Felixstowe & Walton United FC

There is no escaping the fact that Bury Town deserved the three points at Ram Meadow on Saturday and, unfortunately, there was little positive to take from the day. The Seasiders did rally in the second half when down to ten men and kept the scoreline respectable but the game was effectively over on 37 minutes when Ethan Clarke received his marching orders and Bury were already two goals to the good.

As expected, there was a good crowd of 425 at the ground on a cold but pleasant winter Saturday with probably around 75 having made the short trip from Felixstowe. Regrettably, there was little for the travelling fans to sing about on the day.

An altercation between Miles Powell and Bury’s Ryley Scott after about 15 minutes confirmed that this was going to be a competitive game with the home side looking for revenge following defeat at The Goldstar Ground on the opening day of the season and the visitors keen to start adding to the points tally in order to steer away from the lower reaches of the league.

As things turned out, it was the same Scott who opened the scoring for Bury on 24 minutes with an effort that found the top left-hand corner of Jack Spurling’s goal after receiving a well placed pass from wide left. Jake Chambers Shaw added a second just three minutes later, making the task of getting back on level terms that much more difficult.

With three quarters of the game remaining, hope was still there for Felixstowe until a challenge from Ethan Clarke on 37 minutes saw the referee go straight to his pocket for a red card which, in fairness, no one at the ground could argue with. What was a big hill to climb had now become a mountain.

Changes were made at half time with Stuart Ainsley making way for Dan Davis, allowing for The Seasiders to go with three at the back. Further forward, Miles Powell made way for Liam Hillyard to accompany Jack Ainsley up front in a vain attempt to get something back from the game. The changes did allow for the ship to be steadied but not even the most ardent travelling fan realistically believed the final outcome would be other than three points for The Blues.

Manager Ian Watson and Assistant Danny Bloomfield looked visibly dejected after the game and were frank in their assessment of things.  Watty told Seasiders TV, “Certainly first half they were far the better side, they moved the ball very well, were sharp about everything, sharp about second balls and their four midfielders caused us all sorts of problems and we couldn’t handle it.” Speaking about next week’s home game against Great Wakering, Watty went on to say, “We’ve got to pick ourselves up, we’ve got a lot of decisions to make. It’s a team effort and we need to stick to that. If players aren’t going to stick to that, they won’t be here very long.”

Danny Bloomfield added, “Their right full back (Ryley Scott) got behind us a lot. We weren’t at it, we weren’t strong enough, we weren’t quick enough on second balls. We weren’t good enough and we looked a bit lost. We also lost discipline in terms of our shape, our work rate and with the sending off as well. Where we go from here is no different to where we have been the last four weeks. We’re not going to get panicky over today. The expectation is that really we are preparing for next year. Everybody is playing for their shirts.”

Next up is Great Wakering at home at The Goldstar Ground. The Essex side has a league record almost identical to Felixstowe’s and no doubt both clubs will be keen to start moving away from the lower reaches. Bloomfield told us the expectation is to finish somewhere between 10^thand 12^th. One thing is for sure: everyone at the club - coaches, players and fans - will all be looking for a reaction next week to what turned out to be a disappointing day at Bury Town Fc.

There is a post-match interview with Ian Watson and Danny Bloomfield on Seasiders.TV 

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