football rambles

 Thetford are one of the favourites to win the Eastern Counties League after finishing 2nd least year. Downham have been one of the surprise teams having just been promoted. Whenever I see them they seem to score goals! This was a really entertaining game and after firing two goals early on Thetford looked comfortable. However, Thetford scored in stoppage time to make it 2-1, but Downham weren't finished and went in at the break with a 3-2 lead. There were 2 more goals in the second half as Downham went to win 4-2

 After a long walk to the seafront we went on another long walk to Mestalla and another long walk to the top of the stand at La Mestalla to watch Valencia take on Granada. I had hoped that Valencia would have started Yaremchuk, but he was on the bench, which I kind of expected anyway. La Mestalla is a spectacular stadium, although I do feel that the warnings of getting vertigo in the stand we were in are a bit exaggerated.  I was blown away by the stadium and the atmosphere around rather than in the ground. Unfortunately, the game didn't live up to the settings. It was short on quality and chances and decided by a penalty - the second shout for one that Valencia had had.  Most of the first half had been characterised by Granada trying to stop Valencia playing by any means possible. The fact that the goal came in the 7th minute of stoppage time at the end of the first half from Pepelu penalty, sums up what was going on. The second half wasn't much better as both teams seemed hap

 I was intrigued to visit Levante as part of the Valencia double header. I had heard that they were known for their well-behaved Ultras which sounded a bit of an oxymoron to me. Anyway, after a day of sightseeing and paella in the town, I made my way after a few beers over to the Ciutat de Valencia stadium. On the way I met some Dutch lads who were a good laugh. We went into the stadium only to find that alcohol isn't for sale in Spanish grounds. Never mind, I'd probably had enough by then! I was sat near the Dutch lads, but in a different section so we said goodbye. The next problem I had was that my seat didn't seem to exist, but that wasn't a problem as I still managed to find a place to park myself. The pre-match singing of the club hymn was pretty impressive, but the 2 aliens on the pitch and the lights going off to the music of 'Close Encounters' being played was a bit odd. The match itself was really entertaining. I wasn't a fan of the referee, who se

 Last weekend I was in Valencia and visited Ciutat de Valencia to witness Levante draw 2-2 with Mirandes and the Mestalla to see Valencia win 1-0 against Granada. What an amazing weekend it was. I am missing Posh v Cambridge today as my bank and health needs to recover after a fabulous few days in Valencia.

 The last league game that I saw at Villa Park had been the 4-2 defeat to Leicester City. Since then Villa haven't lost a home game and the win list was extended to 12 with this defeat over Luton Town. Villa were dominant in this game and the result actually flatters Luton, who didn't see much of the ball for long parts of the game. Villa opened the scoring from a brilliant shot from Super John McGinn on 17 minutes. Diaby ripped them apart before Douglas Luiz set up McGinn to drive the ball home. At half time the score was somehow still 1-0. Villa had amassed a multitude of shots, but despite some commanding play from the midfield, the forwards weren't able to get a goal. Some of this was down to Zaniolo, who in his keenness to impress sometimes makes the wrong decision. It was therefore not really surprising that he was replaced by Leon Bailey at half time. Bailey made a difference at the beginning of the second half when he provided an assist for the impressive Mousa Diab