One of the longest away trips of the season for the Jammers proved to be a fruitless one as Maldon & Tiptree failed to make up ground on their playoff chasing rivals as Gorleston ran out 4-2 winners on the Norfolk coast.

Maldon boss Liam Bailey opted to shuffle the pack from the side that secured an Essex County Cup semi-final berth in midweek and there was also a place on the bench for new signing Jeffrey Cobblah whose arrival from Witham Town was announced on Friday night. The first chance of the afternoon fell to a Jammers man when George Smith latched onto a through ball clipped over the top by Alfie Mason. The in-form Smith was through on goal and cut in on his right foot, but his effort was straight at the imposing frame of Jake Jessup in the Gorleston goal.

That was as good as things got for either side until the home side took the lead in the 26th minute when Ismael Fatadjo poked the ball home after an almighty goalmouth scramble.

Gorleston doubled their lead just 3 minutes later when a long ball forward found Jacek Zielonka whose shot found the back of the net in spite of the best efforts of Luca Collins’ outstretched boot.

Maldon needed to get a foothold in the game and might’ve had one with 10 minutes to go until the break as Smith was put through on goal but was denied by the assistant’s offside flag. The first half petered out into the gray Norfolk afternoon with Gorleston in firm control of the
contest.

The second half began with the Jammers needing to score the first goal if they were to turn the game around, but with 10 minutes played, those plans turned to dust as Gorleston added a third. The referee waved play on despite what appeared to be multiple fouls on Harry Phillips as he had the ball, the home side took full advantage and Ryan Curtis slammed home. Maldon players, and coaches’ fury at the referee’s decision was only increased when he started handing out yellow cards like Oprah giving away cars.

With 62 minutes gone, a goal scoring frenzy broke out, as Maldon made it 3-1 thanks to Jayden Randell’s powerful header home from a corner.
Two minutes later, Smith reduced the arrears to a single goal as Milton Oni’s header made its way through to him via Phillips with Smith slamming home from close range.

3-2 the score, but Maldon had all the momentum and the most stunning of comebacks looked to be on. Those hopes were dashed when Curtis intercepted Oni’s backpass to Collins to slot home in the 69th minute. I

The visitors looked to go again and just seconds after the restart, Smith headed an inviting cross from Matt Yates just over the bar. Still the Jammers went forward looking to set up a grandstand finish. With 8 minutes left, Harry Phillips had a shot blocked at close range by a defender who might’ve been thankful it was a cold afternoon.

The home side were reduced to 10 men in the 84th minute as George Keys was given a straight red card.

An indirect free kick for Maldon in the dying embers of the game was easily dealt with by the hosts who saw the game out to claim all 3 points.

Next up for the Jammers is a trip to Basildon United on Tuesday night as we look to close the gap to the playoff places.