A SECOND half salvo from Ely City fired them to an impressive win over championship hopefuls CRC on Saturday.

Ely City 3

CRC 1

A SECOND half salvo from Ely City fired them to an impressive win over championship hopefuls CRC on Saturday.

A wind-ravaged first half promised little for Alan Alsop’s Robins but a resurgent performance and three goals after the break powered Ely to their third win in five games.

The hard-won three points keeps Ely in 17th place in the Ridgeons Premier ahead of their trip to FC Clacton on Saturday.

Relentless head winds during the first half made play difficult for Ely and it wasn’t until the 20th minute when the home side finally had a sight at goal, Michael Ebanks-Blake racing through on goal only to be hauled down outside the area.

The referee awarded the freekick and a yellow card but the home side wasted the subsequent kick.

Midfielder James Wallis fired a half-volley narrowly wide after 25 minutes and his opportunity was to be the last of the opening 45 as both sides toiled.

With the wind at their backs during the second half, Ely look an altogether more threatening proposition and were immediately on the attack as Wallis glanced a header wide from five yards out.

With just five minutes on the clock Ely opened the scoring, Robbie Mason smashing home a penalty he had won after being felled by his marker in the box.

The decision sparked derision among the home players and was still a point of contention just two minutes later as Wallis eluded his marker to nod home a whipped freekick from midfield partner Dave Smith.

With play starting to open up and highflyers CRC increasingly desperate to push forward, Ely were afforded extra space on the wings and it was from a Smith cross that Ely secured their third goal, the ball looping over both defenders and goalkeeper before nestling in the bottom corner.

The third goal, kicked CRC into life and they had pulled a goal back less than a minute later as James Eades drilled his shot off the bar and over the line from 25 yards.

CRC continued to push in the aftermath of the goal, but they were unable to produce any further chances as the Ely’s defence stayed in control.