Ely City 1 Wisbech Town 2

SLOPPY errors were to blame as Ely City lost out to Fenland rivals Wisbech on Tuesday night, boss Alan Alsop said.

After falling behind to a training-ground set-piece, Ely managed to haul themselves level but another lapse in the second half allowed Wisbech to re-take the lead and, ultimately, claim the three points.

According to the Robins boss, both of the visitors’ goals came from lapses in concentration and denied Ely the victory the volume of chances they produced arguably deserved.

Speaking to the Ely Standard, he said: “I was very disappointed with the result. Based on our performance in the second half we didn’t deserve to lose that game.

“We gave two sloppy goals away and you cannot afford to do that when you are playing teams who are up there fighting for the top places like Wisbech. They really were awful goals to concede.”

Apart from the opening 15 minutes, in which Ely strikers Richard Chadwick and Andrew Claydon had a number of good chances, the game was largely even on what was a rain-sodden pitch.

Wisbech moved ahead mid-way through the half as Matt Lunn was afforded the time and space to turn in the box and squeeze a shot in at the near post after receiving the ball from a short corner.

Ely fought back however, and, in the second half, finally got back on terms after Nick Impey delivered a testing ball into the box. Claydon put pressure on Wisbech centre-back Paul Cousins and the ball cannoned off the veteran defender and into the goal.

The Robins saw two shots cleared off the line in the ensuing minutes as they started to take control of the match but they were stung late on as Joe Jackson profited from a quick free-kick to steal a march on his marker and flick the ball past Lee Pacey.

The Robins are back in action again on Saturday as they look for a return to winning ways against high-flying Hadleigh United.