football rambles

 The bank holiday weekend kicked off with a somewhat arduous trip to nearby Peterborough thanks to public transport chaos, so thankfully it was an entertaining game. Sports have been on a bit of a downward spiral and are looking like relegation candidates. It's been a disappointing season for King's Lynn but the away supporters who travelled in numbers would have expected a win. Lynn probably had the best of a tetchy first half but their failure to get the full backs forward and the midfielders on the ball mean there were not too many clear cut chances. Just as it looked like the half was going to finish 0-0. However, in the last minute of the half a dreadful error from Aaron Chapman in the Lynn goal let Luca Miller in to give the home side a halftime lead. The second half saw Lynn spring into action and after 5 minutes Morgan Williams had an equaliser. Lynn clearly fancied the win and started to pepper the Sports' goal. However, as soon as they were in the lead, the defenc...

 Bank Holiday Monday saw King's Lynn and Peterborough Sports take on each other in a local derby. Both teams came into the game with good wins a couple of days before with Sports having beaten Buxton at home and Lynn beating Marine on the road. There has been a sense of optimism around the Walks in preseason as they added a few good signings to a team that always had the ability to do better than scrape away from relegation last season and at the same time they have cleared out players who were not performing at the level. Therefore, I think that the expectation would have been the playoffs for Lynn. Conversely, Sports know that they are punching above their weight and will be happy to stay in the league for as long as possible. Some of those expectations will have to be reassessed though if yesterday's game is anything to go by. Lynn were lacklustre and it was Sports who looked like the team who could be upwardly mobile.  It took Sports just three minutes to take the lead whe...

 Some of the leagues kicked off this weekend, and I was tempted to try somewhere new but in the end returned for what seems like an annual visit to Peterborough Sports as they took on Boston United in a friendly.  Sports will take their place once again in the National League North next season, whereas Boston one promotion to the Premier. Boston got off to a good start when after 5 minutes they took the lead through a bullet from Tony Weston, who is on loan from Derby County. The lead didn't last long though as Dan Jarvis equalised 6 minutes later. It seemed like this might signal one of those pre-season goal fests. However, it wasn't to be. In the second half Weston struck again to give the Pilgrims the victory.  Obviously, the teams were still experimenting a bit, but a bit less now the season draws closer. I thought that Sports played pretty well and Weston really was the one who made the difference

 The pre-season continued yesterday with a local derby between Peterborough Sports and Peterborough United.  Posh came with a young team of academy players, but it was clear that they had more footballing vision than their lower league counterparts, although it was a decent performance by both teams, especially as there was a monsoon for most of the first half. A secret trialist gave Posh the lead on 17 minutes and Gabe Overton -on as sub and coming back from a long-term injury scored the second after the break. Posh also had a somewhat dubious penalty and the type of one that is never usually given in friendlies, but former Posh Academy keeper, Lewis Elson saved from Lewis Darlington. Sports also had shout for a penalty, but it was waved away despite looking more of a penalty than the one that Posh were given. They also created a few chances, but Posh were deservedly the winners.

 I had planned to be at Cambridge v Morecambe on Saturday, but the wind had damaged the roof at the Abbey and the game was postponed. Instead I travelled to King's Lynn for a tasty looking Derby in the National League North between Lynn and Peterborough Sports. As well as it being a local Derby it also offered Lynn a chance to go top of the league and help ensure an instant return to the National League Premier. For Sports playing at the highest level they have ever been it was a chance to really cement a place in the league for next season. It started off looking like Lynn were going to dominate and that a big win was on the cards. Sports maybe assumed that the game was going to be called off, as it didn't look like they were prepared at the start. The first quick break of the game saw an error at the back give Lynn the lead through Aaron Jones after just 2 minutes. If Sports expected a let up, it wasn't about to happen. The next attack saw Lynn double their lead in as man...

 Saturday saw two of the teams newly promoted to the Conference North take on each other at the Bee Arena on Lincoln Road. It's really difficult to know how either team will fare and after Saturday, I am still none the wiser. In truth Buxton had the best of the early play and created more chances, but I can't say that they had any gilt-edged chances either. However, it was Sports who took the lead on the half hour mark when Dan Jarvis converted from the penalty spot. The Buxton players and fans were all complaining that when he slipped he took two touches before the ball went into the net, but as Sean has video evidence to the contrary, I am not sure where the collective illusion came from Buxton were on level terms, and deservedly so, ahead of the break when Jason Gilchrist scored an absolute screamer. The second half was dominated even more by Buxton, but this was mainly down to Kyle Barker being sent off on the 48th minute for a second bookable offence, which in all honesty ...

 I am hoping for a clear run at the season this time, as last season started off with some top trips out and a few new grounds, but even with this being the first trip out, it seems that that might be asking for a lot, so I am going to try and make the most of it while it lasts. I had been to Peterborough Sports before, but that was when they were a Step 5 club and since then they have climbed up to the Southern Premier League. The quality is there to be seen too, as they made easy pickings of Concord Rangers who are in the league above in the National League South. They seem to be getting it right on the pitch, but there still needs a lot to be done off it. There used to be a really enjoyable social club, but that appears to have been bulldozed in order to make a new stand. I imagine that there will be a new social club eventually, but at the moment there is just a burger van selling warm cans of soft drinks, which on a day that reached around 30 degrees was a bit disappointing. I...