This was the match we had all been waiting for. Norwich
dominated last season and won the league by 22 points. I was nervous and
excited at the same time. I was eager to see how invincible Norwich could be and
how the Bloods would fare. For a club who did so well I expected there to be
more fans. It was a shame as they are very good team with a glowing reputation.
Jon and I set off at 12.30pm with the roof down and the sun
blazing. We heard that there had been an accident on the A11 so I was glad we
left when we did. We had a little traffic on the A47 due to road works but got
to the ground at 2.30pm. When we got to there I heard that we had just signed a
new player called Jamie Thomas. He had rave reviews from when he played against
us for Harlow XI, so I was interested in seeing what he could do.
Bloods started the match very well and showed Norwich they
were not to be taken lightly. Greg Strong lived up to his surname. He was not
allowing Norwich to play. I would say he won at least 80% of his headers. He
made a great partnership with Ryan Fleming who again worked very well at
passing the ball. Within 15 minutes the Bloods threatened the Norwich defence
by winning a free kick. By this time I knew the gloves were off and we wouldn’t
be put off by their reputation for beating teams 6 or 7 nil.
Sam Gregory and Jamie Thomas linked up very well with a
fantastic turn by Sam which resulted in a free kick which Mark Abbot took. It didn’t
result in the goal we needed but it showed that we were not afraid to go toe to
toe with the champs.
19 minutes in Norwich had a corner. Sam Gregory got the ball
and instead of just punting it down the pitch he made a fantastic break. He
made a great long pass to Jamie Thomas but the ball got away from him and
rolled on for a goal kick.
25 minutes in Norwich made a great break up the left wing.
Paul Abbott stuck to him like glue and made a fantastic and brave slide tackle,
which was timed to perfection.
At this point we had at least 60% possession and the fans were
really getting behind the Bloods. I was so pleased with the way the lads were
playing. Walden looked like they belonged in the Premier League. Confidence was
growing and Jamie Solken started to dart forward in his usual fashion.
Near the end of the first half Sam Gregory continued to work
well with Jamie Thomas creating chances, but just couldn’t find the back of the
net. Through their hard work he set Louis Harper who hit the bar. If the bar
had been 6 inches lower, the Norwich keeper would have been picking the ball
out of the net.
At the last minute of the first half the keeper lost control
and the ball spun over him. We watched the ball almost cross the line, but then
number 2 slid in and cleared the ball. Unfortunately their number 2 ‘Jamie Speller’
kicked the ball and the post, which resulted in a nasty cut. The Walden fans
shouted at the ref so he would get him medical attention. We all waited after the
half time whistle for Speller to be taken off and congratulated him for his
amazing clearance and taking one for the team. #respectfulfans
We started the 2nd well. Norwich did up their
game and passed the ball well and managed to get their hit man Matt Blake
involved more. This pressure resulted in a very suspect goal for Matt Blake.
The assistant referee originally put his flag out for off side, so in theory, the
goal shouldn’t have counted. However the referee over-ruled his decision and
gave the goal. As you can image we yelled abuse at the ref for not trusting in
his assistants.
20 minutes into the 2nd half Norwich made a sub and started
to play much better, making it hard for us to get back into the game. Spike
Bell came on for Louis Harper to try and get some speed and strength going
forward. Spike made some good runs and we started to get going again. Louis had
another great game and was unlucky not to open his 2015/16 account.
Sam smashed a ball from about 20 yards out which the keeper
saved theatrically. As we say ‘One for the cameras’ which made the Norwich
defence laugh.
Joe Murphy came on for Mark Abbot who had worked very hard
all game.
We were not giving up and kept trying to come forward. Sam
Gregory got hit in the face by the ball at full pelt. I bet that hurt in the morning.
He shook it off and carried on.
Just after that Norwich scored a very nice goal from Matt
Blake. Croll tried his best to get there but it was just too powerful. I realised it would take something special to
get us back in the game. If I am honest we felt the player’s heads had dropped
slightly after we were robbed by the referee for the first goal.
10 minutes to go and the final substitution was Matt ‘Mashy’
Snelling for Shaun Avis. Mashy played very well throughout the game and should
be pleased with his performance. Unfortunately the damage was already done and
in my opinion Avis was brought on too late which made it hard for him to get
into the game. As always he did his
best.
Our last big effort came from Ryan Fleming who came close
from 40 yards. The ball went just over the bar. Had that gone in it would have
been a ‘Worldy’.
The final whistle went and the lads look very disappointed and
felt robbed. I personally think if Norwich’s suspect goal had of be disallowed,
we would of came away with a 0-0 draw.
One thing I know as a result of this game and how well we
played, we are here to stay!
Fan’s ‘Man of the Match’ went to Jamie Thomas who looks like
a great player. He worked very hard and played very well, especially for a
debut against the best team in the league. So well done new Blood and keep it
up.
Jonathan Scripps
Bloodsfan1@gmail.com
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