Stow goal ace hits lucky thirteen

JEWSON LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION

Stowmarket Town 1 Fakenham 0

THE 13th goal of the season for Stowmarket striker Stuart Jopling proved unlucky for visiting Fakenham as the Suffolk side chalked up yet another 1-0 home victory.

A minute before Jopling's match winner, Carl Ratcliffe had struck the foot of a Fakenham post with a free-kick. Jopling then profited and in the next Stowmarket attack, he volleyed home following a cross from strike partner Pannell.

The Norfolk side did have the ball in the Stowmarket net just before the interval, but a shirt pull on Ollie Langham ensured that Stowmarket maintained their half-time lead.

Gorleston 6 Woodbridge Town 3

THIS feast of attacking football was effectively decided in the opening 10 minutes with Gorleston racing into a three-goal lead. For the remainder of this hugely entertaining contest between two sides whose defences did not have the best of days, Woodbridge shared six goals with their hosts, and to their credit, never gave up.

The standard was set as early as the third minute when Glenn Turner curled a shot with pinpoint accuracy into the top corner from 25 yards. Gary Ingram added a second in the eighth minute with a neat low shot and less than two minutes later, Lee Harvey took advantage of a poor clearance to smash in a fierce drive off the underside of the bar.

A stunned Woodbridge side eventually stirred and pulled a goal back in the 20th minute when Gavin Crane produced an almost impossible finish from virtually on the byline.

Gorleston restored their three-goal advantage in the 35th minute through a powerful header from the unmarked Darren Cockrill. Crane pounced to score his second two minutes from half-time, only for Gorleston to go straight to the other end, where Ingram capitalised on sloppy defending for his second.

Having weathered early second-half pressure, Gorleston broke to score again in the 64th minute, with Ingram celebrating his hat-trick. The visitors continued to show admirable spirit and although Crane was unlucky not to claim his own hat-trick when his superb strike crashed against the post, Phillips was perfectly placed to score from the rebound with 20 minutes left.

Tiptree Utd 3 Bury Town 5

A POOR second-half performance put paid to any hopes that Tiptree had of getting anything from this game, although in truth Bury had one of those matches where anything they seem to touch turned to gold.

However, yet again Tiptree should have taken this match by the scruff of the neck early on missing several chances during the opening quarter of an hour before gifting Bury the lead midway through the first half. An excellent passing move cut open the heart of Bury's defence with Neil Cogger placing an inch-perfect ball into the path of David Barefield but unfortunately he fired his shot straight at Kevin Bugg in the visitors goal.

After Cogger had then missed an opportunity himself a long ball played over the top of the Tiptree defence had Michael Bavester rushing out of his goal only to bring down Alex Harrison with the Bury forward heading well wide of goal. Colin Thompson put the spot-kick away.

Bury extended their lead on 38 minutes through Alan North with Tiptree appealing for offside.

But there came a glimmer of hope for the hosts when Wayne Houghton hit an unstoppable drive into the top corner of the net from 20 yards out.

Any hopes of a revival were soon squashed though just a minute from half-time when the referee awarded Bury a second penalty and this time Harrison gave Bavester little chance from 12 yards.

After the break came two more goals with Harrison scoring with a diving header and North notching from close range.

Paul Champ scored from the spot to pull one back for Tiptree but in the end it was too little too late and the Essex side slumped to another league defeat.

Harwich & Parkeston 2 Newmarket Town 0

HARWICH & Parkeston secured their first win of the season with a workmanlike performance against Newmarket at the Royal Oak.

Two second-half goals from Harwich captain Gareth Heath were enough to gain all three points for the bottom-of-the-table Essex club. The first half saw chances made and missed at both ends of the pitch, the best of them falling to Newmarket's Stephen Tuck, who hit the inside of a Harwich post.

The deadlock was broken on 51 minutes. The Harwich players stormed into the Newmarket penalty area and Heath got the final touch with a delicate header that nestled into the net.

Newmarket responded with an attacking foray that brought two fine saves from Harwich goalkeeper Rob Tanner but it was the home side who extended their lead on 66 minutes with another header from Heath.

Ipswich Wanderers 3 Maldon Town 2

IPSWICH Wanderers bounced back to form after two heavy cup defeats with a 3-2 win over the much-fancied Maldon Town.

Right from the start Wanderers looked bright and busy and a slick move down the right gave Liam Bell the chance to score his first Wanderers goal in the fourth minute.

In the 17th minute a Beckham-like cross from Jamie Baker was headed onto the post by Keith Hetherington. The Maldon keeper Stanbridge fluffed a back-pass in the 25th minute and the ever-alert Hetherington slotted the home the second.

Wanderers Liam Bell almost scored again when his cross-shot went just past the post. In the dying moments of the first half Jamie Baker handled in the box and Nick Smith drove home the resultant penalty.

Maldon's appetite for the game was keener in the second half but Wanderers' defence was well marshalled by Sean Bell and Mark Goldfinch, with Lee Osborn and Winston Harewood giving no quarter in the midfield the game swung from end to end.

In a dramatic finish Maldon introduced Witney, who began to cause problems and eventually pulled a ball back to Nick Smith in the 85th minute to level the game.

Wanderers still had another card up their sleeve when substitute Cameron Matthews broke through on the left and his shot was charged down by Stanbridge only for Liam Bell to smash the ball home for the winner.

