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| Fans at The City Ground. |
I made my second ever visit to Cambridge to catch City's home match against Bashley in the Southern League Premier Division. The only other time I'd been to Cambridge was to see United host Grimsby a couple of seasons ago. City were on a four game winning streak which had thrust them in to the title race. Bashley were looking to pull away from the relegation zone. They won their previous match away at Barwell and so headed in to the game with some confidence. The match had been in serious doubt as there had been a heavy frost overnight and you'll see from the pictures that sections of the pitch remained frozen throughout the game.Credit has to go to the referee for letting the game go ahead.
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| The main stand. Note the frozen pitch. |
Bashley's confidence from the victory the previous weekend is evident in the opening stages and they have make most of the running. They put together a couple of decent passing moves and come close to the opener. The confidence is soon shattered by four Cambridge goals in about half an hour. The first comes from the penalty spot after the winger is chopped down after cutting in to the penalty area. The second is a brilliant looping effort after a ball over the top. Hammond soon completes a quick hat trick when the bends the ball past the keeper after out muscling the full back. He then turns provider for another neat finish from his strike partner. A shell shocked Bashley hit the bar just before half time but they look out of it at half time.
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| Hammond celebrates his hat trick goal. |
The second half is a lot less eventful but both sides have chances to score. Hammond has a chance to score a fourth but his effort goes just wide. He unfortunately goes off soon afterwards following a clash with the Bashley keeper. The Bashley keeper is rounded by Hammond's replacement but he can't apply the finish. Bashley again hit the bar again and are unlucky not to score. Bashley tire towards the end and Cambridge have a few chances but fail to add to their already impressive tally.
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| The terraces which house the vocal City fans. |
The ground is a little bit of a walk from the ground but you can take a walk through the historical centre of Cambridge or you can take a bus from right outside the train station. The quickest trains depart from Kings Cross and take forty five minutes. Before the game I stopped off at
The Boathouse which is two minutes from the ground. The clubhouse is quite large and has sky sports. The burgers available from the tea room are the best beef burgers I've had at a ground.
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| The Bashley number 7 prepares to take a free kick in the first half. |
