Wroxham closed the gap on Ridgeons League leaders Mildenhall after two remarkable first halves of Premier Division action.

Wroxham closed the gap on Ridgeons League leaders Mildenhall after two remarkable first halves of Premier Division action.

The Yachtsmen came in leading 4-0 at the interval of their home match against Wisbech Town - to discover that Mildenhall were losing 5-0 at Lowestoft.

Incredibly, neither scoreline was added to in the second half, which means Wroxham now trail Mildenhall by seven points with four games in hand.

Lee Gilman, who scored twice in the Trafford Park rout, said the Yachtsmen were as surprised by the force of their first half blast as the Fenmen.

“We didn't expect that,” he told Radio Norfolk. “We set our stall out to not concede but we got off to a good start and things just got better.

“We have four games in hand (on Mildenhall). We have just got to go out and win them all. Hopefully they'll lose a couple more - and then we'll win the league!”

Graham Challen and Ben Thompson were the other scorers for the Yachtsmen, but manager Damian Hilton will be just as pleased by another defensive cleansheet from a team which has conceded only 15 goals in 24 league outings.

Champions Lowestoft still haven't written off their title chances, though they will need to out together a formidable gap to bridge the gap.

They were certainly hot on Saturday at Crown Meadow, where Russell Stock started and finished a miserable 45 minutes for Mildenhall. Jamie Godbold, Carl Poppy and Richard Woodrow scored the goals in between.

At the other end of the table both Diss and Norwich United greatly improved their hopes of avoiding the drop with impressive victories.

Diss won 4-2 at Harwich and Parkeston to set themselves up for a sequence of three successive home games, starting against Woodbridge tomorrow. Their run in is made up of nine at home and just four away.

Sam Hatton headed two goals with Tom Poole also on target in the first half and Mark Angel adding one in the second.

Harwich's Lee Underwood had an eventful afternoon, scoring twice before being sent off.

Tangerines boss Richard Carter said he was “pleased with the win and the two fine headed goals from Sam Hatton.”

Recent signing Nathan Thompson continued his rich vein of form when scoring both goals as Norwich United beat high-flying Leiston 2-0 to lift themselves out of the bottom three.

It was the Planters' first home win since October but also extended their unbeaten run to six matches.

Thompson has now scored four goals in three games and Saturday's impressive brace completed a good day for United, whose reserves booked their place at Carrow Road in the Norfolk Junior Cup final with a 2-1 win over Poringland Wanderers.

Kirkley survived a late fightback by bottom club CRC to win 4-3 at the Abbey Stadium.

The home club led at the interval through Michael Kirby but Chris Sillett, Carl Chenery, Ryan De Coteau and Nathan Stone put Kirkley 4-1 before late replies from Mike Hyem and Craig Busson.

Swaffham still lead the way in Division One after a 3-1 win over Tiptree.

Downham did their hopes of avoiding the drop some good with a 3-0 thumping of Cornard while Fakenham thrashed Long Melford 4-1 with goals from Stuart Jenkinson, Nick Youngs, Jonathan Hawes and Royce Rawlings.

Thetford produced the comeback of the day at Whitton, where they were trailing 1-0 going into the final minute - when a penalty equaliser from Pask was followed by a lobbed winner from Armes.