Joy of six for Dereham Town against Maldon, despite early downpour

Dereham Town recorded an impressive 6-1 win over promotion rivals Maldon on Saturday, ensuring they bounced back from a 3-1 defeat at Soham on Tuesday.

The visitors started well and dominated the early exchanges with Kye Ruel and Joe Gardener testing Magpies keeper Will Viner.

After 18 minutes the players were taken off the pitch by the referee after heavy rain put the game in doubt. However after a few minutes the players were back and the game soon came to life.

Seven minutes after the restart Aaron Kay's free-kick deflected off Bradley Hunter in a crowded penalty area and into the visitors net, putting Dereham ahead after a spell of pressure.

Five minutes later and Shaun Bammant's cross was touched down by Nicky Howell and finished off by Ryan Hawkins to double the Magpies lead. Just two minutes later and the visitors pulled a goal back thanks to an excellent free-kick from Jack Stevenson.

In first-half stoppage time Luke Tuttle was bought down by Spencer Harrison in the penalty area and Tuttle converted the resulting spot-kick ensuring Dereham led 3-1 at the break.

Six minutes after half-time and Aaron Kay scored straight from a corner, as the Magpies extended their lead again. And not long after a bizarre wind-assisted own goal from Bradley Vaughan made it 5-1 to Dereham with 30 minutes to play.

Then 15 minutes from time Beaumont finished off an excellent free-kick from Gary Starling to secure the win.