Ely were back in action after having last weekends match called off due to the bad weather. Stowmarket were the visitors to the Unwin and arrived on the back of a mid week semi final victory in the Knock Out Cup so were in confident mood. Ely were without Craig Neal and Luke Mansfield with Reserve team player Dom Hunt earning his first call up to the first team.

The first 20 minutes of the game was fairly scrappy with neither team being able to play much football or create any opportunities with much of the ball being involved in a midfield battle. Sam Goodge then headed wide from a Jamie Alsop free kick and Harry Reynolds had a couple of long range shots to deal with. Stowmarket opened the scoring after 35 minutes as they hit on the break following an Ely corner scoring from close range. A reaction was needed from Ely and Matty Simpson headed over when well placed from a Jamie Alsop corner. HT 0-1.

In the second half Ely managed to play much more football getting the ball wide and putting the pressure on Stowmarket as they dropped deeper. Ash Walter was pushed into a more advanced role and his cross was met by Alex Theobald to head in the equaliser in the 65th minute. It was all one way traffic at this stage as Ely pushed to take the lead. Alex Theobald fired over from a left footed strike and James Seymour also fired over when well placed in the box. Stowmarket weathered this storm and created a couple of their own chances including a free kick on the edge of the box and also a goalmouth scramble that Daniel Jeffrey, Josh Sewell and Harry Reynolds all made vital blocks. With 10 minutes to go Daniel Jeffrey got to the byline and put in a great cross that somehow Alex Theobald managed to head over from close range. Ely continued to push and as the game moved into stoppage time the pressure from Ely resulted in winning a corner. Jamie Alsop delivered another excellent ball into the box and captain James Seymour rose highest to head the ball in for the winner much to the delight of the home players and crowd. Ely saw out the last minute of the game to claim a vital 3 points.

Next week we travel to Debenham as we have 10 league games to go.