27th February 2024
Thetford Town vs Lakenheath @ Mundford Road - Thetford
Eastern Counties Challenge Cup - Quarter Final (both teams Step 5)
19:45 KO
£8 entry
Attendance - 110
Half-time score: Thetford Town 0-0 Lakenheath
Goals:
Lakenheath: Jamie A. Smith - 50'
Thetford Town: Money - 60'
Lakenheath: Nicholls - 82'
Final Score: Thetford Town 1-2 Lakenheath
Third time lucky with this one, having already tried twice to get this game on at Lakenheath, each time called off as a result of the recent heavy rain. With this, the fixture was reversed, but with Thetford's recent poor home form on a Tuesday night, the jury was out on whether this was positive or not, but hey, at least we got a game on to see! This game pitted last year winners, Lakenheath, who in a popular victory beat league winners Ipswich Wanderers on penalties, against local rivals Thetford Town, with the winners due to host Downham Town in the semi-final. Thetford Town got the better of Lakenheath last time they met, winning 5-1 at The Nest, however, if it were not for some heroics between the sticks by Tom Smith it would have been a lot closer. Lakenheath always seem to do well in cup competitions, so it was set-up to be a closely fought game.
Centre-back Hugh Cullum was on the front cover of tonight's Barnes Print programme.
It was a bit of a chilly evening, and despite the forecast predicting no rain, the first 20mins were played under a heavy drizzle, it never stops at the moment! The pitch looked immaculate regardless and Thetford Town came out in their home claret and blue, with Lakenheath in their away white shirts.
KEY MOMENTS
TT = Thetford Town
LH = Lakenheath
7' - LH - Young steals the ball in a deep position, battles hard to secure possession then squares to Nicholls, a brilliant recovery sliding tackle from Money prevents the shot, but the referee gives a free-kick, and even more puzzling no card, so was it a foul or not? In any case, Young blazes over his effort.
12' - TT - A well weighted ball is skimmed into the box, Haylett is chasing it, gets to it first but is body slammed by Taylor inside the box, it looks a surefire penalty from my position, but the referee deems it to be acceptable.
43'- LH - Collins has a crack from 25yards out, his low driven effort causes Tom Smith to fumble initially, but under no pressure he collects the loose ball.
50' - LH - GOAL (0-1) - Lakenheath break through early in the second half courtesy of a Thetford defensive error. A weak header back from Haylett is pounced on by Jamie A. Smith, he beats Jaydyn Lott to the ball, who goes down heavily as he tries to recover, then through on goal he makes no mistake to slot the ball into the net, neat finish. Jaydyn stays down and sadly has to be stretchered off, we hope it is nothing too serious but it didn't look promising sadly. Fuller comes on to replace him.
60' - TT - GOAL (1-1) - A swift attack sees Olpin drive forwards from deep, he finds Laker on the left wing who manages to get the cross in, it flies through to the back-post and bounces, where it is picked up his fellow wingback Haylett. Haylett drives the ball back into the danger area, it takes a wild deflection and falls to Money just inside the box who swings his boot and buries it, great finish to get Thetford back level!
62' - LH - Another iffy decision sees Thetford Town concede a free-kick deep in their territory. The ball is pumped in, the deflection finds Jamie R. Smith at the far-post who finds himself in space, but slices his effort wide.
67' - TT - A quick goal kick is launched up the field by Tom Smith, King is onto it and a poor touch from the defender sees him on, the two centre-backs scramble well to prevent him getting off the shot, he checks back and goes again, eventually electing to chip the ball towards goal seeing Bilham off his line, but the ball drops into the top of the net.
73' - LH - Jamie A. Smith attacks down the right side, he squares to his strike partner, the similarly named Jamie R. Smith, and inside the box he checks back, the space opens up in front of him and he shoots, it looks a sure fire goal but Money comes out of nowhere to make a sliding block, heroic stuff from the midfielder.
75' - TT - RED CARD - Substitute Fuller goes on a run through the centre-circle, as he loses control of the ball, he lunges and connects with Collins. It is a certain yellow card, but somehow the referee dishes out a red card, baffling seeing as some rough challenges in the first half went completely unpunished, with not even fouls awarded....With Thetford down to 10-men for the rest of the game, the pressure was on.
76' - TT - Thetford respond well and launch an attack down the left through Olpin, he is unceremoniously yanked back by Manels, with two hands, but the referee waves play-on, beggars belief!
82' - LH - GOAL (1-2) - As sure as night becomes day, the 2nd Lakenheath goal goes in. Lakenheath are awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box due to a shove from Laker (referee spotted that foul of course). Mair curls the ball to the top left, Tom Smith tries to claim the ball but kind of pats it down and the pacey Nicholls is first to it and slams it into the open net.
93' - TT - The 10-men of Thetford give it their all as they desperately try to take the game to penalties. Haylett marauds along the edge of the box and manages to fire in a stinging strike, a looping deflection keeping Bilham on his toes as it travels just over the bar for a corner.
94' - TT - Thetford look to have equalised, Haylett slips in King down the right side of the box, he shoots, but keeper Bilham gets across well to make a huge block, the ball going out for another corner. And this would prove to be their final chance as they sadly bow out of their final competition this season.
I really hate talking about referees, especially at this level, but I cannot ignore that. A incredibly poor performance overshadowed a much anticipated quarter-final, a real shame. Whilst I don't expect perfect refereeing, anything but at this level, I want consistency, and this was sadly lacking. For similar incidents, Thetford were conceding fouls and receiving cards, with the game waved on when committed by Lakenheath, it was wildly infuriating and culminated in a soft red card in the context of the game, where a nasty hack on Elliot received nothing and a near certain penalty for Thetford Town was totally ignored. The sad thing is, this takes the focus off what was a big cup win for Lakenheath, they really do know how to win cup games! They created few chances but took the ones that mattered as they march onto the semi-finals against Downham Town. I wish them the best of luck and hope to see them in another final, a thoroughly likeable and decent local club. My thoughts also go out to young Jaydyn Lott who was stretchered off, he has played brilliantly at the back this season and looks a strong one for the future, I hope the injury is not as bad as initially feared. Another cup defeat on a Tuesday night feels like deja vu, I propose we move Tuesday night games to Wednesday, we have to try something at least lol. Only the league left now for The Brecklanders, with every game and every point vital, next up a Saturday home game against Brantham Athletic in a couple of weeks, one last push to get behind the boys, we know they have the talent, UP THE TOWN!!!
Line-Ups:
THETFORD TOWN: Tom Smith, Ryan Haylett, Hugh Cullum, Jaydyn Lott, Adam Laker, Kieran Money, Jake Mann, Elliot Smith (C), Callum Olpin, Shaun Avis, Cameron King. SUBS: Dan Gilchrist, Ryan Fuller, George Diggens, Dylan Grove, Malachi Wright.
LAKENHEATH: Ross Bilham, Kaine Manels, Lewis Mair, Ross Bailey (C), Karl Saffery, Ryan Taylor, Cameron Nicholls, Matt Collins, Jamie R. Smith, Jamie A. Smith, Luke Young. SUBS: Dan Stobbart, Luke Bailey, George Edwards, Jake Stephenson.
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