A brace from Alex Theobald and further goals from Matty Simpson and skipper James Seymour ensured that the race to finish second - and possibly first - in the Thurlow Nunn Division One will go down to the wire after Ely City eased to a 4-0 success over Braintree Town Reserves.
The Robins secured their ninth straight league victory at Long Melford’s Stoneylands ground on Saturday afternoon, but were made to wait until the 42nd minute to open the scoring through Matty Simpson, who has now netted in his last six league games.
Ely only took ten minutes to double their lead after the restart when Alex Theobald fired home, and captain James Seymour made sure of the win with 20 minutes to play with a well-taken third.
Theobald capped off a successful afternoon for the Robins with his 19th goal of the season three minutes later, and Ely coasted to an important victory which sees them draw level on points with second-placed Great Yarmouth Town.
Brady Stone’s men now face one of the biggest matches of their campaign tomorrow night, when they host league leaders Wivenhoe Town (7.45pm).
The Essex side have already secured promotion to the Premier Division, but Stone’s men now only trail the league toppers by nine points with five games left to play, and could mount an unlikely late title challenge with a win.
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