Jacob Brown’s opener cancelled out

Both teams had to settle for a point from this evenly contested match.

The visitors Ely City arrived at Stoneylands in 8th position aiming for back-to-back victories after beating Haverhill on Tuesday.

Long Melford on the other hand were looking to bounce back from last Saturday’s defeat at Soham.

New signing Lewis Brennan, who joined from Wivenhoe Town earlier this week, made his debut as a second half substitute.

Early exchanges were even and that was to be the story of a match that ebbed and flowed throughout.

The referee Sam Jones and his assistants had a good game, always in control of the match without trying to be the star of the show.

Ely had the best opportunity in the opening stages when Jordan Foster burst through the home defence. However, Melford keeper David Leader was quickly out to make the save from close range.

At the other end Melford earned a number of corners resulting in goalmouth scrambles, from which several shots on goal were blocked by the Ely defence.

Melford took the lead midway through the first half when captain JACOB BROWN rifled home from the edge of the box, hard and low into the bottom corner.

Early in the second half Melford had opportunities to score the all important second goal, including a good run and shot from the impressive Will Wingfield but he was narrowly off target.

Ely always posed a threat going forward too but with Melford defending well it needed a moment of quality to level the scores.

It was Robins’ danger man JORDAN FOSTER who scored the equaliser just after the hour mark with an excellent goal. He cut in from the right wing and fired into the net in emphatic fashion, giving Leader no chance.

Ely now had their tails up and had the best opportunity to score a late winner – a free kick in a central position just outside the box. However, it was a routine save for Leader.

There was also a late chance for Melford’s Brame who fired wide but a hard-fought match finished all square and that was a fair reflection of the 90 minutes.

LONG MELFORD: David Leader, Ross Waugh, Sam Newton, Jake Jackson, Deklyn Roy, Josh Collins, Hassan Ally, Harry Whiting-Noakes, Jack Brame, Jacob Brown (c), Will Wingfield

Subs used: Lewis Brennan, Perry Newman, Frederico Dende, Jordan Gibbs

Sub unused: Charlie Holmes

Up next is a home match against Newmarket Town on Wednesday (7.45pm ko), followed by an away game at Whitton United on Saturday.

Elsewhere, there were defeats for our U18s on Thursday (0-2 at Cornard Utd) and Reserves yesterday (0-1 at Whitton Utd). More details on those matches to follow shortly.

Photo credit: Paul Leech