Fulbourn Institute FC 2009-2010 Season

Another sunny but cool evening for the last game of the season which was the title decider with a win or draw needed.

A strong wind was blowing down the pitch and Lakenheath had the advantage but they were unable to use it, over-hitting their passes forward without much threat.

A slow start by Fulbourn who began to up the tempo after 10 minutes and Fearo got the ball in front of their goal but for once fluffed his shot. We were beginning to look the more dangerous team and the breakthrough came shortly after 30 minutes when Joey put Fearo through and he pushed it into the path of Ben who slid it in. It then began to look as if we would win this game comparatively easily as lots of chances came and went with not much reply. It seemed as if we were a bit over eager to wrap the game up and together with numerous offside’s we conspired to miss them all.

It was just before half time when the frustrated opposition decided that some rough stuff was the only way to beat us and a series of over enthusiastic tackles began to emerge.

Half time came and went and it was still all Fulbourn with our defence snuffing out any foray in the last third with ease and our forwards mounting attack after attack without being able to increase the score. As the game moved into the last 20 minutes Lakenheath, who are always a physical team who like to use the elbow, turned on the hard stuff to try to unsettle us. This together with their unsavoury bunch of supporters trying to unsettle the referee and linesmen by their continual barracking and abuse.

The ref. went over to the bench at one stage to remonstrate with the visiting manager who was being particularly abusive. Unfortunately this all began to sour what should have been a well fought contest and it culminated in their number six completely losing his head and wanting to take on the whole Fulbourn team in fisticuffs. He was duly sent off to more howls of indignation from the loathsome band that calls themselves football supporters and follow Lakenheath.

There was really never any doubt that we were going to get the result and win the game, not having to rely on a draw and goal difference to get the top spot once again.

It was a pity we had to play against such a team of bad losers but at the end they were dismissed and the celebrations could begin in earnest.

This has been a particularly hard fought campaign with Fulbourn having to play sometimes three times a week but their skill and fitness took them through twenty straight wins since February to clinch the title.

Sadly this was probably Dave Abbs last game in charge as he has decide to step down but he will hand on the vastly experienced Chris Tovey. He will I am sure hold the team together and with his contacts even strengthen what is probably the finest squad of players ever to grace the Cambs League

Report Dave Bradford

After Fulbourn’s Saturday goal glut Foxton must have viewed this fixture will just a little trepidation on a sunny but cold evening.

The home side definitely had a spring in their step and when Fearo knocked the first goal in within five minutes it was “hear we go again”. The chances came thick and fast but their keeper looked very sharp and he kept us out until the 20th minute when Ben volleyed an unstoppable second goal. One way traffic prevailed from then on with the visitors rarely straying into our half and hardly troubling Buster at all. Just before half time Matt Glass cut in and made it 3-0 with a close range effort.

The second half was very much more of the same but the Foxton goal seemed to have had a charmed life, together with a very alert and agile keeper who really kept the score down. Dave brought on Tovey Jr, Jake and Jamie Cullen for Ben, Mark Abbs and Glass but there was no way through for any more goals and the score finished 3-0 to us. With no injuries or bookings to our players it was a very successful evening and we go into the title decider on Thursday evening against the very strong Lakenheath. team. We cannot expect any favours from them, and you can be sure they would love to rain on our parade and spoil the party if they can.

I hope and believe that my next report will to say that against all the odds Fulbourn Institute F.C. are once again champions of the Kershaw Premier League.

Report Dave Bradford

A sunny and warm Mayday fixture against Fordham who we beat 3-1 away last Saturday during our congested fixture list. The title looks increasingly within our grasp now that Press have now run out of games, after this-afternoon.

You will have seen the score and I am not going to try to describe the goals but suffice it to say it was a very easy win. It was totally one sided and we were seven –nil up at half time.

