On a dank, dark, very misty night ‘The Robins’ returned to Suffolk for the second time in four days. This time it was to Mildenhall Town FC for a first round Red Insure League Cup tie. Showing what confidence can do for a team, The Hall, the current league leaders started off at a great pace and straight away put pressure on the Ely defence. Playing down the slope on a wet surface they were always in the Ely half getting down the wide areas and on 9 minutes across was scrambled away at the expense of a corner. A training ground move saw the ball come in low towards the penalty box ‘D’,.the first man stepped over it and Darryl Coakley arriving late from his own half hit a fierce shot towards Ely keeper Lee Pacey’s right. ‘Pace seemed to have the shot covered but it struck both of Ely’s Parkinson brothers and deflected into the left hand corner of the net to give Mildenhall a 1 - 0 lead.
It was not until about 20 minutes that Ely started to get into the game pushing Mildenhall on to the back foot. On 23 minutes a long throw into the box was followed by two corners which were eventually cleared to just outside the box when Josh Bridgeman hit a strong drive but it was always swinging wide of the upright Ely kept going forward but Mildenhall were always looking to break quickly. Luke Parkinson had a good effort, from the angle of the box, go just wide and then Richard Gammon headed the ball home across the goal from the left hand side but the Ely supporters cheers were cut short as the assistant Ref. raised his flag for offside. Two minutes later Ely were awarded a free kick outside the box the ball rebounded off the wall into the air but Adam Murray headed wide. At the break it was Mildenhall 1 Ely City 0
At the start of the 2nd half Ely went forward but straight away got caught on the break. ‘Pace’ came out to the player and made a good save but the loose ball fell to a Mildenhall player but his effort at the empty net was kicked off the line by Sam Parkinson. On 53 minutes Chris Sterecki hit a good shot that brought out a very good save from Pope in the home goal. A minute later Austen Diaper was unnecessarily yellow carded for handball right on the side line one of a number of odd decisions by the Ref. Ely now started to be in the ascendancy but Mildenhall were always looking to break but were reduced to shooting from distance. It must be said that although were now keeping more possession the were not creating much in the final third. On 60 minutes the ball was headed on down the middle and Richard Gammon latched on to it but he was tackled just as he shot and the ball went for a corner. Ely continued to go forward by Mildenhall defended well and managed to keep Ely out of the box. On 70 minutes Taz Chisonga came on for Luke Parkinson and 7 minutes later Lewis McDonald came on for Austen Diaper It was still Ely pressing and Sam Parkinson from distance brought another save from Pope. On 81 minutes Darren Coe came on for ‘Gammo’ but although it was all Ely at the end they were unable to get much in the way of shots on goal and so Mildenhall were the team to go forward to the next round