Alsop pleased despite Dereham defeat

ALAN Alsop remains satisfied with his team’s start to the season despite watching them lose 3-1 to Dereham Town on Tuesday night.

The Robins picked up their first three points of the season on Saturday after a 1-0 win over Clacton but were brought back down to earth with a thud on Tuesday after being soundly beaten by promotion favourites Dereham.

Despite the loss, Alsop believes the level of performance from his players gives him hope for the season ahead.

“I think we have made a good start to the season, we were a bit poor defensively against Dereham but I thought the level of performance after going behind and especially against Clacton was very good.

“There are a lot of lads who are playing at a new level for the first time this year and I think they shown that they can make the step up, some of them have done very well.

“When we get everybody back from injury we have got a strong squad and I hope we will be able to push on this season.”

Two goals inside the opening 10 minutes had Ely rocking against Dereham, both coming as Robins’ defenders were caught napping.

Things worsened still immediately after half-time as Dereham added a third goal moments after kick-off but the goal prompted a strong response from Ely, who hit back.

The visitors began to find their range and new signing Austin Diater was able to pull a goal back to give Ely some momentum.

In the final 20 minutes of the game, Ely laid siege to the Dereham goal and were unfortunate not to pull another goal back as the ball was twice cleared off the line.

“If we had got that second goal I feel sure we could have gone on to get an equaliser,” said Alsop.

See inside for report and pictures from the season opening game against Clacton.