Framlingham Town make winning start to new Thurlow Nunn League First Division North season with victories over Haverhill Borough and Diss Town

Framlingham Town suffered yet more play-off heartbreak last term, but they have showed no signs of any hangover during their opening two fixtures of the new campaign.

The 2024/25 season was the fourth in a row in which the Castlemen have finished in the top five of the Thurlow Nunn League First Division North, but on each occasion their promotion bid has fallen short.

Boss Liam Abraham said: “The important bit is that we remind ourselves that we’ve performed really well in each of those seasons.

“Others might not see it that way, but we don’t see it as a failure.

“We’re working in a small catchment area with a small budget and it’s a group of mainly local lads. In some ways, we don’t have the right to be in the top five so consistently, so to have done so is impressive.”

And having beaten Haverhill Borough 1-0 on Saturday and then come from behind to defeat Diss Town 3-1 on Tuesday evening, Abraham’s side have made a flying start.

Against Borough, Framlingham had to contend with a number of player absentees, while the victory over Diss was a case of staying patient and believing that their domination would eventually count.

“We want to be at a higher level and so we’ve looked at what we need to do to help us get there,” added Abraham. “I think we needed a bit more bite about us and also a bit more aggression when it comes to defending our box and from set-pieces.

“We feel like we’ve added the quality we need to do that and now it’s about making that work with our style of play.

“It’s a tough league. Some of the signings that some of the teams are making, these are players that have played two or three levels higher.

“It’s not going to be easy but we believe we’re good enough to be in the mix again.

“And we’re really pleased with the start. Saturday was tough because we were a little bit light on numbers and it was a much improved Haverhill Borough from last season, so to get on the right side of that one was pleasing.

“The Diss game was just a really good match for the level. We could have been two or three up early on but we fell behind and after that it was about keeping our heads and knowing our time would come.”

And one of the most pleasing parts of the victory over Diss was the identity of one of Framlingham’s goalscorers.

Danny Smith has endured a torrid time of injuries in recent seasons, but he got off the mark for the campaign against the Tangerines.

It will take some time for the marksman to get fully up to speed, but Abraham is confident that he will prove to be a ready-made replacement for Max Willett, who joined Harleston Town during the off-season after scoring more than 100 goals across the previous three campaigns.

“Before Max the club had Danny scoring lots of goals,” said Abraham. “He got 43 the year club got promoted and from the ages of 16 to 24 he was always getting 25 to 30 a season.

“He’s a like for like replacement but it will still take him a little while to get fully up to speed. He’ll occasionally get the odd niggle in his calf or groin just from making the type of football movements that his body has not been used to recently.

“But he looked sharp against Diss and we know how good of a forward he can be for us.”

Framlingham will travel to face FC Parson Drove tomorrow afternoon (3pm).