ALAN Alsop suffered his first defeat as manager of Ely City after high-flying Dereham picked up a 2-1 win on Saturday.

ALAN Alsop suffered his first defeat as manager of Ely City after high-flying Dereham picked up a 2-1 win on Saturday.

Though the Robins arguably enjoyed the better of the exchanges in a tight second half, it was Dereham who came away with the win after edging in front midway through the half.

The loss leaves Alsop’s charges anchored in mid-table after a solid start to the season though their position could improve in the coming weeks as they make up their games-in-hand over the teams above them.

A frantic start to the match saw Dereham move in to the lead with less than 15 minutes on the clock as Daniel Beaumont broke free of the defence to slot past keeper Lee Pacey.

An industrious Ely side were quick to reduce their arrears however, as wide-man Nick Impey found space to fire home from comfortably outside the box after good work from Adam Murray and James Wallis in the Robins’ midfield.

Buoyed by the leveller, Ely came out for the second half with renewed intent and were able to assume control of the play in the midfield.

Impey saw a rasping drive sail narrowly over the bar early on and striker Robbie Mason was superbly denied on the angle as he found space enough to fire goalwards in the Dereham box.

For all Ely’s chances however, it was Dereham who moved into the lead as Adam Gusterson found himself in the right place at the right time to deflect a drilled effort past Pacey.

The visitors were quick to re-organise after the goal and with numbers behind the ball they made life increasingly difficult for Ely to find a way through.

Some excellent balls from range kept Ely ‘s front two interested in the latter stages but good work from the Dereham defence ultimately secured the points.