Non-league football round-up

THERE were wins for Mildenhall Town, Needham Market, Leiston and Newmarket Town in the first round of the S1 Sport Suffolk Premier Cup first round last night, while Maldon Town won their FA Trophy preliminary round replay.

S1 SPORT SUFFOLK PREMIER CUP FIRST ROUND

Mildenhall 2 AFC Sudbury 1

THE teams kicked off in very wet conditions and after Munson saved well from Clements, Robinson headed home Claydon's cross to give Mildenhall the lead on six minutes. It was a fast and furious game on a slippery pitch and AFC Sudbury were level on 26 minutes when Bacon headed home.

Rowe and Miles were booked in the space of a minute before Claydon sent Clements away and he fired past Munson five minutes before half time.

Werthman and Cunningham were shown yellow cards as the downpour continued, making control difficult. Hammond broke clear on 75 minutes but Munson dived bravely at his feet to prevent a goal.

Flack was put through by Hammond, but fired over the bar, and the home side, despite a few scares, held on for a deserved win.

Bury Town 1 Needham Market 4

ON A wet night at Ram Meadow early exchanges were even, with neither keeper seriously troubled.

Needham were creating the better chances but were unable to find the final ball. Bury's James Tatham headed narrowly over and Liam Jones in the Needham goal was quickly out to deny Sam Reed.

Needham took the initiative but the deadlock was broken after 36 minutes when Lee Reed's speculative cross-cum-shot dropped inside the far post to give Bury the lead.

Needham equalised in the last minute of the half when Bury failed to clear a cross and J Denniss was on hand to head past Key.

Bury started the second half on the offensive, and stretched the Needham defence. Sam Reed had the ball in the net, but it was ruled out for offside. Needham came back and from a free kick well outside the box Glen Snell's effort deceived Key to give them the lead.

Lee Smith then hit the Needham bar with a free kick, as play flowed from end to end. Needham got their third on 66 minutes, when Craig Parker finished off a good move. Bury now looked a beaten side Needham continued to control the play.

In the third minute of stoppage time Craig Parker ran through unchallenged for Needham's fourth.

Ipswich Wanderers 0 Leiston 5

THE Wanderers defence held out for 73 minutes before Leiston were able to get the ball in the net. Then it was an injury to the Wanderers right-back which left a space which Leiston exploited to the full, scoring another four goals in the final five minutes of the game.

Leiston had struggled all game to get some rhythm to their play, winning corners on a regular basis, but always failing to get the final touch. Wanderers played some good football in midfield and matched their visitors for effort and determination, having several good chances of their own in the first half.

Goldfinch bundled a bouncing ball over the line from close range to get Leiston off the mark on 73 minutes, and 10 minutes later the Leiston onslaught started.

Trotter made ground on the right and squared the ball for McGlone to score his first. Then Stanley and McGlone combined to get clear of the Wanderers defence with the former having an easy task to bulge the back of the net.

Then Eagle scored a good solo effort, breaking in from the left and chipping the keeper, and as the game entered its dying seconds, Symonds in the Wanderers defence unfortunately slipped in the process of clearing and McGlone had the easy task of netting his second and Leiston's fifth.

Newmarket 2 Haverhill 1

IT'S Newmarket who have the unenviable trip to Lowestoft - conquerors of holders Ipswich Town Reserves - in midweek after winning this tie.

The first attack brought their first goal after three minutes, a relatively unchallenged header from Dixon from a corner by Beck opening the scoring.

Haverhill equalised in the 29th minute from the penalty spot, Harvey being tripped by Ibutarboush and Hunt converting.

The home side's winner came six minutes after the break, Mhasai putting the ball out to Beck and the latter coming inside before beating goalkeeper Benstead at his near post.

Home keeper Youngs left the game before the restart following the effects of the first half head injury but Haverhill were unable to trouble his replacement, Walker.

FA TROPHY PRELIMINARY ROUND REPLAY

Croydon Athletic 2 Maldon Town 4

CROYDON got off to the best of starts when after 40 seconds a cross by Moses Abemola was headed onto the crossbar and, in the opinion of the linesman, crossed the line with the goal being given to Croydon's leading goal scorer, Reggie Savage. Maldon, with several youngsters being blooded, soon settled in but were thwarted by a quick tackling Croydon team.

The second half started with both teams looking to gain control but, with tempers starting to become frayed, the experience of Steve Goode set up the forwards with some good passing which started to wear down the Croydon players.

James Robinson started to show Russell Tanner just how good he was with the ball with some fine attacking football. Croydon for the most part in the second half were left having the occasional shot at goal and only occasionally giving Gould a shot to save.

The game was put out of Croydon's reach when a long kick by Darren Gould was met perfectly by Wayne Purser, who made no mistake in beating the home keeper after 80 minutes.

With a minute left of normal time Croydon managed to get back into the game with a good goal from Gareth Graham but Maldon came straight back when Lee Perry scored Maldon's fourth goal to put them into the next round against Dover Athletic at home on Saturday.

ESSEX SENIOR CUP

Basildon 3 Halstead 4

HALSTEAD just eased through into the next round of the competition thanks to a late winner by Adam Swindells.

After an error strewn match that provided action at each end, both defences will look back at the opposition goals.

Halstead lost new-boy Adam Bethell after only 15 minutes, with Passfield taking over.

Basildon's Dwyer opened the scoring on 22 minutes. However, Halstead were back on terms within five minutes when Daley was brought down in the box and converted the resultant spot kick.

Both sides swung the ball around well before Halstead went ahead late in the half when Bryan's shot was blocked and Saunders converted a rebound.

Early in the second half Halstead increased their lead, with Bryan taking a Saunders pass to fire home.

Basildon would not give up and they cut the arrears halfway through the half when Cross netted a penalty after keeper Rutherford was penalised.

Basildon were lifted by this success and eventually got back on terms when a pull-back pass by Pollard set up Dwyer to tap home a simple goal.

Both sides went all out for the winner forcing several corners but in the end it was Halstead who booked their ticket when home keeper Hughes could only parry a cross from Daley and Swindle swept home the rebound.

RYMAN LEAGUE DIVISION ONE NORTH

Ware 4 Wivenhoe Town 0

WIVENHOE looking to build on their sole point of the season travelled to Ware and were in the game until the 31st minute, when Berry latched on to a rebound to put the home side ahead.

Wivenhoe committed suicide in an error strewn second half as Ware notched three goals.

The visitors' continued failure to defend corners and set-pieces is proving costly.