Dereham Town 1 Ely City 2

Ely City's under 18s came into this tough away tie at Dereham Town confident after two opening league wins under their belt . Lewis Beeton came into the starting line-up at the expenses of Harry Walker in midfield.

Luke Mansfield went close first of all for the Robins when he beat the keeper in the air, but his header was comfortable cleared away from the danger area. Dereham kept the ball well and shortly afterward Mansfield's effort the home side created their first chance which saw a shot just clearing Jake Alsop's crossbar.

Ely almost opened the scoring in the 10th minute when a good link up between Lewis Hook and Luke Mansfield panicked the Dereham defence into playing a ball back which went pass the advancing home keeper and ball hit the post before going behind for a corner.

For all the possession Dereham had Ely always looked the likely side to go ahead and did just that in the 20th minute. Again good play by Lewis Hook, found Tom Thulborn wide and his pass to Luke Mansfield on the edge of the box enabled the striker to get the ball out of his feet and strike a left foot shot that just crept pass the advances of the Dereham keeper

Dereham came back into the game after going behind and created one or two half chances before equalising in the 35th minute. A quick free kick was taken and the advancing Dereham forward got behind the Robins back four. A good exchange on the edge of the box found Dereham's captain and he riffled home a left foot shot pass the diving Alsop

The second half again saw Ely started well and Tom Thulborn had his best chance of the game, but failed to get enough leverage on a lob over the keeper.

Dereham then started to look the more likely side to win the game as they created two or three good chances without finishing off with a goal. As the game went into the last 15 minutes Ely seemed to build up for one last push . George Raynor went close with a good run into the box and his cross/shot was begging for someone to put the ball into the back of the net.

Ely's winner came courtesy of captain Joe Brannan who firstly attempted to get on the end of Alex Brown free kick and his effort fell to the feet of Lewis Hook who knocked the ball against a defender and this rebounded back to the feet of Brannan who thumped the ball home to the delight of his teammates and fans alike

The Robins still had some defending to do and had to thank keeper Jake Alsop for saving his side with a smart save in the final moments of the game.

Dave Beeton and Mark Leonard both acknowledged after the game that there was still a lot more to come from their side, but in the end they saw the job through. Next up for The Robins is a trip in the next round to fellow league rivals Cambridge City