Determined Ely Battle To Victory

A DETERMINED performance from Ely City saw them secure a battling 2-1 victory over Market Deeping at the weekend.

Deadlocked until midway through the second-half, both teams toiled at length to seize control of the game, but it was Ely's superior finishing that eventually told as they secured their third win of the season.

The win moves Ely up into sixth position in Division 2N of the East Hockey League, leapfrogging Deeping into a comfortable mid-table position ahead of the winter fixture rush.

Chris Purllant's men have made a tentative start to their first season in the East League setup, but have continued to gather momentum in recent weeks and started strongly against Deeping.

The visitors also started brightly and a serious of polished passing moves had Ely anchored in defence, relying on the tactical nous of Myles Forber and Julian Palmer to keep the scores level going in at half-time.

Deeping continued their assault in the early stages of the second-half but failed to capitalise on a string of short corners as Ely held firm.

The home side finally started to turn the tables midway through the half, as a block tackle by Robert Radcliffe allowed Ely to break at pace from defence and feed the ball through to Stu Clarke, who made no mistake from the Deeping circle.

Buoyed by the breakthrough, the home side began to enjoy the better of the play and soon doubled their lead from a short corner as skipper Purllant, drilled low into the unguarded Deeping goal.

The visitors were riled at the setback and bullishly pushed forward in the latter stages of the game, determined to find reward for their efforts.

Though they did managed a lot consolation as Ely's defence were caught napping, the final whistle sounded mere seconds later heralding the win for the home side.

Ely travel to Ipswich & East Suffolk this coming Saturday (Nov 7).