25th September 2021
Thetford Rovers vs Kirkley & Pakefield Reserves @ Euston Park - Euston nr. Thetford
Anglian Combination Division One (Step 8)
14:30 KO
Free entry
Attendance - approx. 40
Half-time score: Thetford Rovers 4-1 Kirkley & Pakefield Reserves
Goals:
Thetford Rovers: Briviglieiri - 2'
Thetford Rovers: V. Rocha - 9'
Thetford Rovers: V. Rocha - 34'
Kirkley & Pakefield Reserves: Lay - 40'
Thetford Rovers: Briviglieiri - 43'
Thetford Rovers: Briviglieiri - 60'
Kirkley & Pakefield Reserves: Landles - 68'
Final Score: Thetford Rovers 5-2 Kirkley & Pakefield Reserves
Due to family commitments, I was almost unable to go see a football game today, but luckily, Thetford Rovers were playing at home and I managed to get down to Euston Park just in time. Thetford Rovers are on somewhat of a roll at the moment, with a 3 game winning streak in the league pushing them up to 6th in the table, so I was keen to see if they could continue that run. Their opponents, Kirkley & Pakefield Reserves, are only one point behind Rovers, although having played one more game, and their form has been yo-yoing , beating Stalham Town last week 4-0 but losing 10-2 to Fakenham Town Reserves the game before, so there was no way to tell what K&P Reserves team would turn up, making it an intriguing tie.
From kick-off, it looked like the latter K&P Reserves team had turned up, with Thetford Rovers scoring in the 2nd minute, Briviglieiri picking up the ball on the left and scything through the K&P defence unchallenged, through into the box where he slotted the ball low into the far corner, far too easy.
The early goal did seem to give K&P Reserves a kick up the backside, and they nearly replied with a goal of their own in the 5th minute, a header from the No. 5 from a corner going just over. In the 6th minute, Rovers had another good chance of their own, Molloy dinking a ball over for Valter, whose shot from the edge of the area was saved with Rovers unable to make anything from the rebound. However, Rovers kept plugging away, and in the 9th minute, Valter picked up a long ball from Hutcherson, done well to control it and rifled home a half-volley for the 2nd goal.
Rovers continued to press and dominate possession and territory, and in the 13th minute, a deft back-heel touch from Valter put Dean in, but his well struck half-volleyed effort from outside of the area went over. In the 18th minute, a corner taken by Twomey was headed goal-bound by Hutcherson, but his effort was headed off the line by a defender.
After the let offs, K&P Reserves became more confident on the ball, and began to contain and pressure Rovers better. However, in the 34th minute, K&P were dispossessed in a dangerous position, and the ball went to Hunt who ran down the left flank and crossed a ball into the box that eluded the keeper and was comfortably nodded home by Valter, 3-0 to Rovers.
K&P were not deflated by going down 3-0, and kept working the ball well, and a chance came in the 38th minute, a headed effort that hit the post from another corner, from which they were looking most threatening from. In the 39th minute, Rovers replied with a chance of their own, a free-kick was whipped in, and the second ball fell to Dean, on the edge of the area, whose snapped volley went just wide. Shortly after that, in the 40th minute, K&P Reserves got their much deserved goal, a good move resulted in several K&P players shooting on goal, with the scrambling Rovers defence getting behind each effort, but they eventually ran out of defenders and the Lay was able to smash his effort home, to make the game interesting at 3-1.
However, Rovers ruthlessly replied in the 43rd minute, to ensure they went into the 2nd half with a 3 goal advantage, Hunt feeding Briviglieiri, who once having control of the ball, ran into the box and let off another pin-point accurate shot, low into the corner of the goal. K&P then almost replied again in the 44th minute, the No. 12 managing a cracking 30 yard effort that was curling towards the top left corner, but went agonisingly wide. In injury time, Rovers, pressed the goal hard to put the result beyond doubt, a wicked left-footed strike from a Valter free-kick was kept out by an impressive fingertip save from the goalkeeper to tip the ball over and out for a corner. Shortly after this, Telmo linked up with his brother Valter, chipping a ball over the top for him to chase, but his shot from a very tight angle was saved.
