March Town United 0, Great Yarmouth Town 2THREE hard-earned points brought the Bloaters to within one point of FC Clacton at the top of the Ridgeons First Division, who could only draw 3-3 with Godmanchester Rovers.

March Town United 0, Great Yarmouth Town 2

THREE hard-earned points brought the Bloaters to within one point of FC Clacton at the top of the Ridgeons First Division, who could only draw 3-3 with Godmanchester Rovers.

Yarmouth were missing three players from the side that so comprehensively beat Halstead: Adam Swell, Liam Bartley and Gareth Palmer were all unavailable, but Bernardo Junior was back and Marcus Saunders had recovered from

his injury.

Yarmouth weathered early pressure from the Hares with some stout defending and an excellent bobbling save at the foot of a post by Michael Hilton. March also made it difficult for themselves with some wayward shooting.

Stewart Roach had the ball in the net after 18 minutes but the referee decided there was an offside player, and Yarmouth came more into the game. As half-time approached with added time, Yarmouth poached the opening goal.

Jake Reed nicked the ball off a hesitant defender, and seeing Norman racing up the centre passed inside for the former Swaffham striker to slam the ball past a bemused keeper Dan Heath.

Yarmouth opened the second half with a flurry of attacks. Scott Woodcock tore into March up and down the left wing and Roach and Norman fought for everything in the box. Martyn Magee also moved up from his commanding midfield role to send a header wide from a corner.

March broke away and thought they had scored through Ashley Brand, but the referee who had spotted a hand-ball by a home player in the box during the move.

Yarmouth added insult to injury by doubling their lead a few minutes later. Just after the hour, Roach played a peach of a pass to Reed who took a couple of strides before unleashing a shot past Heath into the far corner.

The Bloaters created several more chances but Reed, Dominic Smith and Woodcock all shot wide. March had chances too, but their finishing continued to be poor. In the Yarmouth defence, Craig Roberts caught the eye with some great heading.

“I knew it would be a battle,” Tong said. “But, in fairness to our lads, they dug in and defended like Trojans, weathered the storm and Gavin Norman capitalised on a slip to score and put us 1-0 up at the break, against the run of play.

“Second half we dug in and we battled. The boys had to become men. Craig Roberts was outstanding, and was matched by Dominic Smith. Saturday saw some quality performances, particularly regarding commitment, everybody worked hard. We knew we were in a game, and March is never an easy place to go.”

Team: M Hilton, B Junior, O Savage, C Roberts, D Smith, M Saunders, G Norman, M Magee, S Roach, J Reed (F Vide 75), S Woodcock (J Bell 85). Unused sub: M Thompson. Att: 62.