The present sombre atmosphere over Stoneylands is not there because of the present management of Steve Rogers, and Ryan Owens, with inputs from Mark Dack, coach Geoff Cleal and general manager Paul Grainger.

Richard Kemp

The present sombre atmosphere over Stoneylands is not there because of the present management of Steve Rogers, and Ryan Owens, with inputs from Mark Dack, coach Geoff Cleal and general manager Paul Grainger.

They have all been trying to bring improved personnel to the teams at Long Melford, this current initiative has brought in keeper Paul Wood from Halstead and midfielder Simon Loft from Braintree, our thanks go to both clubs for their help and co-operation with the paperwork, then after some delay midfielder Justin Deeny arrived from AFC Sudbury, and ex star striker Danny Stokes has resigned after being released by AFC Sudbury.

Hopefully, when these players get settled in they will help us change the situation round and get us some points on the board. Irons are still in the fire, and there could well be some further additions to the squad within the next week or so.

It was great heartbreak for the reserves and managers Ryan Owens and Mark Dack at Cornard on Saturday when they lost 2-1 to Grundisburgh Reserves in the Senior Cup Reserves semi-final. The game was evenly balanced with Grundisburgh shading the first half and Melford looking a shade better in the second. After Grundisburgh had taken the lead through a fantastic goal from the evergreen Neil King, Melford soon levelled through Luke Simpson from 20 yards.

The introduction by Melford of the trio of 16-year-olds Tom Peel, Nathan Bartlett and Ben Hyatt, certainly perked up the situation in the second period, but pushing forward they were caught by the pace of Henry who burst through to slot the ball past keeper Mansfield.

The first team came to grief in a poor game against struggling Godmanchester. Many of our problems stem from the lack of ball retention in midfield and attacking positions, which then throws too much pressure on the defence. Despite having a fair share of the ball we have no cutting edge in front of goal and we did little to trouble the visiting keeper Trebes, until those problems are resolved the team will continue to struggle. This coming Tuesday the reserves take on high-flying Tiptree at Stoneylands, while on Saturday Saffron Walden visit Melford.