A.F.C. Sudbury welcomed Maldon and Tiptree to the MEL Group Stadium looking to extend their run of unbeaten matches into double-figures. Sudbury faced Maldon and Tiptree just eleven days previously, winning by three goals to two.

Sudbury started the game brightly, comfortable on the ball and mean in possession. Robbie Martin finding David Wareham with an early through ball, but the pass into James Baker saw the Sudbury striker stray offside. Maldon’s first effort saw Marcus Milner line up a shot which Nathan Clarke managed to block. In the fourth minute Sos Yao found space in the home penalty area, but again a Sudbury body blocked the effort, this time Adam Dalby getting the vital contact. Sudbury’s best move of the opening ten minutes came when Sam Clarke sent a fine cross-field ball into Robbie Martin. His neat ball into David Wareham saw the Sudbury number eleven cross for James Baker in the centre, but again an offside flag was raised. The slippery Yao again raced into the home penalty area, but Nathan Clarke redirected the ball to safety courtesy of the toe-end of his right boot.

Sudbury won their first corner on thirteen minutes when some fine ball-skills by James Baker led to the Maldon defence happily putting the ball safely behind. Michael Shinn’s left wing corner kick was partially cleared to David Wareham who drove a shot just wide of the right hand post. Maldon won their first corner kick two minutes later. Dave Collins delivered from the left and Richard Howell’s clearance was blasted back over the crossbar by Marcus Milner from all of thirty yards. Sudbury came close to an opener when Scott Stevens saved well from Richard Howell with Michael Shinn and James Baker looking to force the ball home; somehow the Maldon defence cleared their lines.

On twenty-one minutes it was Maldon who almost stole the lead. A rare mistake in possession by Adam Dalby saw Jack Stevenson graze the crossbar with a dipping half-volley. On the half-hour a Dave Collins corner was partially cleared for the Maldon number three to redeliver. The ball fell to Yao who turned and shot wide of the home goal. Jemel Fox then released David Wareham down the left wing with an excellent pass. Wareham’s cross fizzed across the six-yard area with Stevens gathering it at the second attempt. Sam Clarke was booked for a seemingly innocuous challenge on half-way as both sides continued to battle for the lead. The last chance of the half saw Richard Howell get a toe to a David Wareham cross and Stevens save well, dropping to his right.

H-T 0-0

The second-half began with Robbie Martin streaming forward to fire a shot wide of Scott Stevens’ right hand post. In the forty-ninth minute Sos Yao sprinted to the goal-line via the left wing and managed to pull the ball back across the penalty area to Leon Antoine who had the simplest of tasks in opening the scoring. Sudbury fought back with Robbie Martin finding James Baker in the penalty area. His shot was well saved by Stevens as the game began to open up. Just two minutes after taking the lead, Maldon and Tiptree doubled their advantage. This time Stevenson charged down the right channel cutting the ball back to Joe Pearman who slotted home again with some ease.

Manager Chris Tracey rang the changes with Sam Clarke making way for Tuesday evening’s two-goal hero Rhys Darg on fifty-eight minutes. Richard Howell had a header from a sixty-second minute corner kick saved by Stevens before Danny Gay saved brilliantly from a drive by the dangerous Yao. The game saw a turning point on sixty-four minutes when Matt Pooley was shown a second yellow card and Sudbury took the opportunity to replace Steve Adams with Danny Emmanuel. On sixty-six minutes Sudbury pulled a goal back. Michael Shinn’s superb tackle on half-way set AF.C. Sudbury on the attack and a foul in the penalty area saw James Baker step up to reduce the deficit. Robbie Martin almost put Richard Howell through on goal on seventy-three minutes, but the ball was just too heavy and was cleared by Stevens. On seventy-four minutes Sudbury drew level. James Baker played the ball into the area where it eventually fell to Rhys Darg who hooked it into the back of the net.

Rhys Darg headed towards James Baker in the area, but Stevens grabbed ahead of the on-rushing Sudbury striker. Sos Yao then raced clear only for the Sudbury defence to hack the ball gratefully away. Another fine tackle by Robbie Martin saw him find Richard Howell who fired over the Maldon and Tiptree crossbar. The game was in the balance with Maldon making light of playing with ten men. Richard Howell made way for Kevin Hawes with four minutes left of normal time. With a minute remaining Sudbury grabbed a dramatic winner. Rhys Darg won possession in the penalty area and was able to hook the ball over Stevens to the delight of the home crowd.

There was still time for Dave Collins to race clear with his goal-bound shot hooked off the goal-line brilliantly by Adam Dalby which certainly saved the home side two precious points. A.F.C Sudbury held on to extend their impressive unbeaten run to ten games and to put pressure on the leaders at the top of the league table. The festive fixtures are going to be intriguing indeed in the Ryman League Division One North.