Lowestoft Town 5 Mildenhall Town 0

LOWESTOFT made it eight wins on the trot as they defeated Mildenhall Town 5-0 at Crown Meadow on Saturday. Lowestoft broke the deadlock in the 13th minute, Head threading the ball through for Godbold to move inside Wells to knock the ball past Kelly. Lowestoft's grip was strengthened six minutes later as Godbold released King to coolly run through and push the ball wide of the advancing keeper.

Hopes of a Mildenhall revival were dashed as Lowestoft added a third goal 10 minutes after the break through Smith.

Mildenhall's keeper limped off with a quarter of an hour left and was replaced between the sticks by Flitton, whose first action was to bring down Thompson for a penalty. This was duly converted by Stokeld for Lowestoft's fourth goal.

Ten minutes from time Thompson headed home a left wing cross for Lowestoft's fifth to complete the scoring.

JEWSON LEAGUE FIRST DIVISION

Thetford Town 2 Felixstowe & Walton 1

LOOKING to be lacking confidence from the outset, the Seasiders surrendered three points on Saturday from a game that was well within their reach against a Thetford side that also looked to be low on confidence.

When David Thurkettle intercepted Thetford's first kick as the referee blew his whistle and ran through unchallenged it looked likely to be the quickest goal on record but he drove his shot straight at a grateful Thomas in the home goal, who parried the ball away. A minute later Thomas again denied Thurkettle, turning his shot away for a corner.

They proved to be expensive missed opportunities as Logan headed Thetford in front from a fourth minute corner and Catchpole added a second after 34 minutes.

Substitute Etti pulled one back for the Seasiders in the 65th minute.

Whitton 3 Hadleigh 3

A VERY lethargic Whitton in the opening period were again two goals behind and staring defeat in the face as Hadleigh wreaked havoc in a very hesitant defence.

Grant's free kick had already crashed off the bar before Gaston arrived late to stroke the ball home from the edge of the area. A second from Cracknell two minutes later made Whitton look very vulnerable.

Whitton levelled through two debatable penalties, with Layton scoring on each occasion.

Swann then raced clear, rounding Wayne Donovan to score easily.

After a succession of glaring misses and with time nearly up Hadleigh spoiled the party. After a couple of near misses Miles Donovan somehow found room to score through a crowded goalmouth in time added on.

Long Melford 0 Downham Town 1

MELFORD'S 14-match unbeaten run was ended by a solitary goal that enabled the visitors to gain a well-deserved victory. Indeed under new management Downham Town were winning their second game within five days. They were always in control, looked much sharper than the home side, and played some neat and tidy football.

The goal came in the 28th minute when Melford failed to defend a free kick. The ball was played to the byline. Duff squared it into the six-yard box enabling Hawes to tap home easily.

The home side improved marginally in the second half. They used their allotted substitutes but the nearest they came to saving the game was in the final minutes when, following a corner, Darren Pratt's header forced keeper Motteram to make a splendid finger-tip save.

Halstead 0 Haverhill 1

A GOAL from Marcus Hunt with three minutes left gave Haverhill all three points when they inflicted Halstead's first home league defeat of the season.

It really was a game of two halves, with Halstead well in control of the first half, winning nine unopposed corners but shot shy in front of goal, while after the break Haverhill came more into the game as Halstead fell away and finished well beaten, it must be said, by the only real shot at goal by either side.

The home side made the early running, but Jimmy Chatters' weak header from Grant Strong's cross proved no problem to the agile Walton.

Then came a memorable spell by Halstead's Matt Chinnery, who took a knock but recovered after treatment, in time to clear a dangerous cross from Brindley before firing over the bar at the other end when well placed, followed by Paul Williams seeing his firm header cleared off the line by Catton.

Despite controlling most of the action Halstead had nothing to show apart from their series of corners.

Immediately on resumption Robbie Welham was inches wide from putting the home side in front as Haverhill gradually took over and Halstead were forced to do the chasing. They were rescued when Strong cleared off the line from Dobson.

The industrious Strong cut in from the right but his left-foot shot was straight at Dave Walton, while Chatters shot wide when freed by a Nick Guyon header.

Haverhill increased their pressure and substitute Green lobbed just over when freed by Cowling, but they had the last word when Hunt struck late in the game, his firmly-hit shot from 25 yards leaving Halstead to wonder how they let the points go.

YOUTH CUP

Suffolk Under-18s 4 Bedfordshire Under-18s 3

SUFFOLK'S hopes of avenging a 4-0 league defeat three weeks ago rose after only 10 minutes when they scored through Thorogood. A determined run by his fellow striker Snell had taken him to the goalline, where his low-driven cutback was turned in at the near post.

However, Bedfordshire drew level five minutes later through Langlais.

Suffolk took the lead again on 24 minutes when Parker scored direct from a 25-yard free kick.

Suffolk kept control of the match for the rest of the first half but were rocked when, with four minutes of the half left, a penalty was awarded to Bedfordshire for hand ball by Brooks. Hatch converted to level the scores.

Suffolk took the lead again in the 51st minute through a Snell free kick after Thorogood was fouled by D Wright, who was sent off.

Beds to their credit quickly regrouped and drew level again four minutes later when Reid took advantage of the mix-up between defender Banham and his goalkeeper Harrington to slot into an empty net from close range.

Three minutes from the end, with extra time looming, the pressure finally paid off when Banham stooped low at the far post to head in another Parker free kick to give Suffolk a 4-3 success.