Great Yarmouth Town v Norwich CBS. Monday 1st April 2024. Report by Martin Baxter.
On a breezy and sunny Easter Monday the Bloaters entertained Norwich CBS in a bank holiday local derby and the visitors came into this game on the back of a couple of recent heavy defeats.
However with high quality players like Kyle Richardson and ex Bloaters Payton Swatman and Jayden Snelling in their starting eleven they were sure to provide a very stern test for this young Yarmouth side.
The home side made 3 changes from Saturday’s draw at Whittlesey with Adams, Barber and Jacobs all getting starts.
The Bloaters got off to a flyer when in only the 4th minute a Sanders free kick was met by the head of Duffield at the back post and he made no mistake putting them 1-0 up and this early goal really lifted the home side after an under par performance 2 days earlier at Whittlesey, where they started slowly and took a long time to get into the match.
Yarmouth started to put intense pressure on the Norwich CBS back line and in the 20th minute Duffield went clean through on goal with only the keeper Lloyd to beat, however Lloyd did a superb job in closing him down and making the crucial save to prevent his side going 2-0 down and a minute later a shot from Jacobs from 15 yards out went straight into the arms of Lloyd.
In the 10th minute a spectacular curling strike from Richardson from fully 20 yards out looked like it was heading for the top corner of the net until Ling somehow got a touch on the ball with a superb save to send it over the bar for a corner.
However CBS were not to be denied an equalizer as in the 25th minute following a couple of poor defensive mistakes, Richardson was given the time and space to tap home from close range to make it 1-1.
Parity was only restored for 5 minutes however as on the half hour mark Couzens sent in a cross for Duffield on the edge of the 18 yard box and he met it perfectly placing the ball into the bottom right hand corner of the net to make it 2-1.
This first 45 minutes finished and although Yarmouth were looking positive going forward they were also looking vulnerable at the back and CBS were very much still in this game.
Half time: Great Yarmouth Town 2 Norwich CBS 1.
The 2nd half started and in the 47th minute CBS should have pulled level when Richardson took the ball around keeper Ling and then attempted to place it into an empty net, however a Yarmouth defender somehow managed to track back and clear the ball off of the goal line and we then had a period of scrappy football where both sides were guilty of losing possession far too easily.
In the 58th minute a CBS free kick was pumped high into the 6 yard box and the ball came off the head of a Bloaters player and went into the net for an own goal to make it all all square at 2-2.
5 minutes later Jacobs tested Keeper Lloyd with a fierce drive that he did well to hold onto and then Yarmouth made the changes with Belmar, Melo, Cantwell and Ford all coming on to try and spark some energy back into a side who were clearly struggling with the challenge of playing 2 tough matches in the space of only 3 days.
The very impressive Richardson had the chance to win this local derby for CBS in the 82nd minute, but Ling pulled off a brilliant save at point blank range to deny him and in the 85th minute Halliday went on a surging run through the middle of the park outpacing the CBS defenders and with just the keeper to beat he put his shot from 15 yards out a matter of inches wide of the right hand post and just 2 minutes later he should really have scored when he connected with a cross from only 3 yards out but somehow he put his shot over the bar.
Tyler Halliday has been one of Yarmouth’s most consistent players all season and is a contender for player of the season and is a defender and not a natural striker and therefore cannot really be criticized too much for these 2 missed opportunities.
The match then ended in a 2-2 draw and a point each was probably about right on the day and although on paper it seemed like 2 points dropped, with Framlingham losing at Leiston under 23’s, the Bloaters returned to the top of the table with 4 games remaining.
Full Time: Great Yarmouth Town 2 Norwich CBS. 2. Attendance: 218.
GYTFC: Ling, Halliday, Philpott, Wilson-Towns, Adams, Barnes, Duffield, Barber, Couzens, Sanders, Jacobs. Subs: Cantwell, Melo, Ford, Belmar, Fenn.
Joint man of the match: Louie Duffield & Kyle Richardson. (Norwich CBS)
