Elston United let slip a two-goal lead in the last fifteen minutes of Saturday’s game, allowing Wollaton to come back from a 4-2 deficit to snatch victory with almost the last kick of the game. As a result, Elston lost their third league game of the season – and their second defeat in two games – but The Clams still lead Division 2 and need one more win from their four remaining fixtures to secure promotion.

The game started brightly for Elston. In the second minute, Harry Johnson won the ball high up the pitch and passed forward to Barney Repper, whose first-time cross was headed home by James Scott. Wollaton responded well to this setback, and in the 20th minute a Wollaton free-kick led to uncertainty in the Elston defence, allowing the Wollaton striker to equalise. Five minutes later, however, Elston regained the lead when Scott tapped into an empty net after charging down a clearance from the Wollaton defender and racing past the stranded keeper to the loose ball.

A 2-1 half-time lead for Elston quickly became 3-1, when Scott completed his hat-trick in the 47th minute. Good play down the right-hand side ended with Archie Dillon crossing into the box where Scott was on hand to volley home from six yards. By this time, the Elston players were starting to get on top of their opponents, but Wollaton doggedly hung on and, ten minutes later, a Wollaton cross evaded Marinel Costoiu and went straight into the Elston goal.

Elston continued to push forward, and in the 75th minute a superb pass by James Smith found Joe Wroughton on the left wing who fired a 20-yard bullet past the helpless Wollaton keeper to make the score 4-2.

If Elston thought that they had done enough to win, they were very much mistaken. An Elston own goal in the 78th minute and an 82nd minute Wollaton penalty levelled the scores and with two minutes remaining Wollaton grabbed the winner after Costoiu’s parried save was tapped in at the far post to make the final score 4-5 to the visitors.

Elston United: Brad Musgrove (Marinel Costoiu 46), Archie Dillon, James Smith, Toby Craven, Will Veys, Barney Repper, Sam Lloyd (Ben Wallace 77), Harry Johnson (Kieran Adams 66), James Scott, Joe Wroughton (Teddy Furman 82), James Clarke (Rui Thacker 72).