There were hatricks for Ben and Smith, Glass got two, Jake and Linsey both got one and the biggest cheer of the afternoon went to Ibby who has been trying to get one for weeks now. You can guess though who got the lions share to make him the leagues leading goal scorer, Fearo of coarse is who I am talking about. and he got four. This was after only coming on for the second half of this veritable goal fest.

The situation is that we must win one of the next two games and at least draw the other which would make us level on points with Press. After this afternoons result our goal difference would take us through if this were to happen.

Praise must be extended to Fordham who kept trying right to the end and to the goalkeeper who could not keep the score respectable, but kept it in the teens.

This was the most emphatic score I have ever witnessed in my forty years supporting Fulbourn and it was a privilege to watch the game which reminded me of the Harlem Globetrotters in their heyday.

Report Dave Bradford

An overcast but muggy evening for the latest instalment in the continuing saga of the race for the Kershaw Premier League title with Cottenham the visiting team.

Cottenham are sixth in the league and they have the leading goal-scorer so they are no easy touch as they have shown in the past. As if to prove their point they proceeded to take the lead within five minutes, before we had settled, with a rather soft goal. This sparked some frenetic action and some rather strong tackles particularly on Joey who they had obviously identified as our danger man. This was not helped by a very fussy referee who was much more concerned with players comment’s than the risk of injury due to bad tackles

Our players were wound up to breaking point and two bookings in quick succession for decent, had everybody on the touchline holding their collective breath as we expected a sending off. The instructions from the bench were to calm things down and do what we do best, accurate passing and quick incisive attacks. Fulbourn strained every sinew to redress the balance but the visitors defence repelled every raid.

Joey was desperate to get one back and his determination paid off at the 25 minute mark as another attack produced our equaliser. Several more good chances came and went until just before half time Fearo headed in our second to put us ahead going into the break.

As we started again the referee continued to annoy both players and supporters with some inexplicable decisions which threatened to spoil the game as a contest. One of two supporters got really upset with him and his parentage, sexual persuasion and state of mental heath were all called into question.

The game continued to go from end to end and our lead was not enough for comfort with a very lively Cottenham forward line who threatened to get a goal back and upset the better home team. After 15 minutes Joey broke free latching onto a massive kick up field from Buster and went round the giant keeper ( six foot six at least ), plus several defenders and slotted in his second and our third goal. A similar goal followed a few minutes later and everything was more relaxed with fears of a slipup receding.

Ben came on for Frost and tricky little Lee Meadows for Smith and it was really all Fulbourn from then on.

Joey came off his night’s work done and credit to him for controlling his temper against the odds after a lot of provocation and he was replaced by Glass. The scoring was however, not over and Jake who has found a rich vein of form of late slotted in number five to round off the evening we thought. It was not all over yet though and a moment’s inattention let in the still lively Cottenham attack who got another back just before full time.

So it ended 5-2 and the Fulbourn bandwagon rolls on with our destiny in our hands and hopefully we will take the title from Camridge University Press with three more games to go for us but only one for them.

Report Dave Bradford

A sunny evening game in the marathon that is the end of our season this year with the backlog caused by the exceptional winter weather. Our latest opponents Littleport are mid-table but always give us a hard game home or away.

For a change we started well, zipping the ball about with accurate passes and we were a goal up after 5 minutes when Fearo scored from close range after some excellent interplay. Matt Glass looked sharp but is a bit low on confidence of late and everything he tried did not come off but to his credit he kept plugging away. The visitors defence were frightened to death of his pace and took no chances, booting it into touch whenever he threatened.

Ben tried a long range effort with the inside of his boot which bent round and rattled the cross bar and would have been the goal of the season if it had gone in.

Littleport did not trouble our goal at all until 30 minutes into the game when Smith dwelt on the ball too long in front of goal and a shot crept under Buster’s diving body to equal up the score. The goal was really undeserved and there was no doubt anywhere that the score would not end up even and that we would grasp back the initiative.

