Cranfield United play in top of the league pre xmas match

GMK News return to Cranfield United today for a big mid season match. Cranfield have done well for the 2025/6 season and hold second place in spartan south midlands league. Today, they played sixth place Irchester in a match which looked on paper to be highly competitive and interesting.

GMK News at Cranfield Utd club house

Cranfield and Irchester greet each other at start

Match nerves showed itself in the first five mins and it took time for both sides to settle. Cranfield got the first serious run at goal in the 4th min but the linesman called for offside. In the 6th min, a Cranfield run at goal came again this time on the right hand side but the final

shot was easily saved. Cranfield were making use of their wingers early which started to give them a slight edge over Irchester as they started to create a few more extra opportunitie than their opponent. Irchester kept trying to counter attack in the first quarter but no serious threat or shot on goal came. The cranfield defence was looking a little more solid like their front line. In the 15th minute, a Cranfield striker fell down in the Irchester penalty box but nothing was given. A min later, Cranfield got a free kick on the left hand side which connected with a right striker’s boot and with it came the first serious shot on goal which was just saved by the Irchester keeper who was able to touch the ball over very close to the cross bar. Irchester cintinued to try and step up the pressure in the second quarter but the Cranfield defence continued to do their job well. In the 20th minute an incoming cranfield striker was fouled leading to Irchester getting the first yellow card of the match. The free kick was saved but another Irchester foul follwed in the 22nd minute as their frustration at being so closed down by the cranfield defence set in. As the match moved towards the final quarter of the first half, Cranfield were looking more likely to get the first goal lead. Irchester counter attacked and were able to actually get a shot on goal. What followed was a total suprise in the 25th as Irchester got a second shot on goal which this time went in and gave them the one nil lead instead of cranfield. In the 28th, Cranfield took a quick corner on the right hand side as they stepped up the tempo in search of the equaliser. In the 30th minute, it came when a cranfield cross connected with a stretched out leg of a cranfield striker making it 1-1. One mnute later, another Cranfield run at goal hit the jackpot and they were 2-1 up. ‘ that’s how you turn a game around cried the Cranfield manager from the dug out followed by a follow on cry of ‘ santa is coming to town’ In the 36th Cranfield took a right hand corner which swept in looking for a killer goal but the ball was punched safely away by the Irchester keeper. In the 37th, a Cranfield long shot would have gone in had not the Irchester keeper made a great save. In the final five mins tempers were running high on both sides and the referee had to step in and keep warning both sides to keep it clean. The Cranfield wingers kept being active, particularly on the left side. Cranfield looked more lkely to get the killer third goal than Irchester the eaualiser. All Irchester could do was try and hold on and withstand the final mins of step up in Cranfield pressure and hope the equaliser would come in the second half with time to rest and reflect. In the 45th minute, the Irchester defence started to foul but the referee played the game on and Cranfield got another two close shots on goal. Unfortunately the Itchester frustration and fouling kept continuing and an Irchester player was sent off just before the half time whistle went. In the 49th Cranfield got another right side corner but tiredness resulted in nothing coming of it.

Irchester exit at half time with one man sent off and 2-1 down.

In the opening mins of the second half, Irchester came out fighting with Cranfield looking sluggish and complacent and got quikly punished for it with an early equaliser from Irchester. The Cranfield manager this time shouted from the bench at his players, ‘ you have got the worse start possible’. This time frustration started to flare up from Cranfield as they tried to get back the lead and regret of what had happened set in. By the end of the first quarter there was a lot of fouling going on. Cranfield kept applying the pressure but being one extra man up did not seem to be showing anything with a better performance on the pitch. As half an hour remained of the match, one could not help feeling that the extra man advantage might start to surface. In the 22nd minute of the second half, another foul on a Cranfield player led to another Irchester booking. The hand to hand fighting on the pitch would hopefully result at some stage with on of the sides getting into the lead again. The shoving and the pushing kept continuing but neither side was able to re- establish the lead. Cranfield towards the end of the second quarter got a free kick from the half way line but Irchester were able to deal with it and a few mins later got a free kick of their own which was delayed to more scuffles breaking out on the pitch. This time a Cranfield player got yellow card before the kick was taken. The kick when it was finslly taken was well struck and dipped close in to the top right hand corner of the Cranfield goal and was tipped away safely by the keeper. Neither side looked likely to score in the final quarter and the match had reached evens stevens. In the final ten mins Cranfield were starting to create a slight few more chances than Irchester. One man up, Cranfield needed to prove that they were worthy of makint it to champions by the end of the season. If they could score now, they might make it to winners of the league. If it stayed 2-2, they would probably just end up as runners up. Irchester substituted in the final five mins to try and stop Cranfield from getting where they wanted to be. Cranfield bought on a sub of their own, and in the closing mins yet another cranfiekd player went down as the desperstely fought on to try and get the winner. The kick that followed curved over the Irchester goal but got noshere. This was followed by a Cranfield left side corner which was quickly deflected away for another. However, the second follow on corner went the same way and things wete begining to look like the match was going to end in a draw as Irchester counter attacked. The match had turned out in reality like it had looked to be on paper, very close, very entertaining but unfortunately with no clear winner as the match ended in an inevitable 2-2 draw and had to be abandoned due to an eruption of all out player brawling which broke out in the closing minutes of the match.

Match abandoned at 2-2 in the closing minutes as all out player brawling erupts on the Crawley Road pitch.