Maldon and Tiptree 2 Soham Town Rangers 1

SOHAM can start looking ahead to next season after winding up a difficult league campaign at Maldon on Saturday.

Despite producing a glut of chances, and missing a penalty when 1-0 ahead, the Greens slipped to a narrow loss at the Essex-based side, their 22nd defeat of a disappointing season.

The defeat saw the Greens finish up in 19th place in their first season in the Ryman Division One North setup, avoiding relegation by just five points.

Having secured their league status last weekend with a victory against Ilford, the Greens were buoyant early on, with Michael Simpson and Ryan Auger bringing good saves form the home goalkeeper.

Maldon’s Ross Wall should have done better when bearing down on the Soham goal but could only lift his shot wide of the post when well placed.

Dubi Ogbonna had the ball in the net shortly before half-time but his effort from close range following a handling error was ruled out for offside.

There was no question mark over Jack Paxman’s 50th minute strike however, the young striker capitalising on a defensive error to seize the ball on the edge of the are and fire home.

Soham were handed a golden opportunity to double the lead 15 minutes after their opener after the referee awarded a spot-kick for a foul on Simpson in the area.

It wasn’t to be however, as veteran defender Martin Bromwich saw his effort well saved.

The penalty was to prove a turning point in the match as the home side quickly took control of the match, forcing a number of saves from Dan Bircham before Adam Flannagan nodded home the equaliser in the 67th minute.

Matters quickly worsened for the Greens as, little more than five minutes later, Maldon’s Sos Yao was hauled down in the area, leaving the referee little choice but to award the penalty. Yao made no mistake to hand the hosts the lead for the first time.

There were half-chances for both sides as the match wore on but efforts from Dan Cotton and Michael Simpson were easily claimed by Maldon’s Steve Stevens