Nothing changed despite constant pressure from the home side until a few minutes before the end of the half when Glass finally broke his own deadlock and ran onto a long through ball which he gratefully slotted in. This was followed by another raid as the irrepressible Fearo pounced when he found himself in front of goal and he dived to head in number three from close range again, the man is a veritable goal machine.

3-1 at half time and again we were cruising but contemplation of a large score proved to be unfounded and although we had cross after cross and shot after shot nothing went in. Dave decided to mix it up a bit and brought on an old face Lee Meadows who has played for us in the past. He looked very sharp and together with Sean Frost affected our performance immediately. It was Smith who redeemed his first half mistake which led to a goal, as he poked in number four putting the result beyond any doubt. There was a classic pinball machine incident near the end when virtually every one of the six front players had a go at scoring and the ball was pinging around in front of goal but all to no avail as it just would not go in.

It ended 4-1 but the heartening thing was that Fulbourn looked full of running right to the end. The heavy program of all these recent games do not seem to have taken their toll and with players coming back for the last games we look on course to be on top of the heap once again this season.

Report Dave Bradford

A gloriously warm afternoon at Fordham for our last away game of the season against the team who languish second from bottom of the league. It was to be hoped that we would not make hard work of this one as we sometimes do against the weaker teams, whereas we raise our game against the better teams.
We were much the better team from the kickoff as expected and the bar was struck in the first 10 minutes. It took 20 minutes for John Fear to prove our superiority and head in our first goal from a Joey cross. Soon after Jake added another with a shot that took a deflection on its way in. and we went into cruise control. Several chances went begging in succession and their keeper made a double save to keep the score respectable. There were no more goals in the half but Fordham began to play a bit in the last 10 minutes although they never really troubled a bored looking Buster.
Ten minutes into the second half Fearo headed in our third goal and it was effectively game over from then on. Several substitutions were made and Smith and Glass came on but the game began to fizzle out as a contest with the opposition moaning at one another and becoming more and more frustrated. The only other noteworthy incident was a bizarre penalty kick given against the excellent Jordan who was judged to have handled in the area. It seemed to us spectators that he turned away from a ball kicked directly at his face and raised a shoulder to defend himself. The Fussy ref did not see it that way and gave the penalty which they dispatched and really did not deserve.
The score belies this game when we should have scored at least 3 or 4 more goals but it’s another win at the punishing end to the season with 5 games still to play.

Report Dave Bradford

Another bright but cold evening saw us at Hundon with it’s sloping pitch which makes good football difficult not helped by a hard bumpy surface which appears to have had a trench dug through the middle recently.
Fulbourn started poorly with passes going astray and the first touch not good probably due to the surface they were playing on. It took the lads 15 minutes to settle down and a few runs down the left side with some decent crosses quietened the home team down a bit.
Hundon were playing up the pitch employing the offside trap and playing the ball over the top for their forwards to run onto down the slope. Our defence dealt with them well until just before half time when they scored a really good goal to send us in a goal down. The local support were very surprised and were heard to remark that it was the scorer’s first goal of the season which they had expected to balloon into the tree’s like the rest of their first half efforts had.
As we guessed it would it was a different story after the break as Fulbourn started to exploit the slope and the fact that the home keeper had hobbled off injured. It was only a matter of time for us to level although Buster was called on to pull off a great save to keep us on the front foot.
Dave decided to bring on Sean Frost for Matt Glass who looked a bit off form, and his impact was felt immediately. Fulbourn began to mount attack after attack winning corners and free kicks and the inevitable happened after 20 minutes. Some great work from Smith culminated in “you know who” breaking the deadlock bundling our first goal. You’ve guessed it, it was of coarse Fearo who had settled down after a quiet start and added yet again to his impressive season’s goal total.
Unfortunately Smith was injured shortly after and looks doubtful for the rest of the season. Fulbourn had their tails up though and the stand-in keeper kicked out to Joey who slid it to Ben shortly afterwards and he lobbed over the hapless goalie to make it two. It was really a question of how many we scored and Fearo obliged again with a header and Sean Frost sealed it with a forth on 40 minutes.
This was a very solid result under difficult conditions and keeps up the pressure for the final few games with confidence high.

