Several of the boys kidded themselves that they would rather play than watch/listen to Norwich City only to be gutted when Norwich were relegated. But most of all, several of the team tried to kid themselves that winning and finishing second was not important, when quite clearly it was. Ian Bartlett risked the divorce courts by turning out at the last minute as Cringleford had several key men missing but then in fairness this was probably the same for both teams.
Cringleford arrived late following a serious accident on the A47. Key the Big Man! Supersub Cotton single-handedly stopped two lanes of traffic to allow the Cringleford convoy to keep rolling. And keep rolling they did. Put quite simply, from a slow start he created the momentum that followed through to the game.
Cringleford played down the hill with a slight wind in the first half. Knowing that this was an advantage they knew they needed to go in at half-time with a lead. Cringleford had the better of the early exchanges with new man Dylan working well with Mick to take charge of midfield. The defence was looking good against a front-line that had oodles of pace. Mike Pyne went close early on as did Fraser. Despite missing several chances, the breakthrough came in the 25th minute when an inswinging corner from Ecky was headed in by the gallant Mike. 1 – 0 to the Cringleford. The last day mathematicians got their calculators out, Swaffham needed two, Norwich needed three, Ecky needed a new heart. Swaffham were stung into action and nearly replied with a breakaway goal only to shoot wide from close range.
Cringleford were playing the nicer football but were wary of the counter-attacking ability of Swaffham. This respectful approach paid dividends when Ecky played a lovely one two with Fraser to race clear of the last defender. Not sure if he finished with a subtle toe-poke or an unsubtle toe-punt, who cares? 2 – 0 to the Cringleford, again out came the calculators, Swaffham and Norwich both needed three and Ian Bartlett needed a solicitor.
Before the mathematicians had a chance to press cancel, it was 3 – 0. Pyne-o who was causing the Swaffham defence all sorts of problems raced clear, from the angle the keeper could only weakly parry his shot into the net. Cringleford dared to believe! And just as they did Swaffham hit. A diagonal ball in behind Dave split the defence open, the attacker rounded Massood and slotted into the empty net.
At half-time Cringleford took the decision to sit back and defend and soak it up, rather than play high up the field and allow the front-men space to run into. It paid off with the midfield providing the defence with great protection. Fez who was on the left had his best game in a Cringleford jersey. Ecky had his best game in a long while and Mick whose hamstring had gone early on, allowed Dylan to do all of the running, yet did not give an inch in the tackle and as usual his distribution was immaculate.
Fraser who worked well with Mike had a couple of gilt-edged chances only to shoot wide on both occasions. As I always say “you have to be in the right place to score”......but then what would I know about scoring!
Like the Battle of Britain, the feared final onslaught did not come, as like the Luftwaffe, Swaffham ran out of steam. Cringleford who feared another Attleborough come back were getting closer. Two brave blocks by Ian, a trade-mark scything challenge by Dave and a typical unsubtle and unpunished handball by Phil helped to see Cringleford through to the final whistle.
It was day of mixed fortunes, as Norwich went down to “Division Three”, as most of us veterans still like to call it, Cringleford secured second place and promotion to Division Two. On another note it was a sad day with Yun Min, who had looked lively all day, playing his last game. Good luck to Yun Min and to Cringleford. GOING UP , GOING UP, GOING UP!
