Suffolk & Ipswich League
Senior Division
Saturday 28th December 2024
Kick Off 13.45 Actual 13.46
Sporting 87 7 Grundisburgh 2, attendance 34
8’ 1-0
20’ 1-1
40’ 2-1
47’ 3-1
57’ 3-2
61’ 4-2
64’ 5-2
70’ 6-2
88’ 7-2
@ Victory Sports Ground
Nowton Road
Bury St. Edmunds
IP33 2BT
No Admission
Programme free, 16 pages.
Both teams I hadn’t yet visited in the top division of the Suffolk & Ipswich were at home today (Halesworth Town being the other), so it was a good area to head for. I opted for Sporting 87, who play at Victory Sports Ground, in Bury St. Edmunds. It was formerly the works ground of the Greene King Brewery, opened in 1920 and is a venue shared with the town’s cricket club. It has also hosted Suffolk County Cricket matches, as is evident from the photo hanging in the clubhouse (see below).
The sports ground is split into two sections, divided by a line of conifer trees. Sporting 87 play on the same side as the cricket, with the pitch on the far side of the square, running widthways. It is roped along the near side and behind the left hand goal, whilst the far side, which also houses a pair of dugouts, is barriered off with a combination of rail and advertising boards. Plenty of parking, despite their reserve team also being at home, playing on a pitch to the left of the trees. The clubhouse/pavilion was open for use of toilets and although the bar was shut, hot drinks were available at halftime. There was also a match day programme, which surprisingly was free of charge and placed on the corner of the bar.
The match was 8th versus 13th in the league table. Sporting had taken an early lead, but Grundisburgh levelled twenty minutes in and had a header cleared off the line minutes later and having looked to be getting on top, they then had a man sent off for a ‘last man’ foul just outside the box and it didn’t take long for Sporting to take advantage of the extra man, scoring with an easy tap in to lead 2-1 at the break. It was 3-1 within minutes of the restart and it looked like Sporting would run away with it. Grundisburgh did pull it back to 3-2, but two goals in three minutes, the first a superb bicycle kick, saw Sporting extend their lead to 5-2 and the points were safe. The visitors still attacked at every opportunity, but conceded twice more, as they ran out of steam and they were in the game far more than the final 7-2 scoreline suggests and a great effort by the 10 men.
Another day where it was foggy/misty for the entirety, but it once again remained dry…..and no traffic problems whatsoever!
So, that rounds off 2024 as far as the ground hopping goes. A rather disappointing total of just 149 ‘new’ grounds visited (England 110, Wales 14, Scotland 12, Malta 5, Portugal 5, Spain 3), down by 35 on last year.
