football rambles

 This was 'one of those games' where you expected a win, looked like getting a win but ended up with a draw. Downham started off the brighter of the two teams, but Lakenheath who featured the Portuguese contingent who served Downham well in the first half of the season understood that attack was the best form of attack when Downham are attacking the Wimbotsham End, and despite the early pressure, it was the guests who found the back of the net after just 11 minutes. After this point Lakenheath sat back and absorbed the pressure. Dylan Kirk managed to get Downham back on level terms on the half hour mark and it remained 1-1 at half time. The second half felt like it would only be a matter of time before Town got into the lead, but some resilient defending from Heath meant that Downham were left frustrated. Still top of the league, but this was definitely a case of two points dropped as Town now prepare for a number of fixtures away from home.

 A first half hattrick from Dylan Edge helped secure the points and a gap of 5 at the top of the league for the Red Army in cold and wet conditions last night. Downham got off to one of their trademark fast starts attacking the Wimbotsham End and Edge got the first goal from 20 yards out on 4 minutes. It was a good finish, but I feel like the Brantham keeper had his positioning wrong all the same. The opening half an hour saw Downham continue to create chances, however it was Brantham who got back on level terms just after the half hour mark. Charlie Royle had had the beating of the Brantham defence for the most part was not able to beat the keeper and then when they broke they showed him how to finish by slotting the ball in the bottom corner for the equaliser. Brantham were buoyed by the goal and had a chance to go into the lead shortly after but a good save from Harry Sutton kept the score on level terms.  The visitors probably thought that half time was going to come soone...

 A good weekend was had in Brum, but this was a very frustrating result and one that doesn't help with Villa getting into Europe again next season. Villa had 25 shots on target and ended the game with a forward line of Ollie Watkins, Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio. You would really have hoped they would have put more than one chance into the goal. 76% possession and the fact Ipswich had Axel Tuanzebe sent off before half time meant Villa probably should have done more. However, Alex Palmer in the Ipswich goal turned into prime Lev Yashin and we couldn't break them down. In fact it was Ipswich who opened the scoring from Liam Delap on a rare flurry into the Villa box and Martinez was caught at the near post to give the Tractor Boys the lead on 56 minutes. Villa got back into it on 69 minutes when a thunderous freekick from Rashford hit the bar and Watkins scored the rebound, but although Villa and in particular Rashford and Asensio created some good chances, Ipswich were reso...

 On Saturday I went on what was a surprisingly arduous journey to Dereham to see two of the stronger teams in the division take on each other and it was a fairly even match, which although scrappy at times saw both teams have chances. It didn't look like that would be the case at the start of the game though. Shortly after kick off George Diggins was brought down in the box by the keeper and awarded a penalty. The Dereham keeper saved though, so it remained 0-0. That didn't las long though as a couple of minutes after Diggins got through again and managed to put Thetford in the lead. It was only surprising that there were no further goals in the game and it ended 1-0 to the visitors who maintained their lead at the top of the table.

 Unfortunately, I have been short on time this week so I am only coming back to this game after nearly a week.  It was a well won game by Downham, who I thought would find it tough against Yarmouth. However, the Red Army got off to a flying start that put the Bloaters on the back foot. A cross from Charlie Royle was met at the far post by Dylan Edge in the first minute to put the home team ahead.  Downham remained on top and a strike from Charlie Royle on the 20 minute mark made it 2-0. The rest of the game was well managed by Downham who kept Yarmouth at bay and gathered a fine well earned win.

 It's been a long time since I witnessed a home win and with Marine looking like relegation candidates and King's Lynn pushing for promotion, anything less than a home win on Saturday would have been a disappointment. Tommy Hughes put the Linnets 1-0 up after 10 minutes of the game and Lynn dominated the first half. However, shortly after the break Marine equalised with a goal from Joseph Mattock. The equaliser felt a bit tough on Lynn who had been dominant and continued to be. After 58 minutes they took the lead again through a goal from Ross Crane. King's Lynn continued to push for more goals, but as the game drew to a close Marine went all out for an equaliser but it eventually backfired as  Josh Hmami fired in a third to give the scoreline that was probably truer of the overall performance

 On Saturday we went to see Championship Norwich take on Premiership Brighton in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup and it was a very one sided affair with the Premier League running out 4-0 winners. Norwich had very few chances and the game was settled by four Brighton goals after a barrage of pressure from them. Two goals towards the end of the first half from Georginio Rutter were added to in the second half by Julio Encisco and Solly March to give the Seagulls a comfortable victory.

 It's been a poor season for Cambridge and it looks like this time will be the one where they finally drop back into League 2. On New Year's Day, they performed well, but always looked like coming off worse, which has been the story of the season so far. The first 30 minutes of the game saw Cambridge dominate but a lack of clinical finishing and what appeared to be a fear of missing the goal and trying to walk it in meant that Cambridge failed to convert. After this period, Reading grew into the game a bit more, but it was still Cambridge who were dominant and just as people were scratching their heads about how Cambridge wouldn't be going in at halftime with a lead, Reading scored. The defence somehow let an innocuous through ball go through to ex-Cambridge man Harvey Knibbs who slotted home to give the Royals a 1-0 lead at the break. Cambridge weren't done though and came out firing on all cylinders and after just two minutes in the half, Elias Kachunga evened the sco...