Sunday 20 December 2015

Gorleston 3 - Saffron Walden 0


Gorleston 3 – Walden 0

19th December 2015

When I first read the fixtures; and saw that Gorleston away was on the 19th December, my initial thought was – that’s going to be bloody cold! But the weather was a mild 15 degrees, so my hat and gloves were not required.

I arrived at the ground at 2pm to a very warm welcome at the gate.  The gentlemen at the gate explained to me where everything was and wished me a pleasant afternoon. Gorleston were raising money for charity with ‘Text Santa’. They asked the fans to wear Christmas jumpers. It was a good effort from everyone. We were approached by 3 ladies and a bucket to donate. I admit I don’t have a Xmas jumper, but I did donate some money. It’s great to see a club that collects for charities as much as we do.

I enjoyed the food, at the pleasantly run canteen. The lady and gent working behind the counter were very accommodating.

Now, I pre-warn you that this blog will contain a fair bit of ranting, but if you’re a Gorleston fan please don’t think that I am being disrespectful to the Green Army. Your lads played very well, and took advantage of their chances in front of goal. The fans were excellent, and sang along throughout the match. I have been to every away match, home and away this season, and you are definitely the best fans I have come across so far…..well apart from the Bloods family! Lol I look forward to welcoming you to the Meadow, when we meet again.

Unfortunately the referee made it almost impossible for the Bloods. I shall explain as I go along. I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise.

The Team

Starting XI: Croll, P Abbot (Pabbo), Solkhon (Rocky),Muphy (Boss), Laurence (Beast), Fleming (Rhino), Calver (Wig), Noble (Nobby), Turner (G Man), Thomas (Zinedine), Harper. Subs: Bell, Wardley (Sticko), Grindrod (Viking), M Abbot (Mabbo), Crane (Road Runner).

The First Half

Not much happened in the opening few minutes of the match. Both teams were sussing each other out, and there were no immediate chances on goal.

The first comment I made was on 4 minutes, when Zinedine tapped and ran onto the ball; beating the Gorleston left back. He was tackled; just before he was about to whip in a cross, and won the Bloods a corner. The corner was delivered by Harper, but it was well cleared by King.

5 minutes into the game, and Wigs skills, by the line, won the Bloods a throw-on in the Gorleston half. The throw was taken quickly, and thrown to Zinedine. Zinedine controlled the ball well and crossed it into the box, but it was slightly too high for G Man.

The first suspect decision from the referee came when Zinedine was knocked over by the defender, and the referee played on; even through the linesman was waving his flag! Zinedine was struggling a little bit after the challenge, and looked like he had to put deep heat on his calf muscle.

The game was very physical, and you could see both teams wanted the 3 points. It was good to see both teams working for the badge.

10 minutes in the match, and Rocky was called into action. Gorleston crossed a dangerous ball, but Rockys diving header diverted the danger.

Nobby showed his defensive skills, and won the ball back from Gorelston. He quickly looked up, and tried to find Zinedine’s run, but it was well intercepted by Brown.

The Bloods, first shot on goal came from Zinedine, after Wig cleverly sailed the ball over the back four. Zinedine’s shot was straight at the Macrae.

Watts showed a lovely piece of skill, when he trapped the ball and played it onto his left foot. He pulled the trigger, but Pabbo managed to slide in front of Watts and diverted his shot for a Gorleston corner. The corner came in, but Nobby managed to clear the ball for a throw on.

15 minutes in to the match, and we were playing well. The midfield of Harper, Boss and Nobby were putting in strong and fair challenges to win the ball back, and closed the ball down well.

16 minutes in to the match, and the Boss showed some great footwork and took the ball around the Gorleston midfield. He tried to pass to Wig, but Wig was caught off side.

Watts was looking dangerous on the break, and almost found himself one on one with Croll. The Beast put in a slide tackle to put Watts off, and Croll ran out to collect the ball at Watts’ feet.

18 minutes into the match and McKay, put in a love tackle to take the ball off harper.

It was tackles galore, but this time it came from Nobby, who was very impressive. He tried to release Wig, but his pass was intercepted.

Harper won the Bloods a free kick, which was 25 yard out, by the comer of the box. Harper floated the ball to the back post; for Rocky to leap at, but it was too close to Macrae.

Wig had a great chance, after he dribbled the ball across the box. He went for a shot, but it was slightly wide. It was great build up play by Wig.

We were putting more pressure on the back four, and the link up play between Wig, Harper and Zinedine was looking good. I was very impressed by the calmness and control of Ellis under pressure.

27 minutes in, and Gorleston started to put the pressure on. They had won a corner after some slight confusion between Croll and Beast. Beast decided to get rid of the danger, and kicked it off for a Gorleston corner. The corner found Lambert, but his effort was just wide.

We retaliated well with some pressure of our own. The passing between Harper and Nobby was encouraging. I shouted at Nobby to have a go from long distance, but his shot went wide. I hope I didn’t put you off Nobby.

