Ely City boss Brady Stone gave lavish praise to goalkeeper Harry Reynolds after the young shot-stopper pulled off a number of vital saves in the Robins’ eighth straight Thurlow Nunn Division One success last Saturday.

Matty Simpson’s first half header was enough to secure the three points against a dogged Woodbridge Town side at the Unwin Ground, but Reynolds’ performance between the sticks caught the eye of many spectators – including the Ely manager.

Stone said: “We had to work quite hard for the win, and I don’t like to single out individual players but Harry Reynolds in goal was fantastic for us.”

Reynolds kept out an effort from Woodbridge’s Callum Sinclair in the first half, before somehow tipping a 94th-minute drive from Mark Ray onto the crossbar - a stop which Stone believes is one of the best he’s witnessed in all his years in football.

“It was one of the best saves I’ve ever seen,” he said. “It effectively won us the three points. I don’t know the last time an Ely side have managed to win eight games on the bounce, but we’ve got Harry to thank for it this time.”

In-form Ely’s eighth league win in a row sees them climb to joint-second in the league standings, and nine points behind leaders Wivenhoe Town, but despite reducing the points gap, Stone refuses to admit that his men could take the title if results go their way in the final six games of the season.

“I still think Wivenhoe are good enough to win the title,” he said.

“I know they’ve dropped a few points recently [two consecutive league draws] and we’ve still got them to play at home but, as I’ve said before, we’re just focusing on ourselves.

“We want to finish as highly in the table as possible, but our aim is to finish in the top three.”

Stone has also set a target for his men to bag 10 points from the Robins’ final six league games, starting with an away win over Braintree Town Reserves on Saturday afternoon.

“Getting 10 points from six games is easily done, but at the same time it can be easily thrown away,” said the Ely boss.

“We’ll have to focus and do everything we can to get promotion.”