Narrow midweek defeat at Mildenhall

The Villagers’ final away match of 2021 ended in a close defeat at 3rd-placed Mildenhall Town.

Again Melford due to injuries were forced into making some last minute adjustments to their line-up. Central defender Kalum Benham came in from Bildeston and in goal came Dion-Curtis Henry, previously with Peterborough, Crawley and Crystal Palace.

Although overall Mildenhall created more chances The Villagers will feel that they should have at least shared the points. In fact over the first half kicking down the slope Melford had more of the ball and competed well against their promotion chasing opponents.

The game opened with twice Ben Judge flashing the ball over the Mildenhall penalty area, without a Melford player finding the crucial touch.

After four minutes Mildenhall took the lead when the home team broke at speed, Scott Chaplin squaring the ball to the much travelled  TANNER CALL to fire home. Not the start Melford wanted.

The Villagers soon drew level on sixteen minutes,  when JAMIE GRIFFITHS turned his defender and his hard low drive from 25 yards completely defeated keeper Louis Johnson, and found the net via the inside of the post. Another quality goal from the ex Ipswich player.

Twice Melford came close to taking the lead on 26 minutes. David Lorimer fired at goal from twenty yards, and keeper Johnson made a juggling save.  Two minutes later and a George Day free kick was pushed over the bar by Johnson,.

At the other end Mildenhall found the side netting with a free kick, and on 41 minutes Melford keeper Henry made a spectacular save to keep out a James Hall header.

The even first half turned into a winning score line for  Mildenhall after fifty two minutes, when substitute NATHAN STEWART with his first touch found the Melford net. Having taken a pass from Charlie Hitch, Stewart fired in a fairly weak shot, which somehow squirmed under the body of the diving Henry in the Melford goal.

Both teams were guilty of playing poor square passes, and a result of a poor Melford pass, the eventual outcome saw Phil Weavers head inches wide for the Hall, at the other end Melford had responded and a powerful header from Griffiths hit the bar and went out of play.

On 80 minutes another intercepted pass from Melford, saw a goalmouth scramble, with keeper Henry excelling with two point blank saves. Again on 84 minutes Henry made a fine save to push a fierce drive over the bar.

And so it ended, a good performance by Melford against a promotion chasing team, they will rue the fact that no points were collected in their relegation battle. CHENOBERET

LONG MELFORD: Dion-Curtis  Henry, Dan Smith, Will Wingfield, David Lopez (82), Kalum Benham, Jake Jackson, Ben Judge, Jacob Brown, Jamie Griffiths, David Lorimer, George Day (71)

Subs used: Hassan Ally (71), Jack Delaune (82) not used: Elliot Walker, Steve Chisholm, Jamie Bradbury

PHOTO CREDIT: Mark Westley (visit Suffolk News for more photos)