Long Eaton V Holbeach United

Long Eaton United 3-2 Holbeach United

Long Eaton United edged a close encounter against Holbeach today in a thrilling game at Grange Park.

Long Eaton started brightly by creating a number of chances by launching the ball into the box, but to no avail. It was Holbeach however, who took the lead on the quarter hour mark when Aaron Eyett made a darting run at the United defence and he laid the ball on to Stacy Cartwright who’s driven shot into the bottom right corner gave Jamie Hannis in the United goal no chance.

After the goal, Holbeach, did gain more of a foothold in the game and did put more pressure on the United defence, but they had no end product. United then did have an equaliser when a corner was poorly dealt with by Holbeach and Rob McCormick was on hand to slot the ball past, Rick Drury, in the Holbeach net.

United then, took the lead, just before half time when another poorly dealt with corner by Holbeach gave McCormick the chance to flick the ball past Drury on the edge of the six yard box. This gave United, a well-deserved lead going into the half time break.

Holbeach came out for the second half, all fired up and got their equaliser through substitute Jordan Thomas when he snuck in front of Hannis to poke home, to make the second half more tantalising. Holbeach went on to have their best period of the game as they went close but, went narrowly from two attempts, the United defence was at 6s and 7s.

After this bout of pressure though, United turned the tables and on their first counter attack, they took the lead for the third and final time, as the ball was swung in from the left, Shaun Rickford was able to, head in home from four yards.

United did have the lion share of the later chances, and could have gone further ahead, but Holbeach did looked dangerous on the counter. There was one major concern for United, when brace scorer McCormick went down with a head injury and looked really shaken up and had to be taken off but thankfully he remained conscious, so hopefully he’ll be okay.

There was one final chance for United when a shot clattered the bar before Holbeach fired wide.

That was a very enthralling cup tie and its one step closer to Wembley, for United, if they keep up this level of performance and tighten things up defensively then the can push further up the table.

Where can Walsall go after their FA Cup exit

Walsall have exited this season’s FA Cup at the first round after a 1-0 defeat at home to Macclesfield.

Walsall created very little throughout the game except for a few good bursts from right back Joe Edwards and couple of penalty shouts that were turned down.

The tactics of the day were poor and lacked any real impact and it showed as Walsall looked like the conference side and Macclesfield looked the League 1 team. Macclesfield looked strong throughout and were rewarded with a spot in the next round of the cup. There were thoughts that Jon Whitney might shake things up at half time but it was John Askey who changed his system to secure the win by bringing on Mitch Hancox who is a left back for centre back Neill Byrne to add a bit more width to stop Ginnelly from getting many crosses in.

Simeon Jackson barely got any service the whole afternoon except when he had a single shot that bobbled just wide of the left post which was their best chance of the game as well.

The fans grew more and more frustrated as the game went on, as they felt their side could only play the ball either side to side or backwards rather than anything more penetrative.

Now that the team have gone out at such an early stage, they should look towards pushing themselves up the table and into a play-off position. They have great goal getter in Oztumer and a huge talent in Makris who only came off of the bench in the game that can be the difference makers in the league.

Next up for Walsall is a trip to Premier League Champions Leicester and their Under 23’s side in the EFL Trophy. This will a good pallet cleanser for both the players and the fans to get the taste of the FA Cup defeat.

Walsall should use the game to maybe experiment with the line-up and see what works and take that into next week’s fixture against MK Dons.

Why should you support your local side?

   In the modern age of football, you will walk through your town, and see people wearing Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid shirts even though they’ve probably not even been in the country those teams play in.

Coming from North London, I’ve grown up with my local side being Tottenham Hotspur who have faced the Real Madrid’s of the world and I have seen them win major trophies and I see them play in the Premier League week in week out. Tottenham maybe the big local side for me but I also have a special place for Enfield Town who play in the Isthmian Premier League, they may not have the largest fan base and the players don’t even get their own names on the back but those who follow Enfield up and down the country and even abroad shows that football can bring a local community together.

Enfield can boast the fact that they are the first completely fan owned in the country which shows that the community do care about the lowly Isthmian side not just the Premier League powerhouse club. Supporting your local team is important for a multitude of reasons, but the most important one in my opinion is that it can bring the community together who may be divided on other more everyday subjects but will join together as one to either support Tottenham or Enfield Town.

Speaking to fans of both Tottenham and Enfield, they will say that it was their parents or their peer group who influenced the team that they support but as they reach the age they become more independent thinkers they’ll branch off and support a team that appeals to them. I have the privilege of not only supporting my local team but working for them on a match day. Having to get to the ground a few hours before kick-off you will see fans walking around admiring the stadium both new and old, gathering in the little square just off of Tottenham High Street and the general feeling of excitement building ahead of kick off, which makes me feel proud to support a team that might not be in the most thriving of areas but nonetheless brings people together to support their local side

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Money has made Tottenham less of the local side and more the global brand, so I will go along to Enfield Town, I’ll support the side, speak to players and staff and see the passion they have for a club that may not be of the highest of standards but they feel having Enfield makes them feel a part of the community which they feel is a great honour.