In the second half, Thetford Rovers went close to scoring in the first minute, Twomey fed Hunt, who had a 25 yard crack at goal that was acrobatically saved by the keeper. After that chance, it was clear that the K&P Reserves had re-organised following the team talk, and they looked a calmer, more organised footballing outfit. Nevertheless, they were unable to contain Rovers, who struck a 5th goal in the 60th minute, with that man Briviglieiri providing a moment of magic, he received the ball from Telmo, near the edge of the box, and despite the attention of 2-3 defenders, and cries from his team-mates to pass, managed to twist and turn enough to create the space for a strike, on the edge of the area, that again went right into the bottom corner of the goal as if it were on rails. A fine hattrick of brilliantly accurate strikes for Briviglieiri, affectionately known as Junior, very impressive and a 5-1 lead for Rovers.
Credit to K&P Reserves, their heads did not go down and they battled hard, and got a 2nd goal in the 68th minute, a great bit of skill from the No. 9 allowed him to turn and open up the Rovers defence, he ran into the space, and under a great deal of pressure fed the ball out to Landles running down the right flank. He stepped inside and unleashed a shot that found the inside side netting of the far post, a fine move and finish.
After the second goal for K&P, the game was flat for a good 10 minutes, with the teams largely cancelling each other out, before Rovers stepped up their play in the final ten minutes. In the 82nd minute, Telmo fired a long range, dipping shot at goal, that fell to the keeper in an awkward position, causing him a real problem, but he just managed to stop the ball and claim control. In the 83rd minute, a ball into the far post was headed back across goal by Lopes, and with the goal gaping open, and begging for a tap-in, no Rovers attackers had made the run into the box and the chance went begging, frustratingly for Lopes. In the 84th minute, Briviglieiri managed to get off another shot in the box, but unlike the other three, this one was not heading right in the corner, and the goalkeeper got down to make a good save. In the 86th minute, Valter played Briviglieiri down the left wing, he beat his man, squared the ball to Lopes for a simple tap-in, but a horrendous bobble caused the ball to fly up and over Lopes' leg, much to the amusement of the crowd, very unlucky. Rovers closed the game out the strongest, and in the final 10 seconds of the game, hit the post twice, Valter with the first strike, hitting the right post, and Lopes with the second hitting the left post. Luck was not with Rovers in the second half, but nonetheless, they ended the day with an emphatic victory, 3 points and +3 goal difference, so all-in-all, a very good afternoons work for the team.
Overall, that was a very impressive performance from Thetford Rovers, they were able to neutralise K&P Reserves before they even got going, making it an uphill struggle that they could never overcome, and they scored their goals and important times, such as the 4th just before half-time, and immediately after K&P's first. As I have said before, Rovers have an impressive attacking line-up, and this was demonstrated again today, as they romped to their 4th league win in a row. Rovers are now only 3 points off the top spot, and crucially they also have a game in hand, which is an impressive turnaround in comparison to last season and after their opening game defeat at the hands of Easton on the astro-turf. It is a long season, but Rovers are going in the right direction, and long may it continue. UP THE ROVERS!!!
Line-Ups:
THETFORD ROVERS: Callum Hunt, Robbie Molloy, Todd Hutcherson, Samuel Cantley, Arron Joseph (C), Luke Hunt, Claudinei Briviglieiri, Liam Twomey, James Dean, Telmo Rocha, Valter Rocha SUBS: Bruno Tavares, Vladimiro Lopes, Pedro Fortes
KIRKLEY & PAKEFIELD RESERVES (not in number order): Daniel Baker, Liam Bruce, Harry Burgess, Jack Coleman, Saw Gowing, Joshua Harvey, Ryan Howes, Thomas Hutchinson, Jacob Landles, Nathan Lay, Alex Peek. SUBS: Jack Atkinson, Daniel Munro, Louis Tillett
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