Both teams were working hard. Gorleston had another chance from a good forward ball, but Rhinos clearance was very convincing.

As we were gaining the upper ground, Gorleston had scored. The ball was whipped in the 6 yard box, and was not cleared. The ball dropped for Ingram, who smashed it past Croll from 5 yards out. Ingram took his chance well.

Now rant time: I am not 100% sure what happened here, but this is what I saw. Zinedine was fouled, as he tried to run onto a through ball. The referee again, didn’t give the Bloods a free kick. Thomas got up and ran to the referee, to protest. The referee literally turned around and showed Zinedine a red card. As you can imagine, Zinedine and the lads were furious at the decision. The fans didn’t even know why, and what had happened?! I have now been told it was down to swearing at the referee. Even some of the Gorleston fans, thought it a stupid decision. I ran over to meet Zinedine, when he came off to see if he was okay. He was puzzled and frustrated, as the referee was not calling the match fair. This all happened in the 37th minute

It went from bad to worse for the Bloods. 2 minutes later, Gorleston took advantage of the rattled, 10-man Bloods team, and scored a cracking goal. Lambert’s drive was unstoppable, and the Bloods fans were in disbelief. It was perfect tactics by the Green Army; who did exactly what we would have done. As you can imagine the loyal Green Army fans, were in full voice.

I started to feel that there was no way back for the Bloods. We continued to work, hard and attacked the Gorleston goal. The Beast put in a lovely challenge to win the ball back, to show the rest of the team he was never going to quit. I cheekily told the Gorleston keeper, that we were the come-back kings. He had a very good sense of humour.

Well they say things happen in 3’s, and who ever said that was spot on. We had won a throw on, and Sticko ran on the pitch to speed the tempo up. The referee went over to Sticko, and they exchanged words. The referee didn’t like what he heard, and then sent Sticko off!! The ref had completely lost control of the match! I know I am sounding like a bad loser, but the game was shaping out to be a really good match.

The whistle was blown bang on 45 minutes. Ummm…how can that happen after 2 red cards, and plenty of stoppage in play? We were down 2-0, 10 men and no manager! If Mrs Nash would had been at the match, we know where her flannel would have gone.

The Second Half

Walden started the half well, and didn’t look beaten yet. They came out of the block fast and tried to get back in the game early. Rocky came close from a Beast throw; which looked like a corner to the Bloods, but it turned out to be a goal kick.

52 minutes into the match, and Pabbo did very well to win the ball back, in Walden’s 18 yard box.

I want to say how great the ‘Green Army’ fans were, with their singing, chanting and banter. They were confident and tried to wind Croll up…Obviously we would never do that to a keeper!....Yeah right.

60 minutes in (ish) and Goleston had scored, to put the game out of the Bloods reach. Gorleston showed some excellent football, and Watts’ firm strike beat Croll to make it 3-0.

Soon after the 3rd goal, Bell and Mabbo replaced Harper and Nobby. Harper and Nobby played very well and worked hard.

BREAKING NEWS: Line of the day came from Nigel Bailey, after Mabbo was fouled outside the box. I quote ‘I thought you were going to give him a Christmas card, not a yellow card’. Love it Carlos.

The Goleston fans were singing ‘You’re not very good, you’re very good’; so I started singing ‘Play us when it’s fair, play us when it’s far’. We used the same tune as ‘Knee’s up Mother Brown’. You got to love friendly non-league banter.

68 minutes into the match and Wig was replaced by Crane (Road Runner). Keep working hard Wig and more goals will come. Well played mate!

There was a strong challenge near the Bloods corner flag, which resulted in a little bit of afters. A few of the players were booked. I do not know what happed, so I am going to sit on the fence. I think it came down to frustration.

Not much happened in the next 10-15 minutes, with Goleston playing the ball around and not letting the Bloods build momentum.

82 minutes into the match, and Bell showed some great footwork, as he dribbled the ball through two Gorleston players. He delivered a great threw-ball for RR, but his effort went wide.

Shortly after RR’s effort, Gorleston tried to stretch their lead even further, but the attempted header went wide.

Our last great effort for a consolation goal, came from some great skill by G Man. G man received the ball at the wing;  turned the defender and shot, but it was well saved by Macare.

So that was it! We had lost 3-0 and I am now worried about losing the inform Zinedine for a few matches. Thank you referee, and Merry Christmas to you!

I must say a special thank you to Gorleston who made us all feel very welcome.

The Bloods MOTM candidates, came down to a few people. But I am sticking to my initial choice and the Bloods MOTM goes to Jake ‘Nobby’ Noble. Nobby’s strong play and tackling was excellent. Well done mate.

I would also like to congratulate the Ressies, who won 5-0 against a side who are above them. I am not sure on who scored but I look forward to finding out. Well done lads! Keep up the great work.

I would like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas, and I hope to see you down at the Meadow on the 28th, when we take on Hadleigh.

Up The Bloods

Thanks for reading








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