Mattishall 3, Loddon United 1

MATTISHALL, in third place in the Anglian Combination Premier Division, made ground on second-place St Andrews with this home win over the bottom club which included a wonder goal from Luke Catchpole.

Cromer lead the section with 37 points from 16 games, then come St Andrews (33 from 15), Mattishall (32 from 15), Wroxham Reserves (30 from 18) then defending champions Blofield (28 from only 12 games).

Mattishall entertained Loddon on a cold day at South Green, the hosts starting in fast fashion and Applegate forced two good saves from Robinson in the visitors' goal.

Following a corner the keeper made another fine save, from Anema, as Mattishall looked to break the deadlock.

Another Applegate run took him past a defender and this time Durrant made a fine interception which went for another corner.

The visitors slowly came back into the game and when they got to the by-line the ball was pulled back to Summons, but his effort went over the bar. Then Marjoribanks was guilty of missing the target when his header went over the top.

At the other end a cross from Marczewski ended with Fulcher's header bouncing on the top of the bar before being collected by Robinson.

The visitors, in their next attack, saw Sommerfield head over his own bar following a dangerous cross, and Summons was again guilty of firing over as Loddon belied their lowly league position.

In their next attack another cross was tipped on by Pledger and Squirs headed wide as Loddon enjoyed a fine spell.

However, it was Mattishall who broke the deadlock when a Fulcher and Lewis combination saw the latter burst forward, and when the ball fell to Fulcher he drilled it past the keeper to give Mattishall a half-time lead.

The second half started with Mattishall pushing forward without creating too many clear-cut chances. But on the hour they increased their lead with one of the finest goals seen at South Green.

Robinson in the visitors' area made a scrambled clearance that fell to Catchpole on the left touchline. His chested control was followed by a thigh juggle which set him up for an unstoppable volley that flew into the top corner of the net for an absolutely breath-taking goal.

Next it was the turn of Fulcher to burst through and Robinson made a great save, however Mattishall made it 3-0 on 65 minutes when Anema headed home a Catchpole corner.

Loddon gamely continued to look for a way back into the game, and with minutes remaining were awarded a penalty and Marjoribanks made no mistake from the spot.

There was still time for Pledger to make a fine save when a cross eluded everybody and substitute Riches was left in on goal.

The final few minutes were played out without any further scoring chances being created.

Mattishall Reserves travelled to Waveney and lost 3-0.

Mattishall visit eighth-placed Beccles on Saturday with a 2pm kick-off while the Reserves entertain Waveney, also 2pm.