Ely travelled to Long Melford to take on Braintree Town Reserves without the injured Sam Goodge and unavailable Jamie Alsop. Daniel Jeffrey came back into the starting 11 with Spencer Saberton moving to left back. The under 18 trio of Lewis Hook, Luke Mansfield and Joe Brannan made up the bench.

Ely kicked off in an unfamiliar change kit of blue, red, blue and got on the front foot early on. Craig Neal delivered a cross from the left that Matty Simpson volleyed first time wide of the post. Braintree were looking good on the ball and got in down the left hand side and after working the ball well past the Ely defence the striker fired his shot high and wide. Ely were not at their fluid best but were creating chances. James Seymour made space for himself on the edge of the box and got a shot away that the keeper tipped around the post for a corner. From the corner Nathan Littlefair forced the home keeper to make another save from his header. Braintree were looking dangerous on the break but did not really test Harry Reynolds in the Ely goal. At the other end Ash Walter shot straight at the keeper and Craig Neal had a volley deflected wide. The break through finally came after 42 minutes when a long kick from Harry Reynolds evaded the home back line and Matty Simpson was able to finish well by lobbing the ball over the home keeper.

At the start of the second half from a Craig Neal corner Matty Simpson had a header superbly saved by the Braintree keeper. However the second goal shortly followed as the keeper was involved in a mix up with his defender that allowed Alex Theobald to head into an empty net. Harry Reynolds was called into action when a Braintree centre half picked up the ball and hit a shot from 35 yards that had to be tip around the top corner by Reynolds. After 68 minutes the vital third goal came to ensure the victory. A well worked move led to Alex Theobald setting the ball to James Seymour who lobbed the keeper with the outside of his right foot from the left edge of the penalty area for a sublime finish. Three soon became four when Alex Theobald headed in from an Ash Walter corner despite the best efforts of a defender clearing off the line. Ely made three quick changes and Luke Mansfield went close to increasing the lead but could not find a way past the home keeper.

Thank you to the Ely fans that travelled to Long Melford to cheer us on. The support is really appreciated.

Overall a solid performance from the Robins with another clean sheet away from home and our 9th win on the bounce. On Tuesday night we face the league leaders and already promoted Wivenhoe Town at the Unwin Ground with a 7:45pm kick off