Boxing Day saw ‘The Robins’ land, just over the Suffolk border, at the ‘Recway’ to face the League leaders Mildenhall Town FC. The team saw three changes from the previous game at Bethnel Green with Richard Gammon,Ben Lawrence and Liam Bolton starting. After all the rain and the disappointment of last Saturday’s Dereham game being called off it was good to get back to some football at last. Actually the sun came out for a bit at the start and the pitch was in quite good condition. Obviously it was saturated but only a couple of pools in the goalmouths caused any concern before the game and these were soon cleared. A reasonable crowd of 130 or so came for the 11am kickoff and were treated to an ‘interesting game’ to say the least. With the condition of the ground there was quite a lot of slipping and sliding and this saw the game littered with a number of free kicks which was only to be expected.
Ely started the game kicking up the slope and within a minute the ’Hall’ trainer was on as Josh Pope, their keeper, fell badly after collecting a high ball and colliding with one of his own players and an Ely forward. Fortunately he was able to carry on and there seemed to be no lasting damage. The first 5 minutes saw Ely get a couple of corners and a free kick but with all of these the delivery was poor and they came to nothing, with Pope collecting easily. Mildenhall then got the upper hand and started to press down the flanks trying to get crosses in to big front man Wood, but they didn’t lead to any direct chances. The first real chance was maybe when Ely’s Liam Bolton got in a good cross, but Andrew Claydon, under pressure from a defender, could only steer his header into the keepers’ grateful arms. On 14 minutes, at the other end, ‘Hall’ had an effort but this time Wood put his header over the bar. The goal kick fell to Chris Sterecki. He made a great run, over the halfway line beating a couple of players, deep into Mildenhall territory, before slipping the ball forward into the corner of the box, unfortunately, recipient Richard Gammon had strayed just offside.
It was in the 18th minute when we saw the first goal. Mildenhall were awarded a free kick out on the right, Coakley hit the ball very well towards Lee Pacey’s left hand post. ‘Pace’ dived and got a hand to the ball but it only fell at the feet of ‘Halls’ Thomas, he delightedly stabbed it home from 10 yards much to the home crowds glee 0 – 1
Ely responded almost immediately with an Austen Diaper equaliser. It was the 20th minute and ‘The Robins’ won a throw, out on the left, opposite the penalty area. The big men went forward but it was thrown short to Luke Parkinson. He got in a good cross from near the bye line. Adam Murray won it in the air and forced a header goal wards, Pope managed to get a hand to it but as he parried it there was ‘Tino’ to force the ball into the net from close range 1 – 1
Both sides were trying to play football but it wasn’t always easy in the slippery conditions. ‘Sherks’ had another good run deep into his opponent’s half before being cynically brought down, unfortunately the set piece came to nothing. On 32 minutes Luke Parkinson was shown a yellow card for not retreating at a free kick. Mildenhall then had a good effort as Wood got free into the centre of the box but ‘Pace’ bravely dived at his feet and collected the ball. Ely then had a minute when they had four shots from distance that pinballed about before being cleared and the half drew to an end, scores even.
Ely started the second period and went on to the attack; Porky Claydon made a good run out to the left and won a corner. Pope turned the first one over for a second corner and this one saw the ball being cleared off the line by a defender. On 55 minutes Wood managed to get away down the middle but his lob went just wide of Pacey’s right hand upright. On 62 minutes Ben Lawrence’s long throw caused a bit of panic in the home defence but again Luke Parkinson’s shot was headed off the line by a defender. The rebound came out and the Robins were awarded a free kick just outside the box but Luke’s kick sailed well over the bar. Five minutes later, this time ‘Hall’ made ground down the left and as the cross came in Proctor hit a shot from just outside the area only to see it rebound from the foot of the post
In the 70th minute ’Mussa’ was replaced by Darren Coe and a minute later ‘Gammo’ was replaced by Taz Chisonga for his first appearence back since his terrible car crash (Good to see you back, fit and well Taz). A minute after this ‘Tino was brought down just outside the box and very central. Unfortunately the set piece was yet again poor and cleared easily. Ely now had quite a spell of pressure. There was some good attacking play down the left with the ‘Parky’ brothers and Taz to the fore. Taz tried a curler that Pope had to put round the post. ‘Tino’ went down in the box with the Ely supporters calling for a penalty but the Referee waved away the appeals. The final minutes appeared to be mostly Ely attacking and gaining a number of throws, corners and free kicks but the Mildenhall defence held firm and the game ended in a draw, proberly the correct result overall, although certainly Ely ended the game as the stronger team going forward. This draw sees the Robins extend the unbeaten run and hopefully see the boys take a lot of confidence into the final game of the year, at Haverhill, on Saturday.