What A Load Of Cobblers

Date: 25th November 2023

Match: Northampton Town vs Cambridge United 

Competition: SkyBet League One

Price: £24

After a week off last weekend, it was a short to Northampton. Arriving nice we decided to walk up the hill and over at a near by pub

View from the hill. We did debate whether or not if it'll be worth watching the game from up here.

The nearest pub was a Hungry Horse which shares its name with the name of the ground. Its was filled with both home and away fans and was friendly atmosphere between the two - probably fulled by a neutral hatred of Peterborough.

Then headed back down the hill and into the staduim for some food.

Went for a cheese burger and diet coke. The burger was a pre cooked one and didn't taste great.

Northampton ground is a very generic one, and one stand not fully finished isn't a great look.

The 1st half wasn't a great one with neither side was great. There was no clear cut  opportunity and was largely forgettable.

The 2nd half got off to an awful start on 49 minutes when a big communication error between goal Jack Stephens and experienced center back Ryan Bennett allowed Kieron Bowie to nip in between them and roll into an empty net.

Minutes later it was 2-0 Northampton. When a good team move was finished by winger Sam Hoskins. 

Just over the hour mark Mark Bonner made 4 changes at once.

On 77 minutes  Cambridge pulled a goal back. Gassan Ahadme tapping in rebound from an Elias Kachunga shot, which the cobblers keeper could only parry. 

Then in a blink of an eye on 80 minutes Cambridge midfielder got sent off, after picking up 2 yellow cards in quick succession. The 1st booking was for a bad foul. The second booking came quickly afterwards and must have been something he said, as was quickly off down the tunnel.

Cambridge huffed and puffed but didn't get close to grabbing an equaliser. Even if they did a draw, it would have been an extremely undersevered. Overall another poor disappointing display and the 1,213 travelling fans deserved better.

With a home game coming up Tueaday, a massive improvement is needed.

Attendance: 6,929

Man of the match: Sam Hoskins.

Bore Draw For Ely

Date: 18th November 2023

Match: Ely City vs Walsham-Le-Willows 

Competition: Eastern Counties Premier Division 

Price: £8

With no Cambridge game due to the international weekend it meant a chance to take in some different football. With trains towards London  featuring a rail replacement bus for part of the journey I decided to stay relatively local. Deciding on the game between Ely and the Shakespearean sounding team Walsham-Le-Willows  

After getting off the train at Ely station and walking a little way into the city I found a market place. 

I then decided to go and look at the cathedral, however I accidentally stumbled on a Christmas Market outside 

This was busy and full off people. I went to one stall and got a cup of mulled cider for £5. 

A trip to Ely, wouldn't be complete without taking a photo of the cathedral.

Walking to staduim took about 20-25 minutes. It is found behind the leisure park on the outskirts of the City.

As you can see anything sporting related is hidden away in the same area.

The outside of Ely staduim. 

For those of you who don't know, Ely play in the 9th tier ( step 5 of non - league) of the Footballing pyramid in England. 

Arriving in the ground I went in the supporters club area where I had bottle of some fruity cider.

Before the game started I went out and grabbed some food. Deciding upon some chips and cheese for £2.50

After getting the food and a can of diet coke (£1) I had a walk around to the other side of the pitch.

The vast majority of people stood on the side pitch with had the stand on it.

Sadly I can't really say much about the match itself. The only chance of any note in the 1st half was when the Ely number 10 hit the bar just before half time. 

It wasn't a pretty game. Maybe because of state of the pitch or maybe because it was a game between to bottom half sides.

One thing  I did notice during the match was no electronic time board. So the managers had to hold up cards when making changes.

The 2nd half wasn't much better than the 1st. The Ely keeper had to make a couple of saves late on to deny the Walsham attack.

Attendance: 161

Man of the match: Anyone who paid to watch the match.

Derby Day Blues for Cambridge

Date: 11th November 2023

Match: Peterborough United vs Cambridge United

Competition: SkyBet League One

Price: £27

Peterborough is a horrible place. That's not just my opinion, it has been voted the worst place to live in the UK many times.

Travelling with friends, we started the day travelling to St.Neots to get the train to Peterborough. Once in Peterborough it was about a 20 minute walk to the ground. 

outside the ground.

After the troubles of this fixture last season, this season the game was kicking off at midday and Cambridge fans would be place in the Nnorth stand, instead of the newer stand behind the goal.

The facilities in the North stand is far below the standard of the other area of ground . 

