football rambles

On Saturday Ely took on Hatfield in the Second Round of the FA Vase at the Gosling Sports Ground in Welwyn Garden City. We expected goals and we weren't disappointed. Ely looked likely to be the first to draw blood when Chadwick came close with a header on 4 minutes. However, Ely have been vulnerable from set pieces all season and Hatfield scored from a free kick to take the lead just one minute later. Hatfield didn't hold on to the lead for long though as on 11 minutes a great pass from Chadwick to Adam Claydon saw the Robins have a leveller. 4 minutes later and Claydon and Ely had their second. Ely were originally awarded a penalty, which Luke Parkinson saw saved, but the keeper couldn't keep hold of the ball and Porky pounced to make it 2-1. On 24 minutes Claydon could have had his hat-trick, but he unselfishly passed the ball to Chadwick who was in a better position and Ely were 3-1 up. On the half hour mark it was 4-1 when Chadwick was fouled in the box and Jo

First half action from Hatfield v Ely Lee Pacey looking a bit bored in the second half.

Ely's Alan Allsop thinks about the afternoon ahead. Hatfield Town players warm-up.

Sean tries out the athletics podium. A closer look at the stand.

On Saturday Ely took on Hatfield in the Second Round of the FA Vase. We didn't exactly go to Hatfield though, as the team from the Spartan South Midland League play at the Gosling sports Ground in nearby Welwyn Garden City. The ground itself is an athletics ground, which doesn't really suit football, but you can understand why they would want their own ground. That said whether many people from Hatfield have bothered to carry on following them and if they have gained fans from Welwyn is debatable, as the home support seemed to be in single figures. They weren't even going to bother putting soup on until they found out that over 40 were coming from Ely. The entrance to the ground, well one of them as they have a really complicated entry system looks quite impressive. The dressing rooms were also up the side of a hill, so a pretty long way for the players to get to the pitch and with a running track and a cycling track going round the ground it was an unusual distance to

After a few weeks away I was back at the Unwin to see Ely take on CRC on Saturday. I have to admit to getting a bit distracted. First of all Jon Birkin was in town, secondly the kids were with me and thirdly the phone kept ringing. The first half was a bit dreary with one long stoppage for injury at half time the score was still 0-0. At half time I had my own injury time when I slipped on the steps and then spent most of the second half winded. Darren Coe, who was playing in central defence in place of Ben Lawrence, was having a great game in defence and it was him who put the Robins in the lead. A miscued goal kick from Lee Pacey allowed CRC to get back in the game with a flukey lob before Austin Diaper got the winner. A poor first half and an excellent second half all in all. Hopefully, I'll be back with a proper report next time.

King's Lynn have carried on where they left off last season in the United Counties and are currently second in the Northern Premier League Division 1 South. It seems like they are going to be locked in a two way fight for the Championship again with Coalville, who are top of the table, being their competition for a second consecutive promotion. They must have fancied their chances yesterday as they took on Halesowen, who are currently in mid-table and who had a number of first team players out injured. The Yeltz did have one secret weapon though in the shape of Ben Haseley, who is the division's highest scorer. The Linnets started the game off on the attack and came close on four minutes Dan Quigley shot the ball in and it narrowly missed. Lynn continued to attack and had several chances to get in the lead. In the opening encounters Russell Dunkley was causing the Halesowen defence all sorts of problems and they seemed to be unable to cope with his strength. On 18 minut