football rambles

Yesterday Ely City's nightmare home form continued. It's nearly April and they still don't have a home league win. Some people have blamed the maroon shirt that has replaced the traditional red shirt this season, but the truth is perhaps more to a lack of finances and apathy. Yesterday, neither of the new managers were in the dug out. It seems they had more fun things to do and Adam Murray, who has been carrying the team all season was off on holiday. It was another patched up team and it didn't look good for the Robins even before the game kicked off. It was therefore a surprise that Ely played really well in the first half and it was one of their best performances at home of the season so far. In fact for the first 20 minutes Ely dominated. However, not surprisingly Haverhill took the lead on 23 minutes. Hats off to Ely though, they kept their chins up and from the kick off Tyler Phillips, who had moved up from the reserves chipped the keeper to restore parity. The

This happened way back on March 16th. The reason that I have been so slow in posting anything is that I was in Poland for work. It seems so long ago now, it seemed a better idea to post a video of the goals rather than to try and write a report from memory that made any sense. So here are the 9 goals that Cambridge got against Fulbourn in the semi final of the Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup.

On Sunday Cambridge Women took on QPR Ladies. It looked like it was going to be a tough game for Cambridge, who hadn't shown great for lately came up against a team who were unbeaten in 11 games and had a chance to go top of the South East Combination. QPR did come out firing on all cylinders and the Cambridge goalkeeper did well to keep them out. However, on 30 minutes a goal line scramble saw Laura Cooper put the ball in the net to put the visitors 1-0 up, and that's how it stayed at half time. Cambridge looked a lot better in the second half as they pressed for an equaliser, but it wasn't to be. QPR also threatened on the counter attack, but in the second half the two teams cancelled each other out. It finished 1-0 to QPR and they stretched their unbeaten win to 12 and went to the top of the league.

I have seen the stand at King's Lynn enough times, but it's been a long time since it was in the sun.

It was a frustrating day at the Walks for King's Lynn. They battled against Blyth, who looked like they would be happy with a 0-0 draw, but also looked indecisive in front of goal. At half-time the Linnets could have felt hard done that they were not out of sight. The second half continued in the same way as the second half, but as King's Lynn advanced the inevitable happened and on 69 minutes Robert Dale gave the visitors the lead. The introduction of Charlie Sanders gave the home team some belief, but it wasn't to be. Blyth time wasted and the natives got restless, but eventually the game finished 1-0 to the Spartans. Tempers flared up at the final whistle and either a Blyth official or player gesticulated at the crowd, which led to a brawl on the pitch and stewards escorting the players off.

On Tuesday night Ely took on Newmarket in the semi-final of the Eastern Counties League Cup. It has been a poor season for Ely, so a chance of a cup final and putting one over local neighbours offered a good distraction from league action. The first 10 minutes were pretty uneventful with both sides struggling to settle, although the tackles started to fly. It took 20 minutes for the game to take any shape whatsoever, however and it seemed like Newmarket were going to be the team to take control of the game. As the half progressed Ely defended well, but it was Newmarket who were creating all the chances. Nevertheless it seemed like the game was going to be 0-0 at half time, that was until 43 minutes when Adam Murray popped up with a trademark header to put the home side in the lead, against the run of play. The second half started with both teams being pretty equally balanced, with the tackles really flying in. However, Ely's talisman Adam Murray had to go off on 65 minutes and

One of the best things about a visit to Orient is the fanzine that they produce. Yesterday, I got my hands on the brand new edition and it wasn't a disappointment. The highlight of this edition was probably an interview with Shaun Batt.

Here is the programme from yesterday's game.

Yesterday we went on our annual trip to Orient and as usual it was an entertaining enough encounter. At the start of the day Orient were top of League 1 and Colchester were down in 17th, with some relegation worries, but probably not enough to cause real anguish. They have a few games in hand, which may come in handy, but could also lead to a fixture jam as the season comes towards a close. Despite being top Orient have had a mixed bag of results late and it was Colchester who, with a decent away support, seemed most keen on finding the back of the net, with both Jabo Ibhere and Freddie Sears coming close. It was Orient who opened the scoring with David Mooney scoring a superb volley on 20 minutes. For the rest of the half Colchester continued to attack and Orient tried to hit them on the counter attack, but at the break the score remained 1-0 to the home side. Colchester continued the second half in good form as they pressed for an equaliser, but Eldin Jankupovic was in fine for