A BAD week for Ely saw them knocked out of the Red Insure Cup and plummet down the league table after suffering their sixth defeat of the season.

On Saturday, a penalty and a free-kick were enough to consign the Robins to a 2-0 defeat at Walsham le Willows in the Thurlow Nunn League while, on Tuesday night, a Darryl Coakley goal was all that separated Ely and Mildenhall in the cup.

The Robins, who now languish in 15th place in the league, will be hoping to dust themselves off for the visit of struggling Felixstowe and Walton on Saturday, a game they cannot afford to lose.

In Tuesday night’s cup derby at Mildenhall, Ely were immediately on the back foot after Coakley seized on a loose ball at a corner to shoot past Lee Pacey, albeit aided by a deflection.

Ely regrouped after the early setback and began to enjoy the better of the play, testing the home defence with a number of set plays.

Adam Murray came closest to scoring after he latched onto a Luke Parkinson corner only for the ball to be blocked in front of goal.

The Robins continued to put the squeeze on the hosts after the break and home keeper Josh Pope produced an excellent save to deny Chris Sterecki’s shot from distance.

A last-ditch tackle denied striker Richard Gammon a clear run in on goal as the match progressed and Ely began to throw numbers forward to in a bid to get back into the tie.

Increasingly exposed at the back, keeper Pacey had to be alert to deny Wayne Proctor’s effort on the break, with the follow up cleared off the line by the retreating defence.

Walsham le Willows victory on Saturday came courtesy of a Jack Brame free-kick and an Andy Cusack penalty.