Mildenhall 2 Ely City 5

A DOUBLE leg break for influential midfielder James Wallis soured an otherwise outstanding performance from Alan Alsop’s unstoppable Ely side on Tuesday night.

Wallis suffered breaks to both his tibia and fibula in a fifty-fifty challenge early in the second half, taking the gloss off of an encouraging performance from the Robins that saw them lifted into fourth place in the Ridgeons Premier League.

Boss Alsop said: “It was a terrible blow for James and for the lads but I think after he had been taken away it gave them something to really motivate them and they totally took over for the last 20 minutes of the game.

“We are confident going into every game now and we aren’t worried about playing anyone. I can’t speak highly enough of the players, they are training well and when they get their chance they take it.

“If you would have said this time last season they we would go to Mildenhall and win 5-2 I would have laughed at you.”

Three goals inside the first 15 minutes put the visitors firmly in control as Mildenhall were caught cold.

Ben Lawrence headed home from a corner in the opening few minutes to give Ely the early lead and two more goals from Josh Bridgeman and Adam Murray put Alsop’s men in cruise control.

To their credit, Mildenhall hit back, scoring once before half-time and again shortly after the break to put the pressure on the visitors.

After a lengthy break for Wallis’s injury however, Ely stepped up their game once more and put the game to bed with a super near post strike from substitute Austen Diaper and a thunderous half-volley from Luke Parkinson.

The game followed Saturday’s 4-2 win over fellow high-flyers Gorleston, with the Robins recovering from 2-0 down to take all three points.

A quick-fire brace from Luke Parkinson had Ely back on terms at 2-2 before half-time and a second half blitz from the home side brought an own goal and a late strike from Josh Bridgeman to seal the points.

Despite sitting in fourth spot in the league and having gone 12 games without defeat, boss Alsop says he hasn’t even thought about promotion.

“I try not to look at the league table to be honest with you,” he said. “The players do, but if I can avoid it I will. We are one of those clubs that if we get one or two key injuries we could struggle because our small budget means we can’t just go out and get replacements.

“I said at the start of the season that if we finish in the top 10 we would have had a very good year.”