Framlingham Town striker Max Willett ‘proud’ to be part of Castlemen’s 100-club and is eyeing promotion after win against Haverhill Rovers

Framlingham Town striker Max Willett admitted scoring his 100th goal for the club was a ‘proud moment’ and he has his radar firmly set on promotion with the Castlemen from the Thurlow Nunn League First Division North.

In Liam Abraham’s side’s resounding 6-0 thrashing of FC Peterborough two weeks ago, the 25-year-old helped himself to a hat-trick – with his third goal of the afternoon the 100th time he had found the back of the net for the Castlemen.

Having been at Fram since he was six-years-old, the moment Willett hit the three-digit landmark will stay long in his memory.

“It was really good. To get 100 goals for the first team was quite a proud moment for me personally,” he said.

“Liam (Abraham) told me a couple of months before that I was on 92, so I had an idea but before that I didn’t really know.”

Willett was asked if there was a goal from his impressive catalogue that stands out as a favourite, and without hesitation, he said: “The one that immediately comes to my head, more for importance, was the goal in the (Suffolk) Senior Cup final last year.

“It was quite a tight game and, I think it was about 20 minutes before the end. I managed to get on the end of a cross and score to put us 1-0 up.

“That was quite a big game because we had all of our supporters and everybody watching at Colchester’s stadium.”

Willett, who made his senior debut for Framlingham at 16-years-old, is flourishing as a lone striker and has scored 30 goals in as many games in all competitions so far this season.

He was on 28 goals prior to the weekend, but he helped himself to a brace at home to an in-form Haverhill Rovers outfit on Saturday, to secure his side a 2-1 victory.

His strikes came either side of a Tom Debenham equaliser. Willett’s first was a well-controlled poacher’s finish from inside the area and the second came after he calmly slotted the ball home, one-on-one with goalkeeper Alex Archer.

The finishes at the weekend saw him go level with his impressive 30-goal campaign in 2022/23.

“My main focus this season was just trying to prove that I could do it consistently over a few seasons, rather than just that one,” said the number nine.

“With the amount of creativity in our team at the moment, I know if I miss a chance I’m going to get another two or three more because we’ve got so many players who are able to create opportunities all over the pitch.

“We’re just focused on winning as many games as we can and I’m sure the league table will take care of itself come the end of the season.”

Framlingham fell short in the play-offs last season but are in a mouth-watering position to gain promotion automatically this time around. They have a two-point gap on second-placed Great Yarmouth Town, and although the chasers have a game in hand, the two sides are set to meet on March 9 (3pm).

“It would mean a lot to me (to get promoted),” said Willett.

“I played in the league above with Fram before when we originally went up and it’s definitely a level we’ve had our eyes on for the last couple of seasons now.

“We were quite close last season, but I think realistically maybe we weren’t quite ready to go up last year.

“We’ve learnt from some of the mistakes and some games that we maybe just narrowly lost or threw a few points away in.

“The message (from Abraham at the start of the campaign) was just to stick together and not lose the belief because last season, even though we lost in the play-offs, was very good for us.”

The Castlemen continue their promotion push on Saturday, when they host eighth-placed Dussindale & Hellesdon Rovers (3pm).