football rambles

 This was a really poor performance from Peterborough yesterday in a period that can best be called one of rebuilding. In the past Posh have sold loads of players, but have always had a conveyor belt that has meant that they can usually compete at the top of League One, even though  their forays in to the Championship it never seems to end too well. League One is probably tougher than ever this season and this time they don't seem to have the talented players coming through to replace those that have been sold. The crowd seemed to be blaming Darren Ferguson, the manager but for me the blame lies at Darragh Mc.Anthony's door and the constant selling of talent. Anyway, the first half proved that it was going to be a struggle for Posh who were up against it and didn't really get into the Barnsley half until the half hour mark. However, there was still hope for them at the break as both sides went in having not been able to score. At this point Posh could be thankful that they ...

 Last Saturday I was down in London so decided to go to Wingate & Finchley v Lewes in the Isthmian Premier. At the start of the day the two teams were placed in 8th and 9th, so it was always likely to be a close game. At the start the poor weather conditions made it hard for either team to dominate, but Lewes at least to me looked the more assured of the two teams. Therefore when Wingate & Finchley took the lead on a counter attack on half after half an hour it did come as a bit of a surprise. However, the Finchley scorer Ogo Obi made it 21 for the season so far, so it definitely doesn't pay to give him a chance. The remaining 15 minutes of the half were played in atrocious conditions which seemed to suit the hosts more as they tried to build on their lead and could have if there hadn't been a foul on the keeper and Obi hadn't missed another good chance ( despite what I just said!). The second half continued to be fairly even, and Lewes looked pretty tight in defenc...

 After missing out on getting to a game the week before due to the storm, I had been looking forward to the King's Lynn game on Saturday. Unfortunately, what was served up was a pretty turgid affair. Sometimes you get a 0-0 that can be entertaining. However, there isn't much to say about this game at all. King's Lynn seem to have come up with a formula that works for them. They have been guilty of not creating chances for most of the season and some forwards have moved on or been unable to pick up any form. Therefore, we got a brand of defence first, that also suited Alfreton. A game that is best forgotten when all said and done.

 Yesterday Downham took on Cornard in a game that ended in a draw, which was probably a fair result. For the first half hour it was all Downham and it looked like they were set for an easy win. Lagshan and Edge cam close before Edge scored on 24 minutes and Reed who set the goal up came close shortly after they took the lead. Cornard got into the game in the last part of the first half and had the ball in the goal in the net, but it was offside. The second half was a much more physical affair that suited Cornard well. Downham were also content to sit back and it felt like they would get back in the game. They did indeed when they scored in stoppage time to get a draw, which in all truth they deserved.

 We finally made it to a Villa game on Saturday and unfortunately the indifferent run of form continued with a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace.  Villa looked a little bereft of fresh ideas and without Konsa in central defence and both Kamara and Onana out in defensive midfield there was little protection when Palace stuck to their plan of hitting Villa on the break. It took Palace only 4 minutes to take the lead when Ismailla Sarr did exactly that and hit Villa on the break. Villa pressed to get the equaliser and after a few decent saves from Henderson, Ollie Watkins managed to go round the keeper in  the 37th minute to get the equaliser. It felt like they weren't done and were going to take the lead in any minute. Bailey was judged to have been fouled at the end of the half and Villa were awarded a penalty. Tielemans stepped up to take it, but it was soft and Henderson made the save. To Villa's dismay they cleared after the ensuing corner and again hit Villa on the break...

On Sunday we were walking past Bramall Lane and we could hear the music on, so thought something must be going on. As it happened Sheffield United were taking on Sunderland in the Women's Super League 2. So what else was I going to do, but get some tickets and check it out? The game itself was exciting enough, but both teams were let down by some poor finishing and action in the final third. Sunderland started off the stronger of the two sides and dominated for the first half an hour and managed to hit the crossbar. United came back into it from that point and were guilty of missing a sitter with both teams going in at the break goalless. Sheffield United started off the second half quite strongly, but the introduction of Sunderland substitutes and in particular Ellen Jones, who looked really lively and started to open up the Blades' defence. The game was ultimately settled in the 85th minute when Jones set up Eleanor Dale for the winner. The goalie perhaps could have done a bi...

 It's always fun to go to a game at Thetford and Saturday was no different. We went to see the Thomas Paine statue and then moved on to the nearby Bell pub before going up the road to see the match.  It was a good game and Downham made a good fist of it against one of the stronger teams in the league. Downham fell behind first in the first half before Valter Da Rocha equalised with a trademark long range effort. In the second half Thetford took the lead again, but in the dying moments of the match Marley Delgado equalised only for Thetford to get a winner deep in stoppage time. A shorter report this time, as it's a few days ago and as usual in Thetford we had a few too many beers.

 It's taken me some time to get around to writing up Saturday's game, which was another league win for Downham. They have been on some impressive home form in the league this season, although their cup performances have left a little bit to be desired. This was a bit of an odd match in that Downham were without some key players and other key players performed below par, but at the same time what for the most part was a very young team handled the game well, and it never really felt like a positive result was in doubt.  It took Town just 9 minutes to find the lead when one of the veterans, Eoin McQuaid forced an own goal from a Hadleigh defender to put the home team 1-0 up. The rest of the half seemed to be characterised by Downham being wasteful in front of goal, with some good attacks coming from the full backs Dan Hobbs and Luke Reed. I also thought that George Watts-Sturrock did well mopping up at the back when Hadleigh tried to hit Downham on the break with the two full ba...

