Felixstowe & Walton United suffer penalty shootout heartbreak in FA Trophy at Boreham Wood while Luke Ingram becomes Needham Market’s outright record goalscorer
The road to Wembley in the Iszu FA Trophy came to an end in cruel fashion for Suffolk’s remaining sides on Saturday as Felixstowe & Walton United and Needham Market went close before ultimately collecting just the losers’ prize fund money.
Playing at a club two levels higher in the pyramid than themselves in their second round proper tie, Felixstowe & Walton United had a foot in the third round after leading Boreham Wood for 67 minutes thanks to Josh Hitter converting a 17th minute corner.
But the Seasiders, who had knocked out Steve Castle’s higher-league Bishop’s Stortford in the previous round, were pegged back by the Vanarama National League South side – who were relegated from non-league’s top tier last term – after giving away a ‘soft penalty’ in the 84th minute, according to the Suffolk side’s X account. Tyrone Marsh duly dispatched it to send the tie hurtling towards a penalty shootout decider.
A ‘simply superb Felixstowe performance’ then failed to get its reward as Boreham Wood’s captain Nathan Ashmore made himself the hero of the piece by saving two spot-kicks as his side prevailed in sudden death 6-5, after both teams ended up taking seven.
Stuart Boardley’s side, who sit third in the Step 4 Pitching In Isthmian League North Division table with games in hand, will look to bounce back in tomorrow’s scheduled game at Wroxham (see midweek fixtures at foot of article).
It was only Needham Market’s second game in this season’s competition but it was to be their last as Kevin Horlock and Tom Rothery’s side were seen off 3-2 at Vanarama National League North rivals Alfreton Town.
With regular shot-stopper Marcus Garnham beginning a three-match suspension for his red card in a 1-0 home defeat to Chester the previous weekend, they gave themselves an uphill challenge in Derbyshire when conceding two unanswered goals in the first half.
But super sub Seth Chambers converted a Tevan Allen cross in the 64th minute to halve the deficit and, despite falling 3-1 behind as Liam Waldock, they far from gave up the ghost with all-time record appearance holder Luke Ingram going close on several occasions.
And the 32-year-old then got the special moment he has been waiting for since scoring four in the first half of the Endeavour Automotive Suffolk Premier Cup 12-0 drubbing of Long Melford more than a month ago when he stepped up to a 95th minute penalty.
Tucking away the kick may have come too late for his side but it did leave him finally celebrating taking overt as the club’s outright record goalscorer with 135 goals compared to Sam Newson’s 134.
League round-ups
Bury Town capitalised on Witham Town being held to a goalless draw at second-from-bottom Wroxham with a 2-0 win away to mid-table Gorleston seeing Cole Skuse and Paul Musgrove’s side extend their lead at the top of the Isthmian League North Division to three points.
Two first-half goals which came from their strikers were ultimately enough to claim a third straight victory.
In just the 10th minute they got their noses in front when Luke Brown picked up the ball in midfield and saw an opportunity to hit a shot from distance which beat the keeper and went in off the far post.
More chances came and went for the visitors before they doubled their lead with a slice of fortune as a back-pass to the keeper bobbled on the bumpy pitch and Antoni Bort missed his clearance kick. The ball ran past him and Cemal Ramadan showed quick reactions to chase after it and score with a composed finish for his 13th goal of the season in all competitions from just 11 appearances, with his 12 in the league putting him as the division’s top scorer.
Elsewhere in the division, there were 2-0 defeats handed out to Mildenhall Town (17th) – away to Concord Rangers – and Newmarket Town (20th) – at home to a Maldon & Tiptree side now under new management in Brett Munyard, Jason Maher and Ricky Stubbs, while Ipswich Wanderers – who are propping up the table but have just announced Braintree Town’s promotion-winning coach Michael Brothers as Glenn Drivers’ successor as manager – were thrashed 5-1 at home to mid-table Walthamstow.
Up at level in the Pitching In Southern League Premier Central, AFC Sudbury moved up a place in the table to 10th with an impressive 3-0 home win against Stratford Town to close the gap to the two to a single point and keep their unbeaten home league run going.
Despite losing their second top scorer this season, in Luton Town academy graduate Josh Allen, to league rivals St Ives Town in the build-up, there seemed no problem with finding the target. Ollie Peters (17’), Joe Neal (31’) and Myles Cowling (50’) goals fired them to a comfortable victory against a side boss Marc Abbott has tipped to finish in the player-offs in his post-match club X interview.
