Ely City 1 Hadleigh United 1

Football

ELY City were held to a draw by mid-table battlers Hadleigh United at the Unwin Ground on Saturday.

The Robins fell behind early in the piece as United flew out of the traps, but a Josh Bridgeman strike shortly after the half-hour mark restored parity and, ultimately, earned them a point.

The draw extends Ely’s unbeaten run into its 14th game, though they slipped a position to end the day sixth in the Ridgeons Premier League.

Hadleigh’s Ben Deacon produced the match’s first shot in anger after just three minutes as the visitors started the game at a blistering pace.

It wasn’t long before the visitors moved into the lead as Deacon squared the ball from the right for Lee McGlone, who followed up on Lee Pacey’s initial save to fire home from close range.

Alan Alsop’s charges were unphased by the setback however, and drew level shortly after the 30-minute mark when an incisive move saw Bridgeman smash home from range.

The visitors enjoyed the better of the exchanges in the minutes after the restart but it was Ely who came closest to taking the lead just after the hour mark as Hadleigh’s Daniel Heath superbly denied a shot from the edge of the box.

The visitors were not done though, and might have stolen all three points in the dying minutes of the game only for Pacey’s outstretched leg to deny Deacon when through one-on-one.