The food and drink bar underneath the stand was tiny and the seats were old school wooden ones. Which looked rather out of place when looking at all the plastic seats in other parts of the ground.

Getting a combo meal for £6.50 I got a steak & ale pie and a bottle of diet coke. Little did I know at the time, but the pie would be the only bit of warmth at comfort I would be getting out of the game.

The Posh mascot Peter Burrow was making friends before the game. I won't repeat what some suggested that he could do with his carrot. 

The ground just before kick off. Before the game started there was a minutes silence for it being remembrance day. It was excellently observed  from all around the ground.

Nothing much happened of note in the game for the 1st half an hour of the game. There was a minutes applause in the 28th minute for a Peterborough fan who had recently passed away, which the whole ground applauded. 

On the 34th Peterborough took the lead. A cross from the left found the head of the Mason-Clark who beat Stevens at near post, who might have done better. It was almost 2-0 seconds after the re start after some poor defending. However the home fans didn't have to wait too long for a second, tearing through the Cambridge defence with ease Mason-Clark got his 2nd on 37 minutes. Then on the 40th minute the defensive horror show continued. Poku cut into the area and took a shot, which took a deflection which took it over Stevens an into the back of the net. The game at this point was effectively over. 3-0 down at half time there was small amount of Cambridge fans who left then.

After such an abject and pitiful showing it was a surprise to see Bonner didn't make any changes at the start of the 2nd half. Early on in the 2nd half Peterborough broke from a Cambridge corner and Poku got his 2nd, easily putting away his chance. Some more Cambridge fans left when the 4th went in and some more on about the 70th minute, probably going to catch an earlier train  so they get out the city more quickly. Home fans were loving it, asking manager Darren Ferguson what the score was and they loved when he responded. Never knew a convicted wife beater to be so idolised. Peterborough's final goal came on 86 when Liam Bennett managed to head past Stevens from a Randall cross. 

Cambridge chose a bad day to put in there worse performance of the season (so far). Peterborough barely had to get out of 2nd gear and fully deserved the result. This one will take a while to recover from.

Attendance: 11, 641

Man of the match: Eprom Mason-Clark.

Rovers Too Thorny For Poor Canaries

Date: 5th November 2023

Match: Norwich City vs Blackburn Rovers

Competition: SkyBet Championship 

Price: £31

A midday kick off meant grabbing the 1st train from Cambridge to Norwich. Grabbing a sausage sandwich (no picture, sorry!) As my breakfast, I was off. 

Apart from a minor delay due to overrun engineering works arrived in Norwich with plenty of time. Carrow Road is just a small walk around the corner from the station.

Different views of the outside of Carrow Road.

The concourse was very colourful in the Norwich colours and it looked like every pilar had the name and number of a different Norwich legend. This one dedicated to Cambridge lockdown legend Wesley Hoolahan was my favourite.

Food of choice for me today was a stake pie and a diet coke costing £7.20. Pie was rather bland in my opinion.

Being the last  home game before remembrance day, there was a minutes silence before the game. It was observed excellently, even by the club mascot - whom I understand is called Captain Canary. 

Decent seat and view from my seat and decent amount of leg room.

The match started very well for Blackburn. There attack was very good at the start going through the Norwich defence like a hot knife through butter. They were 2-0 up after 15 minutes with finishes from Tyrhys Dolan and Sammie Szmodics. There was a very loud choars of boos rang out when the ball hit the back of the net for a second time. Blackburn fans on the other hand were enjoying there day out; they took great pleasure in booing every touch there former defender Shane Duffy took. Norwich offered little in terms of scoring opportunities, having a couple of chances around the half hour mark.

One of the half time entertainments on offer at half time looked like the mascots taking penalties against Captain Canary.

Early in the second half a blistering counter attack saw Blackburn go 3-0 up Szmodics getting his 2nd of the game. On 54 minutes former Cambridge loan player Scott Wharton was shown a straight red for being the last man while fouling Onel Hernandez and denying a clear goal scoring opportunity.

On the hour mark Norwich made 4 changes at once - not something I've seen before. Initially it gave them a little bounce and they had a few chances. Norwich did pull one goal in injury time - Gabriel Sara finishing off a cross. However it was too little too late in the end for the canaries. It was a poor day from them, and one has to wonder how much longer David Wagner can last before Delia Smith hands out the P45.

Attendance: 25,696

Man of the match: Sammie Szmodics