football rambles

On Saturday Ely lost again, this time to Whitton United. If you can't say anything nice, you shouldn't say anything and I would prefer to forget about this game.

A couple of photos of Newmarket's ground from the game against Ely.

It's been a long time since I have visited Cricketfield Road, the home of Newmarket and luckily I didn't go there with high expectations of Ely getting a result. The Jockeys have showed good form and have a team full of ex-Ely players who played for the Robins when they were good. In the home game against Newmarket, Ely had played a lot better than in the two games against Thetford and to be honest yesterday evening they also put in a fairly decent performance. The problems for Ely in this game started from kick off when Mark Webster put the home team ahead in the first minute. After this Ely were already on the back foot and chasing the game, but they did show some spirit and better movement than in the previous two games. They pulled a goal back from a speculative and spectacular shot from James Trick on 37 minutes, but nobody could argue that the Robins didn't deserve it. After going behind Ely had pushed forward and although ex-Robin Adam Dalby looked dangerous down t

Ely started off strongly enough in this game and for the first few moments it looked like they might atone themselves for the poor performance against the same opponents from the week before. However on 24 minutes the visitors took the lead through a goal from Sam Bryant. After this Ely started to fall apart and the poor passing and positioning that had dogged them the previous week was back on show. There were no further goals in the first half, but two goals on 66 and 67 minutes by Halen Smith and Ryan Skipp killed off the Robins. The home team managed to pull a goal back through James Carman in stoppage time, but it was too little too late.

Since I last wrote on here, Ely's season has gone from bad to worse. The defeat in the Vase to Thetford was followed up by another defeat to Thetford, this time in the league and then a defeat away to Newmarket. I was at both games and will be posting the reports, but don't expect too much detail!

Yesterday Ely City visited Thetford Town in the FA Vase. It could have offered a distraction from the trials and tribulations of the league, but unfortunately it didn't work out like that. There have been a lot of positives to be taken from the league games recently, but there weren't many good things that can be taken from this game. The defending was shabby, the movement off the ball was non existent, the passing was wayward and although Josh Townsend put in some decent crosses from the wing there was never anybody in the box. However, at one point it looked like the Robins were going to be in far more trouble. Thetford went ahead after just 9 minutes from an own goal and on 12 minutes doubled their lead when James Dean leaped on another defensive error to make it 2-0 to the home team. At this point we were expecting a walloping, but it didn't happen like that on 31 minutes the Thetford keeper cleared badly and kicked the ball straight into the path of Sam Goodge who fi

Ely's disastrous start to the season continued on Tuesday night when the Robins went down at home in the league against Newmarket Town. Like in the game at Mildenhall there were some encouraging signs, but again the Robins were unable to gain any points from the match. Ely went behind early on when James Seymour conceded a penalty on 8 minutes and Lee Clift put the Jockeys ahead from the spot. Ely soon settled though and the game was pretty evenly matched with both sides playing some good gritty football. However, neither side were able to find a goal in the first half and Newmarket went in at the break with the lead. The Robins started the second half off as the stronger side and James Seymour made amends for his earlier misdemeanour when he headed home on 67 minutes. At this point the Robins needed to keep their heads. That lasted all of a minute though and Scott Paterson found the back of the net with another header. The Jockeys remain unbeaten in the league and the Robins r

On Sunday we went to the Unwin to see Cambridge Women take on Cheltenham in the Qualifying Round of the FA Women's Premier League Cup. Things couldn't have got off to a worse start when Cheltenham went ahead straight from kick off. The first half in general was equally balanced though and on 38 minutes Nuala Wayne scored an impressive goal to put the sides level. Cambridge started the second half out in impressive form and they were having more luck playing the ball out wide than they did trying to play it through the middle on 48 minutes they were awarded a penalty after a foul in the box and Laura Bright stepped up to put the home team in the lead. After this it was all Cambridge and Faith Hewitt some how got the ball over the line on 58 minutes. Cheltenham were chasing the game after this and despite some more good wing play from Cambridge the game finished 3-1. They have been handed a home tie against QPR in the next round.

King's Lynn will be disappointed not to have built on a good start to the season after losing on Monday and then going down to Trafford at the weekend. In this match it took a while to settle. The first chances fell to Lynn on 21 minutes when first Stephen Spriggs and then Jake Jones drew saves from Thomas Read. It looked like this might give Lynn the impetus that they needed, but the next chance fell to Trafford on 24 minutes when Joseph Shaw hit the upright for the visitors. It looked like Trafford could be handy from set pieces. Lynn were dealt a blow on 30 minutes when Ryan Fryatt limped off after sustaining another injury. He'd already been taken off earlier and had his head bandaged up. His replacement Sam Brooks didn't waste any time though coming close from a corner on 36 minutes. Just before half time though Trafford took the lead. Shelton Payne stepped up to take another free kick in a dangerous area and he put it in under Alex Street. Lynn took the game by th

On Saturday we saw King's Lynn lose 1-0 at home in a frustrating match against Trafford. Here are a few photos from the game. The teams get ready for kick off. View of the ground King's Lynn on the attack in the first half.  The Trafford defence get ready for a free kick in the first half. David Bell sends in a corner for Lynn in the second half.