Saturday was the start of ten days holiday and a few days in Norfolk, timed to coincide with Wroxham hosting Maldon & Tiptree in the Isthmian League North Division, the latter managed by one Peter Taylor, someone whose career has been exceptional throughout and someone who would make a fascinating podcast/interview guest.
As luck would have it the game was postponed early on Saturday morning, opportunity missed as the re-arrangement is going to end up midweek, and needing to find somewhere else to watch having pitched up at Cromer to waste a bit of time.
A quick perusal of the Thurlow Nunn fixture list showed Sheringham hosting the wonderfully named Walsham le Willows just ten minutes up the road, early pitch inspection had been passed so Step 5 football it was, and having seen a lot of National League level football over the past few weeks it was nice to drop back down once again.
footballwriting.co.uk is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
The content below was originally paywalled.
With the youngest daughter in tow, off we set towards a ground situated behind a fantastic looking leisure centre of brand new build, steam trains huffing, puffing and hooting past from the other side of the road a constant theme of the afternoon.
The pitch was in fantastic condition given it was the first day of April, the goalmouths even not terribly worn compared to some I saw this time last year, the wind however lending itself to prevail throughout the 90 minutes along with some rain as well.
Both sides are locked in mid-table after seemingly comfortable seasons, the hosts however started with more impetus and the wind behind them, neat and compact looking to get the ball wide and then into the area. Their visitors were finding it hard to create chances when in possession to begin with and it was the hosts who opened the scoring.
Tim Cary was the scorer on 20 minutes, a neat finish from a Jamie Nelson cross after a build up of Sheringham pressure. Walsham weren’t without chances though and Denham Oliver had to be alert on a few occasions to keep his goal intact and a half time lead for the home side.
With the wind against them in the second half Sheringham did their best to play more along the floor, finding the gaps and space trying to make a difference. They extended their lead on 52 minutes when Jamie Forshaw, the ex-Wroxham player, unleashed a fabulous strike into the top corner giving Steven Fenner no chance.
To their credit Walsham kept pushing for a way through to reduce the deficit rather than conceding defeat, but a defensive lapse saw Jamie Smith break away from the back line, round the keeper and roll the ball into the net in stoppage time to ensure no nervy ending from the visitors.
Great to see so many youngsters on the pitch by the end of the game for Walsham, while the hosts took their chances when they needed to in what were testing conditions for both sides.
A lovely warming welcome from Sheringham, tidy clubhouse too with some great local food on offer, good cover in the main stand which was needed all afternoon, a majority in the crowd of 67 hopefully went home happy.
A mention too for the match officials, well refereed this one although in fairness the players didn’t give him too much to have to deal with despite the conditions that could have provided some tasty late tackles.
