Felixstowe & Walton United FC

FELIXSTOWE & WALTON UTD 3 - 1 CAMBRIDGE CITY

Attendance 325

As team captain D,an Davis said after the game, “We were rock bottom after that 5-1 defeat at Bury,” so today’s 3-1 win at home to newcomers to The BetVictor  Isthmian League North, Cambridge City was a very welcome outcome. The win puts us just three points shy of a play off place! Yes I know….but I wanted to mention it.

The first half today was a pretty scrappy affair and the sides going into the break level at 1-1 was probably fair. Cambridge may have edged things just in that first 45 minutes but neither side really impressed.

We lined up with four at the back, allowing us to play higher up the field with two and sometimes three players pushing forward. Henry Barley and Armani Schaar worked hard up and down either wing supporting Nick Ingram on his return to the club after spells at Whitton United and Needham Market. With Jamal Wiggins, Jordy Matthews and Miles Powell making up an experienced midfield, the side had a more solid look about itself even though the play, as mentioned above, was sloppy at times.

The first serious effort on goal came from City’s Germaine Dua on 17 minutes when his effort resulted in what at first looked like a nasty clash with the upright. At the other end, Nick Ingram did manage to get the ball in the net from an Armani Schaar cross but the whistle had blown long before for offside, resulting in the keeper Lewis Landers not even attempting a save.

The deadlock was broken when Matt Sparrow gave the visitors the lead just after the half hour mark when he somehow managed to lob keeper Jack Spurling. What was slightly concerning was the ease with which they cut through our defence in the lead up to the goal. Fortunately, with three minutes left on the clock until half time, we were able to level the scores after Nick Ingram converted from the spot following a foul on Callum Bennett just inside the box.

The second half saw Felixstowe assert themselves more and a Jordy Matthews goal from the left on 58 minutes from a Henry Barley cross was both very welcome and deserved. Fewer mistakes were being made and we certainly had a physical presence about us. Cambridge, for their part, seemed to be off the pace in that second period although Sam Bantik wide on their left did cause a few problems throughout the game.

Defenders always enjoy the rare occasions when they put the ball in the net and Denzel certainly enjoyed doing exactly that just five minutes after Jordy’s goal. Falling two goals behind seemed to take some of the wind out of the visitors’ sails and despite the occasional foray forward, they failed to offer any serious threat.

With ten minutes left on the clock, Cambridge were reduced to ten men when defender Mason Spence received a straight red. Any faint threat of a Cambridge comeback late in the game really disappeared at that stage.

After the game, we spoke to Dan Davis, who had this to say: “We’ve worked really hard in training coming off the back of that 5-1 defeat away to Bury Town 10 days ago. We were at rock bottom after that game. It was scrappy today but we set up with four at the back allowing us to get three up front at times. We played higher up the pitch and matched them physically, which sometimes is half the battle.

We’re disappointed with the goal we gave away. We allowed them to run through our defence. On the plus side we made ourselves harder to beat today, we worked hard and have re-set things during the 10-day break we’ve had.”

On Tuesday we travel to Coggeshall for another league game before embarking on a run of four games in various cup competitions. We host Heybridge Swifts next Saturday in The Velocity Trophy, then Maldon and Tiptree the following Tuesday in the same competition. Next we visit Maldon in The FA Trophy before our third visit to Sudbury this season, this time in The Velocity Trophy.

- Details of line up here

- Photo Gallery is here