football rambles

 I wonder what Egri would have thought of this performance of his old club? In the second game it felt like it was over as a competition in a few minutes as Sheffield ran riot. It's only July and I might have already seen the biggest winning margin of the season! It seems like things were more balanced on the second day when Budapesti took Hilltop to penalties (and lost) and Sheffield beat Corinthian Casuals by a single goal. 

 The tournament kicked off in the sun with a 2-0 victory for the hosts. They didn't get a second until near the end, after scoring early on, but weren't really troubled by Hilltop either. 

 On Saturday we went to Tolworth for the Egri Erbstein tournament in which this famous old club hosted Budapesti AK, Sheffield FC and Hill Top.  I had wanted to go here for a long time and had also wanted to see the oldest club in the world, who I am a member of, Sheffield FC in action, so this was an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. It was great to see the Brazilian influence on the club and read about the history of the 'Corinthian Spirit'. There's even a shirt that was worn by Brazilian great Socrates

 Football continued on Tuesday night with a friendly between Cambridge and Norwich on the hottest day ever recorded in the UK.  Despite the melting temperatures both teams put on a good show and started with strong teams. Cambridge were for the first half surprisingly the stronger team and well deserved the goal that Sam Smith scored just before the break.   The second half started off with Cambridge looking to cement their lead before virtually changing the team on the hour mark. This change seemed to underline one of the struggles that the Us had in League One that season and that's a good 12 or 13 players, but no real depth. After the changes the game changed completely and Norwich made the most of it with Gibbs scoring on 61 minutes and Hugill on 68 and 80. Still a useful run out for the team and good that the game actually went ahead.

 Given that it was the first preseason game and that it was a hot afternoon in King's Lynn, it was good to see a competitive game between National League North Side, King's Lynn and League One's MK Dons. We also managed to see Louie Barry in action, although Bird kept him quiet for long periods. A headed goal by Gold Omotayo that nobody was going to stop gave the Linnets the lead on 35 minutes, and it was well deserved. King's Lynn dominated the first half, but tired in the second half with the game ultimately being decided by a late own goal when a clearance just hit Tai Fleming before going in his own goal. 

 On Friday we were over in Dublin and it's always a pleasure to go there and go to Dalymount and watch a game and have a few drinks in the bar. This was a really enjoyable evening and just like last time we were here there were plenty of goals. Unfortunately, Bohs are looking shaky defensively and after losing to runaway leaders and bitter rivals Shamrock Rovers the week before, some bad decision making and poor keeping by Taidhg Ryan gave Derry City the win. Most of the early pressure and possession throughout the game came from Bohs, but you always felt that the two banks of defenders and good organisation of Derry could see them hit Bohs on the break. Heading to the break Bohs were in the driving seat, but Joe Thomas hit Bohs on the break to give Derry a 1-0 lead going into half time. The second half carried on in much the same way as the first half with Bohs trying to break down a resolute Derry side. It was going to take something spectacular to beat the Derry men's defenc