Needham Market hit 12 past Long Melford with Luke Ingram scoring four in Suffolk Premier Cup tie to draw level with record-scorer Sam Newson

On a night when the heavens opened up on Mid Suffolk it also rained goals at Bloomfields as four-in-a-row holders Needham Market put Long Melford firmly to the sword with a record-setting 12-0 victory in the Suffolk Premier Cup.

Previous match day programmes at the Ecologic Stadium had included the biggest home and away wins as 8-1 (against Hitchin Town in 2018 and also Ipswich Wanderers in 2007) and 10-1 (away to Ipswich Wanderers in the FA Cup in 2007 – 10 days ahead of the 8-1 home win against them).

But those records will now fade into the distance after Kevin Horlock’s class of 2024 showed no mercy to a side that they are now operate three levels above in the non-league pyramid, following their recent promotion to the Vanarama National League North.

It was not only a special night for the Martketmen as they eased into the quarter-finals with a relentless and ruthless display but also a momentous one for the club’s record appearance-marker Luke Ingram, whose four first-half goals, before he was withdrawn, saw him draw level with Needham’s record goalscorer.

In a season where he is also closing in fast on 500 appearances, he now sits alongside Sam Newson with 134 goals ahead of inevitably making the record his own.

Having gone into their entry second-round tie against the club that had knocked them out of the competition in each of the last two seasons saying he would ‘not park the bus’, Melford boss Liam Joyce soon found out to his cost what that meant.

The Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division outfit, who went into the game second bottom with only one win all season, found their dream of a cup upset begin to disappear when Ingram stabbed home at the far post in the ninth minute after Jamie McGrath’s header had been headed off the line.

The visitors’ survived a few more scares before Needham doubled their advantage just after the half-hour mark when a jinking Ben Hunter run ended with a low shot arrowing into the far left-hand corner from the edge of the box.

It took less than five minutes for the next goal to arrive for what was the start of five flying into Harrison Crowther’s net in the space of 10 terrible minutes for the Villagers as the scoreline accelerated up to 7-0 by the half-time whistle.

Crowther flew off his line to make what seemed a good save to deny McGrath but watched as it cruelly spun into the path of the unmarked Ingram to roll in his second of the night. And he was far from done there.

The hat-trick was completed four minutes later from a superb defence-splitting throughball from Tevan Allen which set him scampering down the inside right channel. The Ipswich-based player then took the ball wide of Crowther before keeping his cool with the finish from the wide angle for the hat-trick.

No sooner had the celebrations from that died down than seemingly they were starting up again as within a minute his fourth and Needham’s fifth followed as poked a low shot past Crowther from around 15 yards out.

The punishment for Melford continued unabated though as Allen fired a low shot in from 25 yard out which flew into the bottom right-hand corner on 43 before, in the first minute of stoppage-time, in what was virtually the last touch of the first half, centre-back Dan Morphew sent a firm header from Allen’s swinging corner back across goal in the top left-hand corner.

Four-goal Ingram was one of three players, along with full-backs Jake Dye and Tommy Smith, to be replaced as the players re-emerged for the second half with Seth Chambers, Dylan Williams and Nico Valentine all entering the action.

After surviving an early rally from Needham, Melford’s first chance of the night finally arrived when fellow half-time substitute Josh Fenton Jones saw a shot blocked at the near post at the expense of a corner.

Ollie Fraser had the ball in the net up the other end on the hour mark from a perfect low Valentine cross only to see it chalked off for offside.

But the home fans had less than a couple of minutes to wait to celebrate number eight for real as teenager striker Chambers got in on the act, taking on a crossfield ball well into the area before firing in on the angle through the keeper’s legs.

The ninth duly followed on 68 as defender Dan Morphew produced a cultured left-footed finish to stroke the ball into the far corner from the edge of the box after it broke loose into his path for his second of the night. It saw him match the exploits of regular captain Kieran Morphew notching a brace in Saturday’s 3-0 home league win against South Shields ahead of getting the night off.

Melford went mightly close to getting on the scoresheet themselves soon after but Fenton Jones was denied by a low save by Marcus Garnham when one-one-one, the veteran keeper having done well to quickly narrow the angle.

But it was Crowther who continued to be far the busier of the custodians, making a good one-handed save from Chambers’ angled drive from a Fraser cross ahead of being relieved to see Harry Stoneham block a fierce overhead kick from the same player, forcing it to spin wide of his left-hand post.

Double digits were reached for a new club record scoreline 11 minutes from time as Jamie McGrath’s hard-working display was finally rewarded with a goal as he hit a shot on the turn from the edge of the box that bounces in over the keeper.

Crowther did find himself in the right place to deny Morphew a hat-trick by holding the centre- back’s latest shot as the Marketmen continued to pour forward in search of more.

And it was 11 eight minutes from time as Williams fired low across goal into the bottom left-hand corner from Allen’s cut-back.

Fenton Jones continued to carry Melford’s threat and again thought his moment had arrived when he rounded Garnham this time after Hunter foolishly choose to leave the loose ball before he nipped in, but Kyle Hammond managed to fly in from nowhere with a superb sliding challenge in the area as he went to pull the trigger.

The home side’s glut of goals was finally completed in the 86th minute when Ipswich Town loanee Nico Valentine got in on the act by punishing a poor attempted clearance from Stoneham.

The 19-year-old Debenham-raised winger then went close to his second of the night with his right-sided shot coming back off the far post before, with the goal gaping, Adam Mills was left with his head in his hands after blasting the rebound up into the night sky.

The final whistle brought the end to a remarkable night for Needham Market in a competition where they continued to show their dominance of Suffolk non-league football as they set up a home quarter-final with Ipswich Wanderers (see the rest of the draw here).

Watch out Wanderers, as once again, othey’re coming for you.

Needham Market: Garnham, Dye (Valentine 46’), Smith (Williams 46’), Hammond, D Morphew (cpt), Ingram (Chambers 46’), Allen, Fraser, McGrath, Mills, Hunter. Unused subs: K Morphew, Lay.

Booked: None.

Long Melford: Crowther, Brown (Fenton Jones 46’), Judge, Humphreys, Campbell (Chirimuuta 73’), Lazar (Stoneham 46’), Birch, Chinnery, Junor, Brown (cpt), Wilberforce McDonald.

Booked: None.

Attendance: 158

Free Press Man of the Match: Anyone who can score four goals in the first half of any game deserves to walk away as the hero of the piece, and LUKE INGRAM showed once again why he is so revered by the Needham Market faithful. It was also a special milestone moment just ahead of his withdrawal as his last goal drew him level with their record goalscorer.