2016/17 - Your Top 5 Matches

[sumner7]

Now the season is done and dusted and a 6th consecutive season in L2 awaits, I thought I'd pose the question of what were the top 5 exciting or memorable games you personally witnessed involving ECFC in the 16/17 season. For me it was as follows:

5th - ECFC 3-3 Yeovil - 25th March
For all the wrong reasons as we should never have put ourselves in that position in the first place, but an exciting end none the less as we clawed back 3 goals in the space of less than 5 minutes at the end of the game to nick a point. Fair play to the lads for not giving up that day, but hopefully we won't be needing to do salvage jobs like that again any time soon.

4th - ECFC 2-0 Mansfield - 17th December
I had to pick this one for the sheer relief of finally winning a home game. I didn't feel easy until that 2nd went in that day, but it got a monkey off our back for a little while at least. Hope we don't have to wait as long for a home win next season.

3rd - ECFC 4-2 Wycombe - 31st January
One of those classic nights under the lights for me, I know others have posted about this game saying that they didn't enjoy it or find it entertaining, but for me it was just that. Right in the middle of our unbeaten run, and just after they'd nearly knocked Spurs out of the FA Cup, Wycombe were well beaten that evening, and considering their usual time wasting antics made it even sweeter. The prime memory for me from this one was when we had around 8-9 corners on the bounce around the hour mark where we were banging on the door before Troy Brown deservedly headed home.

2nd - Carlisle 3-3 ECFC - 14th May
A great advert for L2, and what could have been a convincing win had it not been for some suspect officiating. IMO Carlisle were a decent side too, and we gave it a good go that evening, as did they. Which of course sets it up nicely for match number 1...

1st - ECFC 3-2 Carlisle - 18th May
A proper play off ding dong, capped off with that beauty from Jack Stacey. Granted we should have put the game to bed earlier on (especially Joel Grant's chance in the second half), but their comeback inspired us to go and grab the winner. An evening that will live long in the memory, even if we didn't win the final battle on Sunday.

I'm sure there'll be others that have some decent away days up there - apart from the Home games bar Portsmouth and the Checkatrade games, I only made it to Crewe, Janners, Carlisle and Wembley this past season. Therefore, I can't comment on Pompey and Donny away, which of course would have been memorable away days for those who were there.

There's also a couple of other home games that didn't quite make it in the top 5 for me, namely the 3-0 and 4-0 thrashings of Colchester and Crewe respectively.

So then, over to you lot..... [G]

 

[iscalad]

Mansfield, Yeovil and Carlisle. Can't think of any others, but then I don't do away trips.

 

[KWSGrecian]

Wycombe H was quality

 

[StroudGrecian]

I only did 3 games this season. Cheltenham away and Grimsby away were pretty special. Crawley at home was one to forget.

 

[RedPaul]

Did very few home games this year due to other commitments which left very few free Saturday's but...

5th Hartlepool h L 1-2
Murdered them in the first half, should have been 4 up at the break. Then sat back, conceded 2 second half goals and lost 2-1. Same old City, season of home struggle ahead

4th Barnet a W 4-1
Very strange game when we were hanging on 1st half, then Jake scored a world-y just before the break. Second half we played like Real Madrid, they played like Real Plonkers. Scored 4, could have had 7 or 8.

3rd Cheltenham a W 3-1
Thoroughly deserved win in the monsoon which cemented the feeling we had turned a corner. "Last Christmas..."

2nd Pompey a W 1-0
The day as a whole wasn't good with delayed trains, being kicked out of a pub because my 8yo boy was wearing a City shirt and some obnoxious City fans in front of us but a huge 1-0 win, backed by an immensely noisy following

1st Carlisle h 3-2
No words needed. Talk about highs and lows in the same 3 minutes. Only football can do that to you.

 

[Avening Posse]

I moved abroad in February so missed lots of the fun, but did go away to Colchester to see us win 3-2 early in the season, and was treated to an Ampadu masterclass that day.

I also went away to Orient for that crucial win to start to turn the corner, and was at Portsmouth for that fine win too.

I don't go too many home games so the best I can come up with was the 0-0 borefest against Grimsby, and the win against Orient in January.

Suspect only Orient away or possibly Pompey away would be near a top 5 for this season out of that lot though !

 

[IndoMike]

Was lucky enough to be back in England to see City beat Wycombe 4-2 and Crewe 4-0. Coming back against Yeovil has to be a highlight. Beating Donny away was a great result. Carlisle home and away in playoffs were exciting and got us to Wembley. So i pick 5 from the above minus the Crewe game.

 

[geoffwp]

Barnet away. 1-4.
My first away of the season and what a game. Talk about playing out of our skins in a crazy magic second half. Hmm, maybe I should do more aways.

so I did...

Newport away 1-4
left wondering if it really was groundhog day. Watkins, Watkins and Watkins. Jeez this kid looks bleddy good!

Leyton Orient home 4-0
Oh Ryan Harley, you are the love of my life.

Crewe home 4-1
How long can this keep going on????

Carlisle play off home 3-2
one of those games you just NEVER forget. One of my top three of all time at the park.

 

[Antony Moxey]

It's funny but pretty much any other season that ended in a play-off final appearance would be hailed as a success, but considering the majority of that success was built on away results as someone who rarely, if ever, travels, it was a pretty forgettable season and one which I'm glad is finally over. As for a top five, to be honest without reading the comments from previous posts on this thread I couldn't name any memorable games, except for maybe the Crewe 4-0 and the Carlisle 3-2 which I watched on the telly.

Bizarre really, I genuinely was very close to not bothering renewing my season ticket for next year, I've been that bored with and fed up of our home performances, yet we very nearly got ourselves promoted when we haven't looked like doing that for over half a decade and ended up at Wembley too. Strange season, hoping for much, much better next season.

 

[LOG]

It's funny but pretty much any other season that ended in a play-off final appearance would be hailed as a success, but considering the majority of that success was built on away results as someone who rarely, if ever, travels, it was a pretty forgettable season and one which I'm glad is finally over. As for a top five, to be honest without reading the comments from previous posts on this thread I couldn't name any memorable games, except for maybe the Crewe 4-0 and the Carlisle 3-2 which I watched on the telly.

Bizarre really, I genuinely was very close to not bothering renewing my season ticket for next year, I've been that bored with and fed up of our home performances, yet we very nearly got ourselves promoted when we haven't looked like doing that for over half a decade and ended up at Wembley too. Strange season, hoping for much, much better next season.

I had a conversation with someone on Sunday about whether you'd call this season a success or a bit of a failure and couldn't really come up with an answer.

Anyway, my top five:

• Cheltenham 1-3 City - i think the result might have flattered us a little but it was a great team performance with Wheeler putting in a great defensive shift even though that wasn't his priority.
• City 2-0 Mansfield - the relief of the first home win
• Mansfield 1-2 City - just for the look on Steve Evans' face.
• Portsmouth 0-1 City - a really determined team performance where we were probably second best for much of the game but never gave up
• City 3-2 Carlisle - couldn't be beaten for pure excitement although i didn't really enjoy it much at the time

I quite enjoyed the games against Hull and Chelsea as well.