Norfolk F.A. Junior Cup

1st Round

Saturday 19th September 2026

Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.23

Earsham 4 Downham Town Reserves 0, attendance 25

33’ 1-0

55’ 2-0

68’ 3-0

70’ 4-0 (pen)

@ Earsham Playing Field

The Street

Earsham

NR35 2TZ

No Admission or Programme.

The nearest afternoon option for me was this Norfolk F.A. Junior Cup match, retracing my steps 12 miles back along the A143, just to the west of Bungay. It took sixteen minutes, arriving fourteen minutes before the scheduled start. It was a good job it wasn’t a journey that was cutting it fine though, as we got underway seven minutes early. Earsham play at the playing field in the village. There’s a brick built changing room building, which also housed a tea bar, with the pitch running widthways in front of here. Dugouts are on the near side, with a small section of cover to the right, with the pitch roped along this touchline. As with my earlier game, the pitch was in superb condition. It would put many to shame much further up the pyramid. Apparently there is a link here to an underground well, so the pitch has been well looked after through the recent drought. Even so, someone still has to put in the effort to actually carry out the work and turn the sprinklers on.

The match was top of Anglian Combination League Division 3 South versus North West Norfolk League Division 1. I wouldn’t normally bother with a higher level team hosting someone from a lower level, especially if a reserve team is involved, but as it was part of a double……… Earsham opened the scoring after thirty three minutes, when a cross from the left was volleyed in at the far post. A corner from the left, headed in at the far post, saw them double their lead ten minutes into the second half. It was game over with just over twenty minutes left, latching onto a misplaced back pass to the ‘keeper that fell short, nicking the ball past him and finishing from the corner of the 18 yard box into the far corner to make it 3-0. A penalty, awarded for a handball, rounded off the scoring three minutes later and they almost scored a fifth late on, but they hit the post with a header.

A rare traffic free drive home too, rounding off a good day out.