Ely City Football Club have continued their recent upturn in form with a thrilling 3-2 win against Heacham and a slightly fortuitous 1-1 draw with Fakenham Town.
Ely has now climbed the Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division into 15th place, having picked up eight points from their last five games after only winning four points from their first nine.
Hosting Fakenham Town on Tuesday night (October 17), Ely managed to snatch a last-gasp draw in added time despite the opposition being a man down for most of the game.
Here is the @JackFriend_ penalty that brought us a share of the points lady night vs Fakenham town. pic.twitter.com/950RTH8JPv
— Ely City FC (@ElyCityFC) October 18, 2023
Jack Friend returned from a sin-bin period to score the 94th-minute equaliser from the penalty spot, slotting the ball into the bottom left corner after Charlie Castle had been fouled in the penalty area.
Both teams had their fair share of the ball; however, the game-defining moment came in the 34th minute when Fakenham's Lewis Sturnam was shown a second yellow card, leaving Fakenham to battle with ten men for more than half the game.
Fakenham kept the pressure up throughout though, and managed to score the opening goal in the second half after 52 minutes when Jake Watts broke in from the wing to blast the ball into the bottom corner.
Friend's penalty and second goal in two games rescued a point for Ely, who would consider themselves fortunate to walk away with a draw.
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The result had come off the back of a hugely entertaining 3-2 win away against Heacham on Saturday (October 14), when three second-half goals from Friend, Castle and Luke Mansfield sealed a thrilling win.
Ely trailed and had to come back from a goal down twice before Mansfield cut in from the right, beat two men running across the edge of the area, and scored the winner in the end-to-end game.
Ely will look to keep up their form and momentum when they host 6th-placed Harleston Town on Saturday, October 21.
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