It was a bright spring afternoon and it was the turn of Diss Town to visit the Robins nest at the Unwin. Diss are fighting for points in order to stay out of the bottom three so it was going to be a difficult game. Ely made changes to the starting line up due to Mondays Cup final so we got underway in front of 107 people.
It was Ely going forward right from the start gaining the first corner in the first minute. On 5 minutes the first effort, a Pacey free kick round the halfway line on the right, hit to the back post, Austen Diaper came in but put the chance over the bar. Corners and long throws into the box kept the Diss defence busy in fact it was not until the 19th minute that Diss actually got the ball into the Ely box and that was easy for Pace to collect. On 21 minutes Adam Murray had a good effort go just wide of the post and a minute later Richard Chadwick found Porky Claydon in the box and his shot was turned round the post for yet another corner. On 24 minutes Mussa headed a free kick just wide of the post, two minutes later a long throw into the box by Kenny Smith, Mussa connected well with his head but the keeper did well to tip it over the bar, surely a goal had to come.
It did and maybe from an unlikely source. The corner was swung in from the left it was only partially cleared towards the edge of the box, there was Kenny Smith who did well to connect well with the bouncing and his shot flew into the net. 1 - 0
This appeared to spark some life into Diss and an attack down their right on 28 minutes led to them getting a corner on that side. The ball came in and a Diss player flicked it on towards the back post where ‘Maradona’ Skeggs rose and slapped the ball into the net with his hand. All the Ely players were amazed when the Ref awarded a goal, this led to protests but he did not change his mind and appeared to be the only person in the ground who did not see a hand on the ball even the linesman in the Diss half in front of me was smiling (but I am sure he would say it was wind) a very poor decision but 1 - 1
The rest of the last 15 minutes of the half saw more strong Ely pressure. A number of corners, long throws saw efforts from Kenny Smith, Mussa and Austen but to be fair the keeper and his defenders did well to keep the ball out of the net so the half finished all square.
The second half started and straight away the inevitable Ely corner but this was cleared. Diss had a free kick on the right but it was hit over the top and the game continued much the same pattern as the first half. On 55 minutes Taz Chisango replaced Porky Claydon but it was in the 14th minute that Ely took the lead.
The bal was brought forward out of the Ely half with Sam Parkinson and Chads doing some good work down the left along with Taz. The cross came into the box and a number of players were involved in a scramble, after a bit of ping pong Josh Bridgeman was there to force the ball home from close range. 2 - 1
Really Ely continued to dominate, Taz was put through but shot wide, Ian Walters volleyed over the top after a free kick fell to him and in the next 10 minutes Ely had a number of shots from Mussa Josh and Austen that went wide or were saved by the keeper or resulted in more corners. On 75 minutes Diss had their first meaningful chance of the half when they got away down their left, the ball was pulled back from the bye line but the shot was over the bar.
On 80 minutes Ben Lawrence came on for Darren Coe, another corner driven in by Sam Parkinson has headed just wide of the left post by Mussa. A few moments later a Diss in swinging corner from the right, Pace only got a hand on it and their player coming in from the back headed wide. On 87 minutes Chris Stereki came on for Sam Parkinson but the game ended with The Robins deservedly getting the three points.