Castle Acre Swifts 2 – 1 Loddon Utd Sat 29th March 2025 1.30pm ko
Scorers: Serg
Assists: Jimmy
Loddon: Dan Loades; Lewis Hill, El Hannant (c), Jack Tipple,
Tom Blythe-Bartram; Jimmy Blake, Matthew Webster; Josh Knights; Tom Sergeant, Harvey Johnson, Marcus Dunthorne-McInerney.
Subs: George Pomfret
Manager: Jake Sharpe Asst: El

Castle Acre is a lovely village, but not a great hunting ground for us. Would you believe they have a couple of beer pumps next to the check out till in the shop? Never seen that before..
We played quite well, especially the first half, but came away empty handed after being unable to hang onto our lead beyond the hour mark. A late call off didn’t help the cause…!
As said, we played well, especially for the first half against a physical side content with long balls probably because the pitch is bumpier than ours. With no Max up top, the long ball for us was not really a viable option so we tried to play on the floor but the pitch made control difficult at times. We had Jimmy in midfield of course and he stopped anything that came within 2 yards of him. He’s also handy in the air and his presence was essential in dominating the midfield with Webbo in support and Knightsy picking up the pieces and being a threat playing forward.
Tom B-B picked out Marcus with some good balls down the left. Jimmy conceded a free kick 30 yards out with what looked to me to be a perfect ‘ball first’ tackle… maybe for me 45 years ago..ha! Dan comfortably collected the tame free kick. From our break Tom B-B received from Tipps and picked out Harv. He turned and volleyed goalwards only for the home keeper to drop to his left and palm the ball away. Lewis then did well on the right but the keeper again came out on top. We dealt with a couple of home corners before Lewis sent in another cross, Marcus set up Tom B-B but he scuffed his shot wide. Lovely play by Knightsy after a neat Harv lay off, almost saw Harv get on the end of the return pass but we were not getting any luck in the opposition box. El headed the ball (yes, you heard correctly) clear to Harv and his ball found Marcus but it was nicked away just as he was setting the trigger. Marcus fired high and wide following a Knightsy driven corner. Knowing they were unable to get past Tipps, Swifts tried a 40 yard daisy cutter before Knightsy tracked back to thwart an attack and Dan made a terrific save getting down sharply to his right to palm a shot wide. Jimmy won the ball and played right for Serg to chase. With a couple of minutes to go, what might have been a lost cause to some was worth the chase by Serg as he won the corner, much to the annoyance of the homers. Knightsy took it, Jimmy rose and headed down, and Serg toed home from close in to put us deservedly ahead at half time. 0 – 1 HT

Harv had an early half chance but was unable to glance his header of Marcus’ lovely cross goalwards. But very soon we were aware that Swifts had upped their game. Their forward balls became far more effective and there was more pressure on our back line. Serg won a corner from which Tipps made space and volleyed from the back of the box…slightly off target!
At the back Tipps was now in full defensive mode but having to win a challenge as well as the header. Serg won possession, Knightsy found Harv, but the pitch slowed down his control and our breakaway frustratingly fizzled out. Another break saw Serg pass the ball behind Lewis charging down the right which slowed momentum, and a Marcus square ball into the box only found a defender. Swifts pushed and we worked so hard defensively. Dan came and effectively punched clear a cross which ended up with Marcus. He made ground and was fouled on the edge of the home box. He took himself, the keeper dropped but we were unable to take advantage and the ball cleared. Lewis made a good block before Dan did the same from a close in effort, but the ball fell kindly for Swifts who tucked the rebound away on 62 minutes. 1 – 1
Knightsy soon saw yellow with a very late challenge in frustration. Dan had to deal with the following crosses and did so. Some of his clearances were pretty effective in finding Serg or Marcus wide as we went longer. Serg fed Knightsy who had a decent shot with his left. The game swung from end to end. Tipps went close from a corner and Jimmy seemed pushed when challenging the next corner. Our front and midfield were tiring but skipper El demanded more. No doubt Knightsy answered back. Serg, recovering from injury, was spent and replaced by George for the last 15 minutes.
The pressure from the home side mounted, Jimmy’s knees had had enough and Knightsy, to his credit, had covered more ground than in any game in the last ten years. This is when another sub could have been so helpful. Every clearance we made seemed to come straight back and on the sidelines we could feel the stress of our defenders. Swifts’ no 3 was sent to the sin bin for over-zealous protesting. Tipps, Dan and El all defended a corner gallantly. El then made a fantastic block, but with just 5 minutes left to survive, from another scramble, a looping header over Dan and his warriors, found the net and they had to endure the hedonistic celebrations. 2 – 1
Two late corners couldn’t provide us salvation so it was a heart-breaking finish in a game in which we fully deserved at least a point and which highlights the very small differences in quality of many of the teams in this division.

Supporters ‘Musker’ MoM goes to the fearless tower of strength that is Tipps, with Jimmy running him close…until his knees started screaming in protest!

Next games:
Sat 5th April 1st XI no game
Ressies v Hethersett Athletic (h) ko 2.15pm

Sat 12th April 1st XI v North Walsham (a) ko 2.15pm

Tues 15th April 1st XI v Mutford and Wrentham (h) ko 6.30pm
Ressies v Prostar (a) ko 6.30pm

Last four defeats all ….by only one goal! - JC