Josh Lee marks Newmarket Town return by scoring winning goal in Isthmian League North Division derby win over Mildenhall Town

Josh Lee wasted little time in settling back into life at Newmarket Town by scoring the only goal during their 1-0 derby victory at Mildenhall Town last night.

Having left to link up with fellow Isthmian League North Division outfit Maldon & Tiptree in November, Lee’s return to the Jockeys was announced a couple of hours before kick off at The Riverside Stadium.

And he promptly showed why boss Michael Shinn had been so keen to bring him back to the club with a match-winning strike that was an all too rare moment of quality in a competitive yet scrappy affair.

Deep into first-half stoppage time the ball dropped kindly for Lee and from around 25 yards out he produced a dipping effort that Mildenhall goalkeeper Josh Pope could only watch fly inside his far post.

With a one-goal lead to protect, the second half proved to be largely routine for Newmarket, although they were indebted to goalkeeper James Young for his full stretch save to keep out Mildenhall substitute Alfie Connor’s header in time added on.

“It was a bit of quality that’s won us the game from Josh – a goal out of nowhere,” said Newmarket manager Shinn.

“They were the sort of goals he scored for us when he was last here. He’ll be huge for us and we know what he can offer – that’s why we were keen to bring him back.

“This football club suits him really well and he now knows that. Sometimes you have to go away to realise you’ve got it pretty good where you are and that everything seems to fit.

“He’s always been the focal point of our attack, he’s always a handful and playing alongside the likes of Mooro (James Moore), the pair of them offer us some real threat.”

The win extended Newmarket’s recent positive record in this fixture to four matches unbeaten, during which time they have scored eight goals without reply.

That sequence included a 6-0 drubbing in the Thurlow Nunn League Challenge Cup last term, but Shinn has conceded that it was his team’s ability to do the ‘ugly’ side of the game that delivered the three points on this occasion.

He added: “I say it every time, these games against Mildenhall are always really good. Whether we win, lose or draw, they’re always competitive and both teams get on the front foot.

“We knew in this one that if we were going to win it, we’d have to do it ugly. Because of the weather conditions of late, most pitches you go to are proving difficult to play any kind of free-flowing football.

“It’s a case of turning teams around, squeezing up the pitch and being ugly, which means you do the simple things really, really well. The result is really pleasing for us.”

It has been an impressive start to 2025 for Newmarket, who have won five of their seven fixtures since the turn of the year.

Shinn’s men ended 2024 sitting second-from-bottom in the table and five points from safety, but they have flipped the situation on its head over recent weeks to move up to 17th – five points above the bottom four.

“If you go back a few years, away from home was impossible for us for whatever reason but now we’re putting in some really good performances,” added Shinn, who picked up the North Division’s Manager of the Month award for January prior to Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat to Brightlingsea Regent.

“All of a sudden we’ve got a team that can play ugly, but also play some nice football at home.

“Things have started to go our way. In the first part of the season we were playing well and results were going against us, but now we’re learning in both boxes.

“I’m not always a big believer in things being even over the course of the season, but this season it does feel like that’s what’s happening. Earlier in the season we conceded too many late goals but now it’s us scoring them.

“We’ve learned to be a bit more ruthless at both ends and it’s put us in a decent position, but the hard work has to carry on. It’s not enough to just get out of the bottom four, we’ve got to keep going, keep driving and keep believing in what we’re doing – whether that’s playing a certain way at home or a certain way away.

“There’s still a long way to go and we said a couple of months ago – we’re in a relegation battle – let’s not sugar-coat it, we’re definitely in one. But the boys have been great. I’ve been patient with them, I wanted them to learn the level, and that’s what they’re doing.”

Newmarket will have the chance to put further daylight between themselves and the relegation zone on Saturday when they travel to face fourth-from-bottom Basildon United (3pm).