The goal for former Cambridge United player Neal took him to seven in 16 league outings this term.
Allen made his debut for St Ives at home to Leiston but ended up on the losing side as the Suffolk outfit came away with a 3-1 victory with goals from Jamar Loza (39’, 60’) and Albie Armin (90+6’) securing ‘a fantastic three points’ to move Chris Wilder and Darren Eadie’s side up to eighth in the table.
Steps 5-6
In the Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division, it’s as you were at the top with Ely City – 0-0 at home to Great Yarmouth Town – and Fakenham Town – 2-2 at home to Brantham Athletic (Max Sherlock x2)– were both held to draws against mid-table opponents, leaving The Robins two points clear.
But Thetford Town are now just three points behind the former with four games in hand after a 4-1 victory at home to Heacham.
It saw new signing Jordan Buttle, a wide player who has joined from Gorleston after a long pursuit from Matt Morton, mark his debut off the bench with a goal, adding to second-half goals from George Diggens and Dylan Grove following Kieran Money’s first-half equaliser.
Diggens’ goal, meanwhile, took his total to 14 from 19 appearances to top the divisional charts.
Eslewhere, there were goalless draw for Cornard United – at Dereham Town – and Soham Town Rangers, under new boss Lance Key, at managerless Harleston Town.
At Lakenheath interim-boss Steve Holder saw his side take the lead via Ross Bailey’s goal before Ewan Gordon-Clement equalised for visiting Stowmarket Town on the half-hour mark.
But it was the visitors who got their noses in front next to record a 2-1 victory via Josh Buckles’ 68th minute strike which responded to back-to-back defeats to leave David ‘Bart’ Lorimer’s side four points and one place above their opponents, who occupy the final relegation spot.
After being given four more games to save his job by his chairman, Long Melford boss Liam Joyce saw his injury-hit side go down to a 4-0 defeat at Mulbarton Wanderers (6th) to leave them a point above basement side Sheringham.
Woodbridge Town (5th) won the Suffolk derby spoils with visiting Walsham-le-Willows 1-0 thanks to Liam Ablitt’s goal.
In the First Division North, Haverhill Rovers remain six points clear of Harwich & Parkeston at the summit, having played a game more, following a 6-1 victory at Swaffham Town which saw James Syemour’s 10th minute opener followed up by four for captain Shaun Avis hit four goals and one for Reece Clarke.
Elsewhere the following results were recorded: Haverhill Borough 0-3 FC Parson Drove; Leiston U23s 0-1 Holland FC; Needham Market Reserves 2-1 Diss Town; Whittlesey Athletic 1-2 Framlingham Town; Whitton United 0-1 Stanway Pegasus.
Finally, in the Essex Senior League Premier Division, Halstead Town won a five-goal thriller 3-2 at the Milbank Stadium against visting Little Oakley, where a frantic second half unfolded after the sides had been locked at 1-1 heading intot the interval.
The Humbugs had taken the lead through AFC Sudbury Academy graduate James Everleigh, with a penalty from Dean Ager early in the second half, after Everleigh was upended, restoring their advantage.
Darren Mills provided the second equaliser for the visitors before former Hadleigh United man Owen Betts provided the crucial fifth goal 10 minutes from time, his first for the north Essex side, converting a throughball from Matt Travel.
It moves Mark McLean’s side to three places and four points above the drop zone as they replied to back-to-back defeats ahead of tunring their attention to one of the league cups tomorrow night (see below).
Tuesday’s fixtures (7.45pm unless stated)
Pitching In Isthmian League North Division
Ipswich Wanderers vs Brentwood Town
Newmarket Town vs Cambridge City
Wroxham vs Felixstowe & Walton United
Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division
Mulbarton Wanderers vs Lakenheath
Framlingham Town vs Dussindale & Hellesdon Rovers
Essex Senior League; Errington Challenge Cup First Round
Halstead Town vs West Essex
As a reader, we know the value you place on trusted local journalism. At SuffolkNews we are committed to delivering the very best coverage from communities right across the county, and we can only do this with the support of our readers. By becoming a subscriber you not only support us in this mission, you also unlock a whole host of benefits, including unlimited access to our ad-lite SuffolkNews website and digital editions of all our weekly newspapers. You can find out more about subscriptions here.
Use the promo code RussellClaydon to get an annual subscription for less than £25 - we really appreciate your support. Thank you
