Ely City men’s 1st team went joint top of the East Men’s League Division 3NW and carried on their 100% start to the season after edging Cambridge City Vets 1-0 on Saturday.

Ely won the toss and the game started at a thunderous pace, with Ely taking command early on. Cambridge City didn’t get out of their half for the first 10 minutes, with midfield stalwart Nick Wells orchestrating Ely’s attacks. Tom Grimshaw continued his great early season form and made a real nuisance of himself, harassing the City defence. Cambridge City excursions into Ely’s final third were rare but the defence of Tim Reynolds, Chris Purlant and goal keeper Neil Doddesworth snuffed out any chances that City had.

The relentless pressure from Ely could not bring a goal despite some outstanding defence splitting balls into the D from Myles Forber. A rare attack down the right hand side saw Robert Minns glide past their defence and win a short corner for Ely. Tom Grimshaw slid the ball to Tim Reynolds but his shot was wide of the mark.

Ely began the second period nervously City started to force their way into the game. Some more great play through the middle saw Stu Clarke miss an opportunity to set Nick Wells up for a shot but he fired over.

Ely edged infront following a short corner after the ball fell to Feroze Abbas who squared to Tom Grimshaw at the top of the D who struck it first time high into the net.

City looked strong after the restart and began to test Ely and some smart skills from the City attack gave them a short corner opportunity. A great save from Doddesworth kept Ely in the game. Another strong tackle from James Tavenor was one too many for the umpire and he was invited to leave the pitch after being shown yellow.

Ely managed to hold their slender lead and saw out a 1-0 win, with Nick Wells scooping the man of the match accolade. Next up for high-flying Ely is a fixture against mid-table Bourne Deeping 2 on Saturday.