Advantage Tags as Yellows fail to Stow

By Ian Townsend

Stowmarket Town fire themselves firmly back into the play off race, Trawler Boys win at the Seasiders, Grays go fourth and Gorleston hit four

AFC Sudbury started last night’s match at Stowmarket Town with a seven point deficit to make up on leaders Hashtag United, but had a game in hand. Sadly for the Yellows the gap remains seven points, and the game in hand has gone, as an early goal handed victory to Stow- who consequently close to within a point of fifth place. Jack Ainsley was the scorer, after just seven minutes- which makes it one win each from three encounters between the sides this season, with two more to come in the next few weeks! Image from Steve Screech.

Felixstowe & Walton United welcomed third place Lowestoft Town. We expected a close match, and we got one, but perhaps we didn’t expect three red cards to go with it. The only goal went to the travelling Trawler Boys, Owen Murphy scoring it just before the hour, but the hosts were already a man down by then, Joe Whight seeing red ten minutes before the break. A red card for Harry Knights with eleven minutes remaining made it ten v ten, but right at the end the hosts went down to nine, Callum Bennett taking a very slightly early bath. The Seasiders slip to fifth.

Grays Athletic are up to fourth, but only just. Athletic faced the task of travelling to take on a confident Basildon United side, the Bees having gone a long way towards dispelling any relegation fears by winning their previous three matches and moving thirteen points clear of the drop zone. After seventy one minutes without a goal the hosts suddenly came to life and got two, Michael Salako and German Petrov with them, but in the last five minutes the visitors came to life and earned themselves a point, Roman Campbell and Courtney Homans hitting back. Basildon will perhaps be disappointed, but they have moved fourteen points clear of danger and their fine form continues.

In the lower reaches of the table, Gorleston welcomed Witham Town to Lowestoft. The Greens had won their previous three matches, and their confidence shone through as they hit the visitors for four in Lowestoft. They fell behind midway through the first half, Adam Vyse giving Town the lead from the spot, but levelled just before the break through Ross Gilfedder. The second half was entirely green, Connor Ingram, Dominic Docherty and Ingram again adding three more as the hosts leapfrogged their visitors into fifteenth- and opened up an eight point gap over the bottom four.

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Where next?

Villa hit the top five- whilst Uxbridge hit six! We had important wins for Marlow and Hanworth Villa in the race for a play off place, a big win for Uxbridge, whilst Chipstead get back to winning ways
Stortford stay top- by the skin of their teeth! Hornchurch go second, Bognor hit four, Bay and Margate pick up a crucial three points, whilst Enfield Town, Canvey and Hastings have to be happy with a point

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