Ingoldisthorpe beat the icy blast with cup win

Ingoldisthorpe Football Club is looking onwards and upwards following their elevation to the Anglian Combination League.

The club, who clinched promotion by winning the North West Norfolk League last season, sit fifth in the Division Five North standings going into December.

Planning permission for an extension has recently been granted so the club can build two new changing rooms that meet FA standard.

Chairman Eddie Herbert said: “We’re a better side now than what we were at the start of the season, where we lost some silly games.

“We lost three or four players over the summer but two of them saw the light and have come back to us now.

“The aim is to push on in the second half of the season and try to achieve another promotion.”

On Saturday, Ingoldisthorpe were one of the only clubs across West Norfolk to beat the icy blast as they hosted Division Five South outfit Attleborough Town Reserves in the CS Morley Cup.

Incredibly while the rest of the football programme across the region was decimated by the winter weather, Ingoldisthorpe were delighted to see their first game on home soil since the end of September survive.

And the team warmed the hearts of supporters at the Drift by booking their passage into the next round with a 4-2 victory.

Aaron Herbert started the game between the posts before being substituted and coming back on to score two goals, one of which was a 30-yard screamer that left the visiting shotstopper with no chance.

He was joined on the scoresheet by striker Dylan Ess, who already has 21 goals for the campaign, and Connor Leys.

Ess has terrorised defences across the region for several seasons and won the Golden Boot in the North West Norfolk League last term.

The team are managed by Alan Kitchener who has been involved with the club for several years, where he guided a handful of players from the youth set-up into the first team.

Ingoldisthorpe are enjoying life in their first-ever season at the level and with the momentum now firmly behind them, they look ready to launch another promotion challenge.