5th August 2022
Thetford Town vs Soham Town United @ Mundford Road - Thetford
FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round (both teams Step 5 and in the same league)
19:45 KO
£7 entry
Attendance - 201
Half-time score: Thetford Town 2-1 Soham Town Rangers
Goals:
Soham Town Rangers: Kaye - 17'
Thetford Town: Gilchrist - 19'
Thetford Town: Campbell - 20'
Soham Town Rangers: L Brown - 92'
Final Score: Thetford Town 2-2 Soham Town Rangers
One of the best days of the football season, the beginning of the FA Cup, footballs oldest and best cup competition. Thetford were drawn at home to Soham Town Rangers, a team that Thetford had not played for a while, but are now in the same league having been relegated last season. Despite the relegation, Soham are a strong team with a great set-up, so it was another huge test for the Thetford team. There was a decent sized crowd for the tie, and Thetford put out a changed side from Tuesday with captain Bond back, and youngsters Laker and Davies in the starting line-up. I was looking forward to this game and hoping for a win to trigger an FA Cup run, although whilst it was not going to be easy, the Tuesday night performance against Norwich United gave cause for hope.
As ever, I picked up a matchday programme, a nice FA Cup match day special.
KEY MOMENTS
TT = Thetford Town
STR = Soham Town Rangers
3' - TT - Elliot Smith hooks a clearance forwards, Gilchrist chases the ball, gathers it up and takes it forward, and under-pressure manages a shot at goal from the edge of the area, the ball sailing narrowly wide of the post.
9' - STR - Luke Brown slides the ball into Kaye whose firm strike from outside the area is saved by keeper Tom Smith, getting his body behind the ball to gather the stinging shot.
12' - STR - Soham burst forwards, and Ward has clear sight of goal, he cocks his leg back to shoot, but Cusack covers back well to steal the ball from him just before he fires.
15' - TT - Laker plays a beautiful switch to Cusack on the left wing, he sends in a testing flat hovering ball which flies narrowly past everyone and out.
17' - STR - GOAL (0-1) - Alfie Connor takes a free-kick from a dangerous area down the left-flank, he sends the ball into the 6-yard box and it is bundled into the goal by captain Kaye.
19' - TT - GOAL (1-1) - An excellent pass from youngster Davies finds Cusack flying down the left wing, he bursts through and fires in a left-footed strike that is excellently saved, the rebound is contested by Gilchrist and Alfie Connor with the ball finding its way into the net. It is unclear who it came off of due to the number of bodies scrambling back, but I will give it to Gilchrist.
20' - TT - GOAL (2-1) - A sensational 4 minutes of football sees a third goal, and Thetford's second to take the lead. Campbell leaps high to head down a sloppy pass, he takes the ball forwards and blasts it into the onion bag, clinical.
21' - TT - Campbell goes close again, a ball over the top sees him through, but his dinked effort is just wide.
25' - STR - Ward plays in Watson down the left-hand side of the box, he hits a shot at the near-post and is denied by the keeper with a fine reaction save to palm the ball out for a corner. The subsequent corner is headed towards goal by Kaye, forcing another good save from Tom Smith.
33' - TT - Following a well worked corner, Clarke crosses the ball back into the box, curling towards the far post where 2 Thetford players are there for a tap in, but somehow the ball doesn't find its way past the goal line.
38' - STR - Striker Ward is played through the middle, and as he is about to strike, captain Bond comes in with a brilliant tackle to deny the shot.
44' - TT - Campbell is played through, he shimmies and twists to make room, eventually firing off a shot across the goal, it hits the far-post and rebounds out towards Gilchrist, but from close range he is unable to get the ball out from under his feet, and the scrambling defenders eventually clear, desperate stuff.
45' - TT - Thetford go close again to building a 2-goal lead, Gilchrist displays some wonderful skills, knocking the ball past the defender and turning him inside out, he drives forwards into the box from the right and squares the ball into Campbell who's shot is wonderfully saved by keeper Reynolds, keeping STR in the tie before half-time.
51' - TT - Laker steals the ball in a dangerous position, he runs down the right and sends a ball across the box, with Campbell millimetres away from sliding in at the far post.
52' - TT - It is Laker again who curls in a cross from the right, the ball travels to the far post to meet the on-rushing Campbell, but he has to stretch slightly too far and his effort goes wide.
55' - TT - Cusack pumps a cross into the box, it flies just over Campbell but falls to Gilchrist whose shot across the face of goal is well blocked and out for a corner.
66' - TT - A clearance from Laker from inside the Thetford box falls nicely to Campbell, he wins the battle against the defender and bursts clear through on goal, this time opting to shoot early from outside the box, his effort being saved by Reynolds.
71' - TT - STR keeper Reynolds attempts to head the ball over Gilchrist, but it falls straight to him, but it was somewhat unexpected, and his snap shot is straight back at the keeper.
85' - TT - Elliot Smith releases Campbell down the left, he sends in a cross and substitute Fuller gets a head to the ball, and it looks like it is heading for the top right corner, but flies narrowly wide. In the same minute, Thetford attack through Gilchrist, he sets-up Fuller down the middle, he is through and shoots, but yet another brilliant save from Reynolds denies Thetford yet again.
86' - TT - Gilchrist bursts down the left and squares the ball into Campbell, his effort inside the box is saved, the rebound falls to Fuller but his follow-up is blocked by a defender.
90' - STR - Soham look in, a shot comes in from inside the box but is denied by the diving defender Clarke, Thetford are literally putting bodies on the line to hold on for the win.
92' - STR - GOAL (2-2) - A scrappy passage of play, with fouls galore, opens up the field as the referee waives play-on, Luke Brown takes advantage of this to drive forwards and unleash a belter of a strike from 20 yards out, keeper Tom Smith does well to get a hand to the ball, but regardless it flies into the top right hand corner of the goal to break Thetford hearts.
95' - STR - Soham go really close to snatching a dramatic last ditch winner, a free-kick pumped in by Alfie Connor is headed towards goal by Kaye, but a deflection takes it narrowly over and out for a corner.
Although the finale was hard to take from a Thetford perspective, especially as there were so many chances to put the game to bed, that was a classic FA Cup tie, and what it is all about, fantastic entertainment for only £7! Thetford not only competed against Soham, but looked dangerous and created the better chances, which must be a huge confidence booster to the team. At the death it looked like Soham may have snatched the game, but Thetford now have a chance to right the wrongs of today in the replay fixture at Soham Town Rangers. A big shout to the Thetford defence again, some brave blocks going in all game, and also a special mention to the Soham keeper Harry Reynolds, who undoubtedly kept them in the tie - some heroic stuff! I'm not sure when the replay is, but if it is Tuesday night I already have tickets for the away end at Portman Road to watch Colchester in the Carabao Cup so I wish the lads all the best, and I will be watching keenly, UP THE TOWN!!!
Line-Ups:
THETFORD TOWN: Tom Smith, Sam Bond (C), Matt Morton, Nathan Clarke, Adam Laker, Jake Mann, Santi Davies, Elliot Smith, Andrew Cusack, Dan Gilchrist, Michael Campbell. SUBS: Macauley Rodgers, Artur Visocanskis, Ryan Fuller.
SOHAM TOWN RANGERS: Harry Reynolds, Jordan Chipps, Kai Nicholls, Alfie Connor, Max Mattless, Jordan Gent, Alex Brown, Jon Kaye (C), Oli Ward, Luke Brown, Ed Watson. SUBS: Jake Andrews, Finley Scott, Mark Lovell, Lloyd Groves, Niall Conroy.
Comments