The early exchanges were even - with Fakenham perhaps slightly on top, after 3 minutes they forced the first corner of the match and on 6 minutes a foul on the edge of the area by Tony French gave the visitors a free-kick in a dangerous area. However, the Melford wall did its job and blocked Stokes' effort.
On 7 minutes Melford took the lead when a penalty was awarded for a handball after a Danny Brind shot. Tony French duly dispatched the spot-kick low into the bottom left hand corner.
Moments later Ashley Skeggs played a good ball into Brind who turned his man sharply but shot weakly at keeper Stockdale with his left foot.
A scrappy period of the match followed, with both sides struggling to find any real cohesion with a high number of passes going astray. On 28 minutes Wilson couldn't get enough power on his shot, and soon after an attempt from French sailed narrowly over the bar.
As the half hour mark approached, Dave Kenyon who was suffering from injury was replaced by 16-year-old debutant Karl Delves (pictured left). The lively Under 18's and Reserves' forward had the perfect start, scoring with his first touch - French hooked the ball over the top and Delves took advantage of some indecision in the Fakenham defence to slot home into the corner of the net.
On 36 minutes Melford went 3-0 ahead - a nicely floated free-kick from Paul Walker was met by Ashley Skeggs who did brilliantly to glance his header into the top left corner out of Stockdale's reach.
Two minutes later and Walker released Delves who saw his shot well saved by Stockdale, and Melford had to be content with a 3-0 lead at the interval.
The second half was disappointing from a Melford point of view, with Fakenham often dominating and creating more opportuntites than the home side.
On 56 minutes, it needed a fantastic save from Croll to thwart a Bacon effort after the Fakenham forward burst through on goal.
Melford struggled to create any genuine openings, although Delves shot over after 65 minutes and on 67 minutes Matt Wilson headed over from a Mark Alder free kick.
Fakenham continued to look like scoring, with Bryant firing in a low shot on 68 minutes and a minute later Scott Wark won a vital header in his penalty area against Darby to rescue a dangerous situation.
On 74 minutes the versatile Luke Simpson came on for French, with Skeggs moving up front and Simpson taking his place on the left side of midfield.
A minute later Delves robbed a Fakenham defender and slipped a ball into Skeggs in the area who turned sharply and tried to find Brind but his pass was intercepted by Stockdale who was quick off his line.
On 77 minutes Fakenham cleared a Melford corner but only as far as Walker who sprayed the ball cleverly out to Brind on the right. Brind’s perfect control was followed by a deep cross that Wilson headed over.
On the 80 minute mark Fakenham's player/manager Mark King, on as a substitute, headed on for Darby to run through on goal but he shot into the side netting after rounding Croll.
The last chance of the match came on 87 minutes, when Brind crossed from the right and the ball fell kindly to Simpson in the box who fired over.
Melford: Croll, Cawtheray, Wark, Brind, Pratt, Alder, Wilson, Walker, French,Skeggs, Kenyon Subs: Simpson (for French), Delves (for Kenyon), Statham (for Wilson), Adams
Fakenham: Stockdale, Fenwick, Major, Garrod, Morgan, Day, Whitton, Bryant, Darby, Bacon, Stokes Subs: French, Huggins, King
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