football rambles

 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 and

 Finally a home game across the road I could go to. Due to sharing with a cricket team, Downham have been playing away games since the last time I went there after just moving in in April. They did have one other home game, but I was in Italy at the time. Stowmarket are a team that I also saw at the end of last season when they were relegated Isthmian North back into the Eastern Counties Premier. On that occasion they lost to Enfield 4-0, who themselves were also relegated but to the Essex Senior League. On Saturday's performance it doesn't look like they are going to turn much around despite now being in a league lower. Downham dominated the first half and could have been 5 or 6 up. Stowmarket managed a solitary shop that was easily saved. Downham went in at the break two goals to the good, Rudy Da Rocha scoring the first and Harley Murkin marking his debut with a goal. Chances were few and far between in the second half, but Downham must have felt it was job well done and it

 Last week was a quiet week for football with me between a forest and the sea on the Tuscan coast. It was also an international break, so football chances were limited. We visited the Leaning Tower in nearby Pisa, but spotted not far away were the floodlights of Arena Garibaldi, so I had to go and have a look. Pisa are currently top of Serie B, but it is early days yet. I remember them being in Serie A in the 1980s when Paul Elliot went and joined them and then when I went to Italy they were on the verge of bankruptcy in C1. Their fate seems to always be in direct opposition to nearby rivals Livorno. Livorno are currently in Serie D, so can Pisa get back to Serie A? I'll be watching to see how that progresses.