Long Eaton beat Wellingborough Town by four goals to two at Grange Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Blues went into half-time 2-1 down after goals from Danny Draper and Neo Richard-Noel for the visitors. Evan Garnett opened the scoring in the 21st minute.
A red card in the second half was awarded to Will Jones of Wellingborough Town which handed the advantage to the Blues.
Brad Munn’s side more than took advantage by scoring three goals in the second half with James Taylor netting a brace and Garnett securing his by scoring in the 64th minute.
Long Eaton United move up to sixth in the league table, just one place outside of the play-offs. Darlaston Town sit in fifth place on the same number of points to Long Eaton, however they have two games in hand.
A defensive mishap by Wellingborough Town captain, Jack O’Connor, allowed Evan Garnett to get a shot off with his left foot in the box. Dan Moore made himself big to keep the score level.
Neo Richard-Noel had an early attempt on goal for the visitors. He used his pace to get away from Andrew Wright down the left flank but his shot was kept out by the palms of Lewis King who stood tall at his front post.
The Blues went 1-0 up in the 21st minute. Evan Garnett did superbly well, finishing into the bottom right corner. He took a touch, got the ball out of his feet and struck the ball whilst on the turn. A great finish by the striker.
Long Eaton’s lead only lasted five minutes as Danny Draper showed tidy feet in the box to create space for himself in the 27th minute. He finished past King from just outside the six-yard box with a curled effort.
The Doughboys took the lead in the 33rd minute. Patrick Casey was played in down the left by Tom Iaciofano. Casey’s cross from the right was met at the back post by Neo Richard-Noel who’s diving header travelled into the bottom right corner.
Long Eaton United were 2-1 down at the half-time break.
Draper came close to scoring his second of the game early on in the second half. King managed to get down low to his left to save his effort from the edge of the box.
Will Jones was shown a straight red card in the 54th minute for Wellingborough Town. His challenge on Gianluca Bucci with dissent in the aftermath was the reasoning for his sending off.
James Taylor equalised in the 58th minute for Long Eaton. His right-footed half volley took a slight deflection off of the head of Jack O’Connor which ultimately took the ball past Moore into the right side of the net.
The Blues took the lead in the 64th minute. Owen Betts was down the right and played a pass into the feet of Garnett. Similar to his first he shown great hold-up play to hold off his man and take a touch round the corner to his right. A right footed finish into the bottom left corner put Brad Munn’s side in a commanding position.
The floodgates were open and it was the birthday boy, James Taylor, who had his second of the game. A miscommunication at the back resulted in Dan Moore letting Taylor get a nick on the ball to prod it past him. Into an open net, he tapped the ball home for his brace.
The sending off for Wellingborough Town had been a massive turning point in the game, a complete swing in momentum and domination.
The referee blew his whistle for full time, Long Eaton winning the fixture 4-2.
The Blues next face Grantham Town on Boxing Day.
We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!
You Blues!

Match report: Sam Hargrave.