Boss Brady Stone hailed his Ely City side after they snapped their Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division slump in style.

The Robins had picked up only one point from their 10 previous league games before thumping Long Melford 4-0 at the Ellgia Stadium last Saturday.

A debut goal from Steve Holder, who robbed a defender and finished coolly, gave Ely the lead midway through the first half.

Alex Brown doubled their advantage two minutes into the second period when tucking away a Sam Reed pass to grab his first goal of the campaign.

Reed then got in on the act himself after being released by new strike-partner Holder before Brown completed the scoring to seal a first Premier Division success since September 8.

“We’ve been in a tough situation so to produce a performance like we did on Saturday is really pleasing,” said Stone. “We played really well. We dominated from start to finish and took chances at crucial times.

“We got the win in the county cup against the Cambridge United youngsters last week and we managed to build on that. The lads were buzzing in the warm-up, started the game on the front foot and kept it up.

“Sam and Steve have the makings of a really good strike pairing. They clicked straight away and it looked like they had played together for 10 years even though this was their first game as a partnership.

“The attitude of the lads was never questioned, but the bad run did affect their confidence. It’s now flooding back and long may it continue.”

Stone wants City to follow up the win against Long Melford with more positive results as they face struggling sides in their next two outings.

Ely go to second-bottom Framlingham this Saturday, 3pm, before hosting basement side Great Yarmouth the following weekend.

They have already won the reverse fixtures against both of those teams and Stone added: “We’re looking to pick up a minimum of four points from the next two games.

“We know it won’t be easy at Framlingham. They gave us a tough game at our place even though we eventually won 3-1.

“We’re then at home to Yarmouth the following Saturday so it’s a good opportunity to put a run together.

“We’re only five points off the top half and 10 points behind the team in sixth and things can change quickly.

“We were sixth ourselves after winning four of our first six games but slid all the way into the bottom four. Now it’s all about trying to climb back up.”

A weakened Ely side bowed out of the Thurlow Nunn League Challenge Cup on Tuesday night. They were beaten 3-0 by Newmarket Town in a third round tie.