Ely City secured promotion back to the Thurlow Nunn Premier League at the first time of asking with a hard fought 2-1 victory away at Leiston Reserves making it 12 wins on the bounce for the Robins.

Sam Goodge was ruled out through injury and Jamie Alsop was unavailable as Ely kept the same starting line up from Monday nights victory. The game got off to the best start for Ely as they took the lead after only 3 minutes. Alex Theobald charged down a home defenders clearance and the ball fell to Craig Neal whose right footed shot was deflected past the keeper. After 13 minutes the lead was doubled as Alex Theobald was fouled in the area and picked himself up to score from the spot. Just the start Ely had dreamt of but Leiston were not going to be rolled over and came out on the attack. Some good handling from Harry Reynolds kept the home side at bay. Leiston went close to pulling a goal back when a header just cleared the bar. At the other end Ely went close to extending their lead when Matty Simpson fired over from just inside the box. Spencer Saberton then tried his luck from 25 yards but his right footed shot cleared the bar. Leiston finished the half on top but the Ely defence was holding firm.

The second half started with Leiston on top whilst Ely were trying to hold on to their lead. Daniel Jeffrey had to go off injured with 16 year old Joe Brannan replacing him at right back and was straight into the action clearing the ball off the line from a home players header. As the ball was partially cleared it came back into the box and Josh Sewell cleared the ball away from a Leisron attacker and with no appeals for a foul the referee blew his whistle and pointed to the penalty spot. The home striker fired the ball towards the bottom corner but Harry Reynolds made a great save. Ely's reprieve did not not last long though and on 55 minutes Leiston pulled a goal back and became the first side to score a goal against the Robins in 569 minutes of football. Ely were camped in their own half and got not clear the ball but were defending with intent to not let the lead slip. After 70 minutes Ely finally made a chance for themselves after Alex Theobald played through to Craig Neal who was able to beat his man and fire across the goal but just out of the reach of Matty Simpson. On 75 minutes Leiston hit the post as a well worked free kick found the striker at the back post who hit a volley against the wood work. Ely introduced some fresh legs for the last 15 minutes in Lewis Hook and Luke Mansfield as they were looking to run the clock down. Some good work in the left channel by Ash Walter helped to tick down some of the valuable minutes. With 90 minutes played Lewis Hook had a chance to wrap the game up but shot wide. Leiston had one last free kick but it was wasted as it cleared all the players queued up in the box. After nearly 5 minutes of added time the referee blew his whistle to the delight of the Ely players, bench and supporters with the celebrations of achieving promotion commencing on the pitch.

A winning run of 12 games has been the key factor in gaining promotion as both Great Yarmouth and Halstead have also been in fine form. Just 1 point is needed to guarantee runners up spot as Wivenhoe's victory sees them closing in on the Division 1 title.

We finish the season with two home games against AFC Sudbury Reserves on Wednesday 27th April and then Halstead on Saturday 30th April in what will be a crucial game for the visitors as they battle against Great Yarmouth to gain the last promotion place.

We hope to see plenty of supporters at the games to help us celebrate our promotion. You will also be able to vote for supporters player of the year at the last two home games.