Report Dave Bradford

A sunny afternoon with no biting North wind and a cup-final sized crowd greeted Cambridge University Press who are top of the heap at present. This was a “must win” game if Fulbourn want to stay in the title hunt.
For a change the home side started very strongly knowing they could not afford to play their way in slowly as the tend to do with lesser sides They definitely raised their game and had the best of the scoring chances for the first quarter of an hour but Press began to settle down and play a good passing game thereafter. Having said that, Buster was hardly troubled in goal with just the odd shot straight at him and a few high crosses which he dealt with confidently. Fulbourn’s back four were playing some great defending football and they protected the goal from every attack making it look easy against the alleged best team in the league.
The half finished with honours even at 0-0 but everybody agreed it was the best 45 minutes we had seen all season and we could hardly wait for the lads to get stuck in again.
The second half started of with a couple of rather reckless tackles and some pushing and shoving but it was to be expected with so much at stake and both sides striving to get the upper hand.
Fulbourn began to play some sparkling football with quick inter –passing and a couple of jinking runs from “Bullet” Baxter and Joey who was having a really good game tying their defenders in knots. At times the visitor’s defending was desperate and the goalmouth incidents came thick and fast but no one could really get a clean strike on goal. Meanwhile Press had a few forays up the other end but there was still not much to bother our keeper.
Then after 20 minutes another corner was floated in by Baxter and in the resulting mêlée it was Elmo who got his foot to the ball and poked the ball over the line. There were frantic calls that the ball had not crossed the line as their keeper tried to make the save but the linesman was quite emphatic; goal stands Matt Glass came on for Jake and it was Fulbourn who were still were the dominant side
Press had a short spell of sweeping moves switching the ball from one side to the other but everyone stayed focused and concentration did not waver
Ben went off and top scorer John Fear came on for the last 15 minutes to keep up the pressure on Press who were beginning to look very tired. Apart from an almost identical incident to the goal we scored from another Fulbourn corner there was not much to report in the last 10 minutes and the game finished with the two teams separated by the single goal.
This was the best match seen on the rec. for a long time between two excellent teams who both defended brilliantly and nearly cancelled each other out but we definitely had the edge when it mattered. It is a big ask to win the remaining seven matches which will be required for us to take the league title once again but after today’s performance it’s definitely possible.

Dave Bradford

Another bright but cold evening at Foxton a mid table team who we should overcome with ease but like all our opponents the tactics seem to be “don’t give them time on the ball and hit them early” Indeed they really looked the most likely to score for the first fifteen minutes but then Fulbourn began to gradually take command and John Fear met a great pass with his head and it just went over.
Foxton still got the odd breakaway and they were very unlucky when they hit the inside of the post but it was scrambled away. The ball was immediately taken up the other end and Matt Glass hit a super goal from a good passing move and Fulbourn were back in business.
Half time came and went and not long after the start Dave decided to pull off Fearo who was being wound up by lots of little tugs and nudges, and on came Joey.
His presence was immediately influential and the attacks became more frequent and several good chances were missed.
The post was struck and it was sensed that it was only a matter of time before the lead was consolidated. Sure enough a cross from Joey was knocked in by Ben with a very difficult header which he had to lean away from the goal to get in.
From then on the outcome was never in any doubt and the only question was how many were we going to win by. As it happened nothing more of note happened except the welcome sight of Sean Frost making a rare appearance. He did not have long to make much of an impression, but it was great to see him back.
I must just mention Ibby and Jordan who were rock solid at the back once again and must be the best pair of defenders in the league bar none.

Report Dave Bradford