A Great Cornard Win - Cornard United vs. Needham Market Reserves

Match action in front of the Blackhouse Lane stand

After last week's long trip I fancied something closer to home although in the end I still ended up travelling a fair distance. Cornard United had been on my radar for a long time but for one reason or another I hadn't visited but the match at home to Needham Market Reserves caught my eye. The main reason for this was high probability of lots of goals - Needham Market Reserves had scored thirty eight and conceded seventy five in their twenty games so far this season. There were also ten goals in Cornard's last match and unfortunately nine of them were scored by Woodbridge Town. Another reason was that I had good memories of Sudbury itself as a place visit. I'd visited Bloomfields to see Needham Market's first team in an FA Cup tie with Stanway Rovers a couple of seasons ago. Going into the game, Conrnard were in fourteenth with Needham Market sitting in nineteenth.

Kick off at Blackhouse Lane

Needham Market create a couple of half chances at the start of the first period and the Cornard keeper has to be alert early on to punch away a dangerous cross into the box. The visitors come closer when the forward is played in which forces the Cornard keeper to make a great close range save. Cornard's first effort on goal is a header which requires the goalie to tip the effort over the bar following a ball into the box. From the resulting corner, the Cornard player is able to get a head in at the back post to put his side one nil up. They double their lead shortly afterwards when the attacker is played in on goal and he slots past the onrushing keeper. Cornard are on the rampage and the forward almost powers his way through the Needham Market defence with his eventual shot being blocked. Then again from the resulting corner, Cornard are able to get a head to the ball to make it three nil. Needham Market almost find a way back into the game as the winger is able to cut in but fortunately for Cornard his shot hits the post and lands in the keeper's arms. 

The Cornard keeper plucks the ball from the air

Cornard almost extend their lead at the start of the second half with a header from a decent cross which goes just wide of the target. They come even closer when the forward is played on goal but hits the post when clean through. Needham then put together a great passing move which ends with a curling shot going just wide of the post. Needham Market are now giving it a good go and they are unlucky to see a shot deflected wide of the post. The Needham Market player then dances through the home defence but he puts his shot well over the bar. Cornard score two late goals to seal the three points and pub some gloss on the score line.

The Needham Market keeper tips the ball over the bar

As I suggested earlier, the closest station to Great Cornard is Sudbury. To get here from London you have to catch a train to Marks Tey and change here for The Gainsborough Line to Sudbury with the journey taking about an hour and a half. The walk from the station to Blackhouse Lane is a bit of a slog (about forty minutes) along one road but fortunately there are three pubs along the way to break up the walk. The first one is The Five Bells which was welcoming and had a couple of ales on. Then a bit further down the road is The Kings Head which had a good selection of beers as well as the sports channels for the early kick off. Then closest to the ground is The Brook Inn which also had a decent selection beers as well as having the Suffolk variation of a bar billiards table. The last bit of the walk is along an unpaved and unlit stretch of road which could be tricky on a night game but I don't know if there's a better way. The clubhouse was very welcoming and I can fully recommend the bacon burger.

The tree lined, clubhouse side of the ground