As the troops gathered expectantly for a blustering away fixture at Wymondham, the talk of the moment was of cheating Frenchmen! One particular Frenchman was indeed cheating.... death! as riding shotgun with Sharred in the driving rain was enough to give even the most strong-hearted of men palpitations. Ah...... that age-old Brummie tradition of "Scare the **** out of the Frog"
The whistle was blown for kick-off by a referee whose attire was probably more suited to Ski Sunday and whose arbitrational skills had something of the Public School prefect about them. Toasted crumpets between the buttocks at half-time lads!
The Vets marginally had the better of the opening exchanges on a pitch more akin to Skiing than Football as the slope and the wind dragged all the play down Cringleford's left hand side. Ecky spawned a couple of good chances early on but it was Wymondham who were cursing their luck as they could have been 2-0 up in the space of 5 minutes but for some woeful finishing and excellent goal-keeping by Alan. Cringleford had had a lucky escape. Could it be the luck of the Irish???...(sorry!)
The opening goal came as Kevin Taylor out-paced (yes that's right outpaced!) the left back and crossed to Ecky who drew the keeper out of his goal, skipped round him and side-footed into the net. Some great work again by Kevin down the right flank led to the second goal as from the by-line he squared to Scott Howie who was left with a tap-in and another addition to a promising goal scoring record.
The highlight of the first half was without question Steve Jenning's protests at being rebuked for turning into 2 Wymondham players and losing the ball 30 metres from his own goal. "Someone should have told me!" he cried. Surprisingly he seemed to have forgotten that maybe some of the opposing players might be attempting to get the ball off him.
The second half was much more one-sided with Cringleford asserting their superiority. Huw and Scott started to win all the battles in the centre of midfield and the chances began to come thick and fast. Kevin got the goal he deserved with a confident finish from inside the box and Ecky got his second and Cringleford's fourth with a floated left footer into the top corner.
Woody caused some merriment having come on for Kevin with a disallowed goal and a piece of technical wizardry as he cleared the crossbar from 5 yards out whilst getting back spin on the ball. He couldn't have done better with a sand wedge!
With 20 minutes to go a sudden tremor shook the surroundings, birds flew, alarmed out of the trees, squirrels scuttled into hiding. Had a great Oak been felled in the nearby woods? No, Fraser had gone down clutching his hamstring. The result of a rare start and a day's hard work trailing Wymondham's talented right midfield player.
A comfortable victory in the end which maybe doesn't reflect the many jitters and missed opportunities which Cringleford had. A special mention to the 2 joint MOM's. Fairman again showing his versatility and Alan again making some crucial saves and proving to be a commanding, calming influence between the sticks. And Fez who is proving increasingly reliable, coming off the bench and making some good strong tackles and nice tidy passes.
A 100% record then in the league for the Vets with 13 goals scored and significantly none conceded. This could prove slightly misleading as it may well be that the real tests are yet to come.
