Soham Town Rangers - Bostik North (Home)

Result: Felixstowe & Walton Utd 1 - 3 Soham Town Rangers
Date: 25 September 2018
Time: 19:45
Match Type: Bostik North
Venue: Goldstar Ground, Felixstowe
Attendance: 294

 

Felixstowe & Walton United 1-3 Soham Town Rangers

Bostik North Tuesday 25th September 2018

Attendance  294

Following the final whistle after the home win against Romford last Saturday, more than a few fans went away thinking perhaps, perhaps, this could be an exciting season. With four wins out of six in the league and sitting fourth place in the league, things were looking good. I’ll admit to being one of those optimists last weekend.

 Unfortunately, anyone feeling a little confident about the road ahead was brought down to earth with a bit of a bump on Tuesday night when we came undone against an impressive Soham Town Rangers. The metaphor of “bumpy road” is beginning to look like a phrase that might repeat itself once or twice this season.

 Most people will agree, I think, that we looked good against Romford. The line-up for The Soham game had only the one change with Jamal Wiggins in for Josh Kerridge, who was carrying a slight knock. But Ian “Watty” Watson said after the game, talking to Seasiders TV, “It was just not good enough. Soham have just played us off the park.”

 Quite how Soham could be bottom of the table before their visit to The Goldstar Ground I don’t know. A close inspection of the match reports this season, however, does suggest that their performances have been better than the scorelines and this perhaps needs to be a lesson for us. I hesitate to use the cliché but “there are no easy games in The Bostik North.”

 Soham’s opener was the result of a fierce deflection but it would be wrong to say anything other than, on balance, the visitors deserved the three points and their first win of the season. I venture to predict Soham Town Rangers won’t be too near the bottom of the table come the end of the season.

 Whilst we’re on the subject of clichés, older fans may remember England international Jimmy Greaves and his famous quip, “It’s a funny old game.” That phrase came to my mind early in the second half when Jack Ainsley’s effort hit the right hand post at The Dellwood Avenue end. Had that ball gone in, we would have gone 2-1 up and it may have turned out well in the end. But it wasn’t to be. What is frustrating is that Jack’s lob against Romford on Sataurday also hit the post at The Dellwood Avenue end. And also again the right hand post. Oh well…

 As usual, Seasiders fans stayed behind to applaud both teams off the pitch but in the interview after the game Ian Watson offered his apologies to the fans, saying, “The fans are our community and tonight we let our community down.”He did, however, finish on a positive note, saying , “There’s still good players in that dressing room.” Who’d be a football manager eh?

 And so it’s Saturday that needs to be everyone’s focus of attention and the Buildbase FA Trophy encounter with Grays Athletic. Kevin and Ian’s training session on Thursday will no doubt be looking carefully at what needs to be put right for Saturday and hopefully a different path forward from the recent cup journeys the club has been on in the last year or two.

 

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