RIDGEONS LEAGUE DIVISION ONE Ely City 2 Debenham LC 3 ELY manager Dennis Lightning was sent off after venting his anger at the poor officiating that saw his team go two goals down in the first quarter-of an-hour, on Satusday. Debenham, who now have th

RIDGEONS LEAGUE

DIVISION ONE

Ely City 2

Debenham LC 3

ELY manager Dennis Lightning was sent off after venting his anger at the poor officiating that saw his team go two goals down in the first quarter-of an-hour, on Satusday.

Debenham, who now have three wins from three games, were gifted a dubious penalty in the sixth minute, after Dean Blackman was deemed to have pushed a Debenham player in the back, where little, if any, contact was made.

The visitors doubled their lead in the 15th minute when the ball was cleared out of the Ely defence and then quickly knocked back in, yet, despite the Debenham striker being a clear three yards off-side, play was allowed to continue, and the striker went through to finish off.

A helpless Lightning then watched from the stands as sloppy defending resulted in his side going 3-0 down in the 19th minute.

A diagonal cross was played in to Stuart Joplin, who was allowed far too much space, and he headed the ball across goal to leave a simple tap in.

Despite the scoreline, Ely still looked confident, and had more of the possession in the first half.

Andy Chatters connected with a sweet volley from Dave Smith's cross to pull one back for the Robins, just before half-time.

The Robins dominated the second half. Chatters had a golden opportunity to get his side back into it when the referee awarded a penalty on the hour for a trip on Richard Dewsbury.

Yet the captain was denied as the goalkeeper dived to his left to keep the ball out.

Robbie Mason then came off the bench to score Ely's second goal by finishing off a well worked set piece. A free-kick was floated into the box, Brady Stone rose up and headed the ball across the goal, and the striker finished off.

Ely then pushed on and came desperately close to getting something out of the game when Nick Impey shaved the post, but it just wasn't to be their day.

Despite the defeat, the Ely team were applauded off the pitch.

Lightning commented on Ely's first defeat of the season: "We've been robbed by poor officiating.

"Two very bad decisions gave us an up-hill struggle but, even at 3-0 down, I was confident we would take something from the game.

"We had, more possession, much the better of the play, and created more chances.

"Even their manager told me after the game that he thought we deserved to take something from it.

"I was glad to see that our fans appreciate the team's efforts.