27th July 2021
Bury Town vs Needham Market @ Ram Meadow - Bury St Edmunds
Pre-Season Friendly
19:45 KO
£6 entry
Attendance - 246
Half-time score: Bury Town 2-1 Needham Market
Goals:
Needham Market: Fowkes - 7'
Bury Town: Ramadan - 25'
Bury Town: Altintop - 34'
Bury Town: Chambers-Shaw - 46'
Final Score: Bury Town 3-1 Needham Market
Although a pre-season friendly, this game was a much anticipated local derby, with both teams performing well in their respective leagues over the past couple of shortened seasons. Needham Market play in Step 3 in the Southern Central Premier Division, whereas Bury Town play in the Isthmian North in Step 4. As such, Needham Market would go into this game as favourites, however the pride of Suffolk was at stake, and with Bury Town having recently beaten Ipswich Town to win the Martin Swallow Challenge Trophy, The Blues would certainly fancy their chances.
The ground was relatively busy, with the Club Shop, bar, burger stall and snack shack all open. The pitch was looking immaculate, and with light-to-medium rain at the start of the game, the playing surface looked ideal for a fast action-packed game.
Needham initially lived up to their higher division status and dominated the first 20mins of the games. On the 5th minutes, Fowkes shot low to the near post which was somehow scrambled wide by the defender and goalkeeper. Soon after, D. Morphew slotted the ball through to Fowkes who ran down the left wing, past the Bury Town right back, cut inside and unleashed a powerful low strike to the near post which went in. It looked like it was going to be a rough night for the Bury Town defence as the Needham Market attackers initially looked unplayable.
Needham pushed to kill off the game quickly, coming close on the 13th and 23rd minutes. Fowkes battled to win the ball in the final third and managed to feed Fennell through on goal, which would have been in if it were not for a fine save from Blair. A failed clearance from Bury Town allowed Fennell to shoot on goal, and Ingram attempted to convert the rebound, but shot wide.
After 20+ minutes of sustained Needham pressure, the rain began to subside and Bury Town grew into the game, and scored with their first real chance. Needham Market carelessly gifted possession to Bury Town from a throw-in and Chambers-Shaw reacted quickly to slot Ramadan through on goal, 1-on-1 with the keeper. Ramadan was completely open so took his time and coolly slotted home the equaliser.
Bury continued to attack the Needham goal, without penetrating the defence, when all of the sudden, in the 34th minute, Altintop unleashed a 30-yard rocket of a shot into the top left hand corner of the goal, clipping the underside of the crossbar. Already a contender for goal of the season?
Just before the 2nd half drew to close, Bury Town had a chance for a 3rd, a Needham clearance ricocheting off a downed Bury Town attacker, falling to Hughes who shot to the bottom left corner of the goal, but the keeper got down quickly to save.
The rain had stopped by the time the 2nd half began, and it took Bury Town no longer than 45 seconds to get a 2 goal cushion. A quick attack found Maughn in the box, who laid the ball back to Chambers-Shaw, who was open in the box, allowing him to fire the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal.
Bury Town quickly proceeded to rotate the outfield players and Needham looked stunned, so there was somewhat of a lull in play. However, the best chances fell to Needham Market. In the 54th minute, Fowkes had another near post shot on goal that was saved, as did Fennel in the 61st minutes.
In the 64th minute, tempers began to flare, showing how much this game meant to both sets of players. A Bury player obstructed the ball preventing a quick free-kick for Needham Market, angering the Needham player to shove him over, which in-turn led to another Bury Town player rushing over to shove the Needham player. A bit of handbags ensued but fizzled out rather quickly.
Much like the ruckus, the game had rather fizzled out, the only chance of note being another Needham Market strike at the near-post, this time by Clarke, in the 75th minute, which was again saved. The Bury Town defence stood resolute and they saw out the rest of the game with little incident.
Overall, a really entertaining game, especially the first half, with the players on both sides displaying a lot of pace, skill, power, accuracy and tenacity, I think that these teams will go well next season in their respective leagues, which bodes well for the health of Suffolk and East Anglian football as a whole. I really enjoy trips to Ram Meadow and hope to be back for the 1st home game of the season against Hullbridge Sports on the 28th August. UP THE BLUES!!
Line-Ups:
BURY TOWN: Sam Blair, Joe Hood, Ryan Auger, Ollie Fenn, Joe White, Baris Altintop, Jake Chambers-Shaw, Ryan Horne, Olly Hughes, Cemal Ramadan, Ryan Jolland. SUBS: Will Gardner, Ryan Stafford, Carlos Edwards, Max Maughn, Ben Haddoch, Ollie Snaith
NEEDHAM MARKET: Marcus Garnham, Kyle Hammond, Jake Dye, Josh Pollard, Kieran Morphew, Dan Morphew, Luke Ingram, Byron Lawrence, Andy Fennell, Noah Collard, Ben Fowkes. SUBS: Taylor Clarke, Archie Exworth, Ben Harris, Seth Chambers, Tom Fitzgerald, Charlie Warren
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