football rambles

 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 bac

 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 Adam

 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 per

 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 of th

 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