Wednesday 12th April 2023. Report by Martin Baxter.
Yarmouth made the return mid-week trip to face Framlingham Town only 2 days after the original fixture was very controversially called off very late in the day by the referee on the bank holiday Monday.
The Bloaters came into this match without having played any football since the 25th of March and there was obviously a concern regarding match sharpness and a debut was given to Ivan Soares the brother of first team regular Gerson Soares.
Framlingham rested several of their first team regulars as they had a Suffolk Senior cup semi-final to play only 2 days later, however they still fielded a strong looking line up.
The game started and right from kick off Yarmouth went on the front foot and in the 5th minute Belmar tested the Castlemen’s keeper Talman with a long range strike which he was equal to and 5 minutes later following an error from Talman the ball fell to Fenn who had the goal at his mercy from a difficult angle and he just missed the target by a matter of inches.
Freeman then created the first opportunity for the home side with a strike at goal from 30 yards out that went just wide, however Yarmouth looked the more threatening of the 2 sides and this indeed proved to be the case on 30 minutes when Talman failed to deal with a cross from Duffield and Couzens slotted home from very close range at the far post to put the visitors 1-0 up.
It got even better 2 minutes later when Fenn tapped home once again at the far post following another cross and the Bloaters had a crucial 2-0 lead to hold onto, however this was short lived as in the 36th minute following a corner Smith was given the freedom of the box to head home and the Castlemen were back in this battle.
Yarmouth then defended in numbers to keep their opponents at bay and went in at the break with a vital 2-1 lead.
Half time: Framlingham Town 1 Great Yarmouth Town 2.
The 2nd period started in disastrous fashion for the away side as in only the 3rd minute Freeman equalised for Framlingham with a superb curling effort from 20 yards out that Lane in the Yarmouth goal had no chance of stopping.
Although they had squandered a 2 goal lead Yarmouth still looked very dangerous in the final third of the pitch and Cantwell almost put them 3-2 up with a shot from 15 yards that narrowly missed the target and the next opportunity 5 minutes later fell to Jacobs who had a strike from close range superbly stopped by keeper Talman.
The 3rd goal finally did arrive in the 55th minute when following a Jacobs corner new boy Soares smashed the ball into the net to score on his debut and it was now 3-2 to the Bloaters in this “topsy turvey” encounter.
Mindful of already letting a 2 goal lead slip away the Bloaters then seemed to be a bit edgy and were letting the home side dominate the possession and had keeper Lane to thank for making a couple of very important saves and as legs were starting to tire George, Perry and Smith all came off the bench and were introduced into the battle.
In the 80th minute Framlingham finally got the equaliser they had been pushing for when Exmouth headed home from a corner after some poor defending in the visitors rearguard.
However in the 90th minute Talman once again failed to deal with a cross and Barnden slotted home to send the 3 points back up the A12 to the East Norfolk coast.
Full Time: Framlingham Town. 3 Great Yarmouth Town 4.
GYTFC: Lane, Halliday, Duffield, Soares, Barnden, Barnes, Fenn, Cantwell, Couzens, Jacobs, Belmar. Subs: George, Perry, Smith.
Man of the match: George Barnden.
They made 2 late changes from the Parsons Drove win with Willetts and Vincent both making starts in the defence and Duffield was pushed up into a forward position to replace the injured Beeson, also club skipper Cantwell returned from injury and was named amongst the substitutes.
This encounter on Haverhill’s 3 G pitch started very slowly with neither side wanting to give anything away and given the importance of the fixture was somewhat understandable and we did not get our first real action until the 22nd minute when Iron run though the visitors defence only to have the ball taken off his feet by the diving Lane in the Yarmouth goal and 4 minutes later we had the first shot of the match when Couzens hit an effort wide of the left hand post.
On the half hour mark Sykes tried a long range effort which was comfortably dealt with by Lane and 10 minutes later the away side had a penalty shout turned away by the referee after a strike by Couzens hit a Boro defender in the box and just before half time Duffield got himself into an excellent position on the left side of the goal but his shot did not beat Boro keeper Kelley-Green who covered his near post really well.
The referee then blew for half-time and this first 45 minutes will not live long in the memory.
Half-Time: Haverhill Borough 0 Great Yarmouth Town 0.
The 2nd period started and Yarmouth won an early free kick in a promising position which was taken by Duffileld and his effort went just past the post and the away side were now looking more positive and 3 minutes later from another free kick the ball was sent into the box by Couzens and fell to Fenn who sent his close range effort over the crossbar and a glorious opportunity to take the lead was missed.
As is so often in these tight affairs it takes a mistake to break the deadlock and on 57 minutes following a miss-timed pass the ball fell to Iron who slotted the ball home from 5 yards out to give Haverhill the all important lead and something to protect for the rest of the match.
Yarmouth then went looking for a way back into this game and on 65 minutes Duffield once again had an opportunity to level, but he put his effort over the bar from 10 yards out and the away side were lacking finishing quality in the final third of the pitch and Haverhill were now defending in numbers and this was making it difficult to break them down.
On 70 minutes Smith and Cantwell were introduced into the battle to help try and salvage a vital point for the Bloaters, however Boro very nearly doubled their lead on 82 minutes and were grateful to keeper Lane who made a superb point blank save to deny Gannaway and in the 88th minute Smith put in a dangerous cross from the right which went right across the box without anyone being able to connect with and deep into injury time Lane was called on once again to make a last ditch stop on his goal line and the referee then blew the final whistle and this was a crucial 3 points won for the home side.
Yarmouth have had only 1 win since the 2nd of January and now face 4 huge cup finals to avoid becoming an Anglian Combination side for the first time in their 125 year history.
Full Time: Haverhill Borough 1 Great Yarmouth Town 0.
GYTFC: Lane, Willetts, Perry, Barnden, Vincent, Philpott, Fenn, Melo, Couzens, Duffield, Jacobs. Subs: Cantwell, Smith.
Man of the match: Jude Iron. (Haverhill Borough)
Yarmouth man of the match: Tyrese Melo.
