yard box were able to connect. Wroxham themselves came close on 69, but it didn't seem to worry Ely unduly.
On 74 minutes after some arguing in the box a bit of argy bargy ended in one of the Wroxham players hitting an Ely player in the face, I don't know who because I think that me and the referee were the only two people in the ground who missed the incident. The linesman however did see what had happened and the Wroxham sub who had been on for all of 10 minutes was given his marching orders. On 84 minutes Chadwick was the next victim of some over zealous defending and limped off the pitch, the defender on this occasion escaped a booking though. The last meaningful chance of the game came a minute later when Wroxham broke down the left for the first time in the half. In fact I think that probably 90% of the play in the second half was down Ely's left and Wroxham's right. Luckily this change of emphasis didn't have an adverse result on Ely though and the game ended 0-0. A game that was small on goals but big on entertainment.
As I suggested before there were a lot of hard tackles going in during the game, some which were fair, but would have probably been penalised at a higher level and some which were definitely outside the laws of football. One criticism that could be levelled towards Wroxham is that they gave away a lot of freekicks that put their defence under pressure. The first chance for Ely that came from a free kick was after 5 minutes when Chadwick came close but couldn't quite get the ball on target. Wroxham had a good chance themselves to go ahead on 9 minutes, but the final shot was fairly feeble and didn't worry Lee Pacey in the Ely City goal. Ely then had a chance on 11 minutes, but Robbie Mason's shot glanced across the goal, the chance again coming about due to a free kick.
The middle part of the first half was most characterised by battles in midfield that showed a lot of passion, but didn't lead to many meaningful chances. The next chance came on 29 minutes when Wroxham put the ball into the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed. If the Yachtsmen of Wroxham felt a bit hard done by after that decision then Ely also felt aggrieved just 2 minutes later when they were denied what looked like a clear cut penalty. That wasn't the end of the action for the half though, as on 39 minutes Wroxham had another chance to go ahead, but the shot that was well placed towards the bottom left hand corner of Lee Pacey's net was well saved by the keeper. Ely retaliated with a chance of their own 2 minutes later, but Robbie Mason was unable to get the ball into the back of the net either.
The second half more or less continued in the same vane. Chadwick was fouled on 50 minutes, which led to another chance for the Robins, which again didn't find its way into the back of the net. There was one difference though as on 53 minutes the referee finally found his cards and yellow carded a Wroxham player, which was probably just luck, as it could have been 5-5 on the card count with a different referee. Wroxham were unperturbed and after dealing with the resulting free kick had a chance to go ahead, however Ely hit them on the break in turn and Nick Impey was unlucky to score at the other end.
The next meaningful chance came on the 64th minute when Ebanks-Blake, who had come on for Andy Pettit flicked the ball on from (you guessed it) a free kick, but none of the Ely players in the six yard box were able to connect. Wroxham themselves came close on 69, but it didn't seem to worry Ely unduly.
On 74 minutes after some arguing in the box a bit of argy bargy ended in one of the Wroxham players hitting an Ely player in the face, I don't know who because I think that me and the referee were the only two people in the ground who missed the incident. The linesman however did see what had happened and the Wroxham sub who had been on for all of 10 minutes was given his marching orders. On 84 minutes Chadwick was the next victim of some over zealous defending and limped off the pitch, the defender on this occasion escaped a booking though. The last meaningful chance of the game came a minute later when Wroxham broke down the left for the first time in the half. In fact I think that probably 90% of the play in the second half was down Ely's left and Wroxham's right. Luckily this change of emphasis didn't have an adverse result on Ely though and the game ended 0-0. A game that was small on goals but big on entertainment.
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