Downham beaten in five-goal thriller

Downham Town 2 Newmarket Town 3

Downham Town slipped to a third successive Premier Division home defeat as they were beaten 3-2 by Newmarket Town in an absorbing clash at the SCL Memorial Field.The high-flying Jockey’s claimed the three points late on after Downham had twice fought back to draw level – but a visiting win didn’t look on the cards in the first half.Despite missing six first-team regulars through injury and suspension, Downham dominated the opening 35 minutes at the SCL Memorial Field but a combination of good goalkeeping and poor finishing kept them at bay.

Craig Dickson and Dale Stokes’ side could have been comfortably ahead before Newmarket Town broke the deadlock through Ben Robinson after 42 minutes.Matty Castellan saw a header tipped over the woodwork by James Young and a Fletcher Toll shot was turned behind by the Newmarket shotstopper as the game burst into life after an even opening 15 minutes.

Young denied Toll for a second time while James Moore headed a golden chance over the woodwork from a few yards out from the resulting corner.Another chance went begging after a Pat Yates header was played on by Toll for Moore, who was thwarted after finding himself one-on-one with Young.The visitors enjoyed a good ten-minute spell towards the end of the half, hitting the woodwork with their first chance of the game seven minutes before the interval.

Their opener came four minutes later as Robinson won the ball from Castellan before spotting Duncan McAnally off his line and lobbing the home goalkeeper from 25 yards.Downham deservedly drew level on the stroke of half-time as a long ball over the top picked up by Toll who drew the hosts level with an assured finish just inside the box.

Two minutes after the restart Downham fell behind for a second time after they failed to clear their lines and Isaac Maynard volleyed home.To their credit, Newmarket were a different proposition after the interval and the Jockey’s controlled long periods of the second half.Although they didn’t create the same number of openings as they did in the first 45 minutes, Downham were always in the game.

They levelled for second time when George Watts Sturrock delivered a free-kick into the box and Castellan climbed highest to find the back of the net with a deft header.But less than three minutes later they fell behind for a third time on the afternoon as Maynard headed home his second goal of the game to hand Newmarket the points.The final scoreline was harsh on the hosts who played their part in an excellent advert for the league.Downham Town: McAnally, Miller, Hutton, Watts-Sturrock, Yates, Castellan, Visocanskis, Reed, Moore, White, Toll. Subs not used: Oughton and Dickson.Elsewhere this afternoon, Jay Myhill found the back of the net twice and Fin Whiteley added another as Fakenham Town cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win at Soham Town Rangers.In the First Division North, Swaffham Town were beaten 2-1 at home by Harwich and Parkeston.