A local derby to open the season – what more excitement can you get and in the first half this was a good watch and a hard fought encounter but unfortunately it degenerate a little in the second half.

The hype was heightened with a number of ex-The Villagers in the Sudbury set up, physio Kim Sayers, goalkeeper Barri Twinn, along with defenders Steve Chisholm and Steve Adams and with a number of Melford first team squad players in their line up, but the match was well handled and officiated by referee Paul Kent.

From the outset AFC were on the attack with a good-looking move involving Ifield, Swain and Kent, this was followed by another involving Sloots and Kent. Although the passing was accurate the finishing was poor.

Sudbury opened their account in the nineteenth minute with a flowing move started by Hammond who found Ifield and his good cross was well met by Jacob Brown who beat the Melford keeper Gavin Brightwell, close in.

A short time later the game was all-square when the AFC midfield and defence opened up to give Ben Simpson acres of space to run through and score past Twinn.

Midway through the half the rain began and got heavier and heavier but despite the climatic situation Sudbury re-took the lead in the twenty-fourth minute with a great run and cross from Lee Ifield on the right and Daniel Swain was there on hand at the far post to head in.

AFC poured forward trying to increase their lead and on the half hour Brightwell had to tip over a ball from Sloots when under pressure from both Swain and Adams. The visitors were still susceptible to breakaways especially from the lively Statham and Williams on the flanks and Simpson and Southgate in the middle.

With five minutes of the first half remaining the Melford keeper had another vital save to make at the feet of the advancing Hunt. At the other end it was Chisholm’s turn to stop a goal scoring opportunity with a tackle to stop Williams.

Half Time: Long Melford Reserves 1   AFC Sudbury Reserves 2

After the restart there was some end to end stuff but the play was becoming a touch frantic with passion and tempers getting a touch heated, this led to some lax play from Sudbury who allowed Simpson to run through again to easily score past Twinn.

It seemed that it was going to be one of those afternoons and things got worse on the hour mark when Adams fouled Ben Simpson. The Melford striker suffered a leg injury but it was Sam Biscoe who stupidly got involved and a melee started although the Sudbury physio, Kim Sayers, and manager Ian Manby were there to try to help the injured player.

Tempers were raised again when Sloots was subjected to two footed tackled from behind by the reckless Biscoe, that referee Kent, appeared not see but it was a game he handled well despite the bits of aggro.

In the last quarter of the game both defences tightened up but in the last minutes of normal time Sloots put in a great ball in to the Melford box and under pressure from Scott Hunt and Steve Adams a home defender put the ball past his own keeper for the winner.

The Wizard Of Oz