Robins earn draw in pre-season opener

ALAN Alsop was delighted with his side’s performance against UCL Premier side King’s Lynn Town on Saturday.

Ely City 1

King’s Lynn Town 1

The Robins boss’ was full of praise for the guile and attacking intent of his charges in a game in which he says they matched and arguably bettered their lofty opponents for long periods.

“Overall we played really well,” said Alsop. “I think we surprised them with how good we were, in both the football we played and our level of performance.

“I thought we dominated for much of the first half and at one stage could have found ourselves two or three goals ahead but for some excellent saves from the keeper.

“We stuck to our game plan and there were a lot of positives that we will be able to take forward with us,” he added.

The Robins took the lead midway through the first half after Dave Wilson latched on to a Tom Beech pull back to slot home from close range.

Alsop’s men continued to enjoy the better of the exchanges in the aftermath of the opener and might have pulled further ahead through Wilson and Beech, but both were denied by some excellent work from the Lynn keeper.

Chances were scarce for Lynn in the first 30 minutes but their class told in the closing stages of the half as striker Jack Defty capitalised on a mistake in the Ely defence to level the scores.

The Robins battled well in the second half to stay on terms but Lynn’s superior fitness began to take its toll as they enjoyed increasing amounts of possession.

Fortunately for Ely however, and despite a missed penalty for Lynn, the home side managed to remain on terms until the final whistle.

The result was a portentous one for the Robins in their first pre-season match of the 2011-12 campaign, with the visit of Deeping Rangers and a visit to Thetford to come in the next week.