Needham close gap at top of table

NEEDHAM Market made it nine straight Ridgeons League Premier Division victories in a row with a 3-1 win at Stanway Rovers on Wednesday night to close the gap at the top of the table behind Wroxham to one point.

RIDGEONS LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION

Stanway Rovers 1 Needham Market 3

NEEDHAM Market maintained their 100% League record with a 3-1 victory at the Hawthorns.

The visitors started the game well, putting the home-side under a great deal of pressure with a flurry of corners, with the Stanway attacks very limited.

The breakthrough eventually came in the 43rd minute when Bailey was tripped in the Stanway box. Glenn Snell took the resultant penalty sending Church the wrong way to give the visitors the half-time lead.

Ten minutes into the second-half a ball over the top of the Stanway defence had Craig Parker race clear to put Needham 2-0 up. Luke Calendar then had an excellent chance to reduce the arrears for Stanway but put his shot past the post.

However in the 82nd minute Rob Thorne finished from a similar position to give Stanway the chance to get back in the game.

But Needham had the final say when Matt Buckle put Parker in again and a mix-up between the home defence and goalkeeper left Parker with an easy chance to settle the match.

Walsham 2 Soham TR 5

SOHAM started strongly and Libam showed a glimpse of what was to come with a good run and shot which was well saved by Mustoe.

Following a long throw by Gooderham, Paul Musgrove went close for Walsham and a good move started and finished by Garry Newman saw the ball flash just wide. But it was the visitors who broke the deadlock, taking the lead just before half-time when a good move ended with Simpson shooting home.

The second-half was just two minutes old when Dixon scored to bring Walsham level. The joy was short-lived as Libam scored a brilliant goal following a corner.

Almost immediately a great run from Simpson found Carter, who scored No. 3, and another fine team move ended with Libam scoring their third goal in five minutes for a 4-1 lead.

It was no surprise when another terrific piece of skill ended with Libam securing his hat-trick.

As the fog came down it was difficult for spectators to see Logan score a consolation goal from long-range to complete the scoring.

RYMAN LEAGUE CUP SECOND ROUND

Wivenhoe Town 0 Heybridge Swifts 3 - Abandoned at half-time due to fog

THE visitors rocked the home side early on last night when George Purcell cut in and beat the keeper with a shot at the near post.

Seven minutes later the visitors added a second when Kennedy headed home Batt's cross. Batt also hit the bar shortly after as Heybridge dominated the home side.

Price produced one promising shot but as the fog came down Heybridge scored a third just before the interval but with the fog coming in, visibility was down to under 20 yards the referee had no alternative but to abandon the match.

FA CUP SECOND QUALIFYING ROUND REPLAY

Maldon Town 0 Tonbridge Angels 3 (aet)

MALDON started Tuesday night's FA Cup second qualifying round replay full of confidence and took the game to Tonbridge, but with both defences in control shots at goal were at a premium, although both teams had the odd chance in the first half.

The second half again saw defences on top but Maldon showed that they hadn't given up against their Ryman Premier League rivals, and for the most part were in control of the game, but with only minutes left Darren Gould brought off a magnificent save to keep Maldon in the game.

In extra-time Maldon changed the team round to a more attacking format, but were caught out when the Tonbridge centre-half, Mark Goodfellow, came forward to open the scoring on 98 minutes.

Four minutes later Tonbridge's leading goal-scorer, Maine, caused Maldon defenders all sorts of problems, and scored after a fine solo run.

With Maldon pushing everybody forward to try and get back into the game, and with only three minutes to go Anthony Storey made the game safe for Tonbridge by netting from close range.