Team Bury 2 – Long Melford 0
Long Melfrod faced consecutive games against the top two teams in the league, the first of which was away to table-topping Team Bury. Thanks to the club’s website editor, here’s how the Villagers got on.
This would have been a tough assignment if Melford had been able to field a full strength team, but with a dozen players unavailable due to injuries and alternative commitments, it was very much a weakened team that took to the field.
Despite this set back Melford piled forward in the early minutes of the game and could have scored on three separate occasions. The Villagers hit the bar from a free kick had a chance from a corner go narrowly wide, before a shot was blocked at short range.
Sadly, from this position Melford contributed to their own downfall when a weak back pass to the goalkeeper was intercepted after twenty minutes for a soft goal. four minutes later, the Villagers conceded a second in almost identical fashion. It was not the sort of lead that you should gift to the team heading the table.
Following a brief period when a couple of Melford halftime substitutes threatened to turn the game, Team Bury reasserted control and began to dominate. This was exacerbated after the Villagers had used all of their substitutes and a late challenge by a home team defender forced Will Wingfield to hobble from the fiesld leaving the Villagers to battle out to the end with ten men.
All-in-all, it was a strong performance by Melford, but giving the leaders a two goal start proved too much to turn around. With the prospect of facing second placed Haverhill Borough on Wednesday, the Villagers will be looking to have a stronger team available and to eliminate any repetition of the soft goals that cost so dearly.
MELFORD: Sam Mansfield, Luke Simpson, Ross Waugh, Pete Whitwell (70), Chris Toole, Chris McMahon, Sam Bayliss, Alessandro Zarrelli (45), Sam Turner (45), Addy Roy, Will Wingfield Subs used: Tom Perry (45), Lewis Cawtheray (45), Jack Hubbard (70)
Latest Thurlow Nunn League First Division Table
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
| Team Bury | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 15 |
| Haverhill Borough | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 13 |
| Swaffham Town | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | +14 | 12 |
| Halstead Town | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 5 | +12 | 12 |
| Braintree Town Res | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 10 |
| Whitton United | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 10 |
| Debenham LC | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 10 |
| Dereham Town Res | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 10 | +3 | 8 |
| Saffron Walden Town | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 8 |
| Fakenham Town | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 5 | +12 | 7 |
| March Town United | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 6 |
| Long Melford | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 15 | -7 | 6 |
| Great Yarmouth Town | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 4 |
| AFC Sudbury Res | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 | -4 | 4 |
| Ipswich Wanderers | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | +0 | 3 |
| Needham Market Res | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 15 | -8 | 3 |
| Stowmarket Town | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 12 | -9 | 3 |
| Downham Town | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 26 | -20 | 3 |
| Cornard United | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 18 | -15 | 1 |
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Source: DSG
