Roy Webster Needham Market 1, Wroxham 2: Another twist in the tale of Wroxham's roller coaster Ridgeons campaign left the reigning champions still in the mix with a realistic chance of retaining their title.

Roy Webster

Needham Market 1, Wroxham 2

Another twist in the tale of Wroxham's roller coaster Ridgeons campaign left the reigning champions still in the mix with a realistic chance of retaining their title.

After the disappointment of dropping three home points to Haverhill on Saturday this visit to the FA Vase losing semi-finalists seemed unlikely to contribute to Wroxham's hopes of making a come back.

And when they were reduced to 10 men while conceding the equaliser from the penalty spot it certainly seemed all over for Damian Hilton's men.

The Yachtsmen went ahead in the 23rd minute when a three man move between Key, Furlong and Thompson ended with the former Norwich City utility player Alex Notman finding the net with a crisp finish.

Disaster then enveloped the visitors on the half hour when Graham Challen was judged to have impeded Joby Thoroughgood in the box even though the ball was on its way out for a throw in.

The home player performed an Oscar winning rag-doll collapse and the referee immediately pointed to the spot, then showed the Wroxham team captain the red card as the last defender. Mark Heath-Preston stepped up to net the penalty.

Wroxham seemed certainly down but they were far from out. Midway through the second half their valiant ten men, who had created at least a couple of clear cut chances, regained the lead when Notman headed on to Ben Thompson who slotted home the winner that kept the Yachtsmen's interest in the title race alive with six games to come.

These start with tomorrow's visit to Wisbech with the team placed third in the table, eight points adrift of Soham Town Rangers who have played two games more and one point off Needham Market who have a game in hand.