 Despite some good results and performances in the league, Downham have been pretty lackluster  in the cups. Yesterday they took on Brantham in the FA Vase first round and the disappointment despite all of the cup success last season continued. Brantham unlike the lowly Castle Acre who recently knocked Downham out of the Norfolk Senior Cup, are in the same league as Downham and have an equal league record. However, they did come to the Memorial with similar tactics to Castle Acre. For large parts of the game they allowed Downham to have possession but were quick to snuff out any real danger whilst looking dangerous themselves on the attack. Downham started off pretty well, but didn't create many chances and Brantham looked pretty solid in defence with some sound tackling and determination to be first to get the ball. Downham had the first chance when Rudy Da Rocha had a shot from a Langy corner cleared off the line, but a couple of minutes later Brantham took the lead through ...

 After a shaky start, a great second half performance saw Downham record another good home win. The first half started off quietly with Soham perhaps shading it, but actually to me looking like they possessed little quality and were there for the taking. Downham made the breakthrough on 32 minutes when a Sivakumar cross was turned in officially by Watts-Sturrock but from where I was standing (right behind the goal) it was an own goal. The lead didn't last long though, as Soham went up to the other end from the restart and scored. The teams went in at the break with the scores at 1-1, but it did feel like if there was going to be a winner it would be Downham.  We didn't have to wait too long after the break with Sivakumar cutting in from the left and putting the ball hard and low under the keeper to give Downham the lead. The home team then introduced a third Da Rocha on the right wing in the shape of Gerson, who joined Rudy and Valta on the pitch. In the 75th minute an inch pe...

 Downham managed to put the disappointment of losing to Castle Acre in midweek behind them with a fine win over a strong Dereham side on Saturday. They didn't make it easy on themselves though with Jake Miller getting sent off before halftime for the second league game in a row. Dereham started the better of the two teams but Downham grew into it. They probably had the majority of the play in first half, but there were no real openings as Downham seemed to want to walk it into the goal. Given the number of long range shots they've scored from this season, you'd think that they would perhaps shoot on site more often. The second half saw midfielder Eoin McQuaid taken off with Ben Smith coming to try and plug the gap in defence left by Miller's dismissal. If Dereham thought that Downham were going to settle for a draw though they were very mistaken. Downham took the game by the scruff of the neck and try and push for a winner. Rudy Da Rocha was especially giving a slow Der...

 Last night Downham took on Castle Acre in the second round of the Norfolk Senior Cup. The banner behind where I was standing announced that Downham were the current holders of the cup and most of the talk around me was about how many Downham were going to win by. You could perhaps understand the confidence with Downham showing some good form especially, especially at home, in the Eastern Counties League Premier with Castle Acre having an average time 3 divisions below in Division 1 of the Anglia Combination. The confidence however was misplaced. Downham started off the brighter of the two teams and had several chances. However, it was Castle Acre who hit them on the break after a period of concerted pressure to take the lead on 13 minutes. Castle Acre remained a danger with some quick counterattacks but Downham continued to pile on the pressure. They hit the woodwork twice and the keeper was forced into some fine saves. Downham did get the equaliser eventually in the last minute o...

 In this game Downham scored a couple of wonder goals with Valtar Da Rocha giving them the lead and Harley Murkin rounding off the game with a goal late in the second half after he had come on as sub. The other goal came from Nick Castellan in stoppage time in the first half. I also thought that Sivakumar had a really good game. Despite the result, the win wasn't as straightforward as it sounds, although some of that was down to the referee rather than a concerted effort by Long Melford. When one Melford player went down like he'd been shot, Downham right back, Jake Miller got his marching orders. The fact that referee didn't appear to see what had happened was more infuriating and at the time Downham who were 1-0 up were looking at playing with 10 players for more than an hour. The referee did even things up in the second half when he sent off a Melford player with 30 minutes left, again for something innocuous.  A good game and a good win for Downham, but why do referees ...

 The rain poured down for the entirety of this game between my new local team and old local team and it was the new local team who were singing in the rain. Downham completely outplayed Ely in the first half. They played a good passing game and should have been 3 or 4 up at halftime. Sivakumar put the Town up on 11 minutes from a wonder shot. Unfortunately other opportunities were ruled offside or incorrectly not over the line, so it was only 1-0 at the break. In the second half Downham were a lot less composed and allowed Ely to come at them. They were still the better team, but did allow Ely to have a fair few chances by being less composed, maybe because of the driving rain. That didn't matter in the end as the Ely keeper thought he was Neuer rushed out to the half way line to make a clearance, realised he wasn't Neuer and sliced the ball to Murkin who scored to make it 2-0 in stoppage time.

 Despite being just 10 miles away, I went on the convoluted trip of a train to King's Lynn and then a bus to Wisbech in order to get to the game on Saturday. I had been meaning to go to the Fenland Stadium since it opened 10 years ago, but this was the first time I actually mad it. After some light refreshments in town, we made our way up yet another Lynn Road to get to what was a pretty nice little ground.  Neither team had really been setting the league alight this season with Wisbech having won their first game of the season the week before when they put four past Sleaford. I decided to stand with the away fans, just out of a bit of Midlands solidarity and that I used to enjoy the Bass Charity Shield at Gresley back in the 80s. It seemed particularly fitting after the passing of Gary Shaw, who I saw play for Villa at their ground. As a few games have already been this season, this was a game of two halves. Gresley looked like they had the taking of Wisbech in the first half...