Mark Morsley pleased to see crowds rising at AFC Sudbury during BetVictor Isthmian League North Division campaign

AFC Sudbury manager Mark Morsley has been pleased to see the crowds rising at The MEL Group Stadium this season, with the club set for their highest average home attendance in four years, writes Alex Moss.

The Yellows boasted a season-best crowd of 518 for their derby win against Bury Town earlier this month, while 251 were in attendance for Saturday’s entertaining 3-3 draw against Aveley.

And while AFC suffered a setback during this week, losing 2-0 away at Great Wakering Rovers on Tuesday night, the Sudbury boss is determined to push his side further up the BetVictor Isthmian League North Division table during the final two months of the season.

Morsley’s men currently sit in 15th spot ahead of trips to Canvey Island this Saturday (3pm) and then Grays Athletic on Wednesday (7.45pm) next week.

“It was a good point and a good game in difficult conditions on Saturday,” Morsley said.

“The performance from both sides was exceptional and I thought we started the game very well, but two poor errors saw us go 2-0 down.

“It was a shame but we stuck to the task. Aveley are FA Trophy quarter-finalists, which tells you how good they are.

“Over the last three years, and I think more so in recent times, we’ve looked for little things in our play which will serve us well going forward.

“There’s durability in the group, which is really important and we’ll take a lot from the performance on Saturday.

“Obviously we want to move up the league a little bit. To win all of our four or five games in hand is not how football works, but it would put us in a strong position.

“We want to finish the season positively and pick up as many points as we can. The crowds are creeping up at King’s Marsh as well, which is great.”

Saturday’s six-goal thriller saw promotion-chasing Aveley race into a 2-0 lead by 17 minutes, with goals from Alex Akrofi and George Skyes a minute apart.

Billy Holland pulled one back for AFC on the stroke of half time, before Baris Alintop drew the hosts level seven minutes after the restart.

Akrofi’s second goal of the afternoon regained Aveley’s lead midway through the second half, but Freddie King replied for Sudbury in the last 10 minutes to make it 3-3.

And goalkeeper Paul Walker was the hero at full time for Morsley’s side, keeping out Shad Ngandu’s 90th-minute penalty to ensure a share of the points.

On Tuesday, goals from Connor Martin and Martin Tuhoy clinched a 2-0 win for hosts Great Wakering against the Yellows.

l The week 41 winners of the AFC Gold fundraiser are as follows: 1st £100 (121) S Thompson, St Andrews Rd, Cornard; 2nd £10 (195) Mrs K Middleditch, Brent Eleigh Rd, Lavenham; 3rd £10 (114) M Mills, Queens Close, Sudbury.