Dereham 1 Ely City 0

THE Robins were dumped out of the Ridgeons League Challenge Cup on Tuesday night at the hands of high-flying Dereham Town.

Town sit top of the Ridgeons League after 17 games and were arguably the toughest draw in the competition, showing their class with a stubborn defensive display against a sprightly Ely side.

Nicky Howell settled the tie with a neat finish five minutes shot of half-time, though Sam Parkinson spurned a golden opportunity to put Ely in front in the 20th minute after the visitors were awarded a penalty.

Undeterred, Ely continued their fight into the second half and enjoyed some decent attacking spells only to be shut out by a classy home defence, which denied them any clear cut opportunities.

Nick Impey went closest for City, only for his effort midway through the second half to be ruled out for offside.

Alan Alsop’s men will look to get back to winning ways again on Saturday as they travel to promotion-chasers Wroxham, who announced this week the signing of former Soham and Ely defender, Paul Cousins.

Ely’s cup woes followed a superlative 4-3 win over CRC at the Unwin Ground on Saturday.

The Robins looked stunned as the visitors raced into a 2-0 lead within the opening 10 minutes but a determined fight-back saw them pull it back to 3-3 going in at half-time.

Centre-back Ben Lawrence ultimately proved the difference between the two sides in a nip and tuck contest as he nodded home a second-half winner to hand Ely all three points.

Alan Alsop’s men moved up to eighth in the Ridgeons Premier League with the win, undefeated in nine league matches and just three points behind third-placed Stanway Rovers

CRC’s failure to clear from set pieces allowed Ely to get back into the match after a swift double had seen the visitors race into the lead.

Richard Chadwick nodded home first to make it 2-1 before Kenny Smith fired home to bring the teams level.

Ely were briefly in front 10 minutes before half-time as Chris Sterecki’s cross-cum-shot squeezed home before the visitors rallied to make it 3-3.

Lawrence capitalised once again on CRC’s failure to deal with set pieces as he nodded home the winner midway through the second half.