SATURDAY FOOTBALL REVIEW BY STEVE GREEN SENIOR DIVISION B Ely City Res (1st of 16) P30 Home W11 D3 L1 F43 A13 Away W11 D3 L1 F40 A10 Pts 72 ELY City Reserves played seven of their first eight league matches at home, and although they rec

SATURDAY FOOTBALL REVIEW

BY STEVE GREEN

SENIOR DIVISION B

Ely City Res

(1st of 16) P30

Home W11 D3 L1 F43 A13

Away W11 D3 L1 F40 A10 Pts 72

ELY City Reserves played seven of their first eight league matches at home, and although they recorded six wins in that period the games that they failed to win suggested that the team was nothing out of the ordinary.

A third-match 2-0 home defeat by Fulbourn Institute Reserves looked significant - particularly as the victors ran up a nine-game winning sequence at the start of the campaign - and a 2-2 home draw with Soham United was one of only four points achieved by the 'Wasps' in their opening nine matches.

The following week however, saw Ely complete the first of nine doubles as they won by the only goal of the game at West Row Gunners.

They then brushed aside Sawston United Reserves in the First Round of the Percy Oldham Cup before suffering a shock 2-1 defeat at Castle Camps in the Cliff Bullen Challenge Cup.

That was the first of four meetings with Castle Camps during the campaign, and those opponents went on to achieve what may have been the most crucial result of the season - a 2-1 victory over Fulbourn that brought to an end that team's 100 percent record.

City meanwhile won four of their next six league outings, but dropped five points against fellow contenders Comberton United.

They did however, avenge their Challenge Cup defeat at the hands of Castle Camps, beating them 5-2 away in the Percy Oldham Cup.

The 2-1 defeat at Comberton on December 3 proved to be City's final loss of the season however, and their next 11 league matches yielded a thumping 31 points, with 36 goals scored and only seven conceded.

They also dumped Comberton out of the Percy Oldham Cup at the semi-final stage, winning the tie 1-0 to earn a clash with Debden, who had beaten both Haddenham Rovers and Ely Crusaders on penalties in earlier rounds.

So with four games remaining, City were in pole position but mindful that they needed to avoid defeat in the away clash with with Fulbourn.

They negotiated that tricky obstacle by drawing 0-0, and Fulbourn's subsequent failures meant that the championship was secured with just five points from the last three matches, to finish two points clear.

Debden's luck ran out in the final of the Percy Oldham Cup as they were beaten 2-1, and City thus completed a brilliant league and cup double.