1st October 2022
Thetford Rovers vs Wymondham Town @ Euston Park - Euston, nr. Thetford
Norfolk Senior Cup First Round (both teams Step 8/Tier 12)
14:30 KO
Free entry
Attendance - approx. 40
Half-time score: Thetford Rovers 0-0 Wymondham Town
Goals:
Thetford Rovers: Vickers - 48'
Wymondham Town: No. 10 - 85'
Final Score: Thetford Rovers 1-1 Wymondham Town (Wymondham Town win 4-3 on penalties)
With the games coming in thick and fast at the start of this season, I have been unable to get to see any Anglian Combination teams so far, but with the Thetford Town game moved to a Friday night, the opportunity was there to go see one of them one. Even better, this weekend marks the start of the Norfolk Senior Cup, one of my favourite competitions of the year, and the pick of the fixtures for me was Thetford Rovers home tie against Wymondham Town. Since I was last at Thetford Rovers, the management has changed from Bruno Tavares, now managing Mundford, to ex-Thetford Town manager Danny White, via Norwich CBS. The core of the team is similar, with some new additions I know such as Harry Hutt and Bradley Sandell, and others I don't, so I was looking forward to seeing the new team in action. With the downpours of the night before, I was expecting a muddy pitch, so I wore my work boots in anticipation, but it was surprisingly dry!
Thetford Rovers came out in red, with Wymondham Town in navy for this Norfolk Cup clash.
KEY MOMENTS
TR = Thetford Rovers
WT = Wymondham Town
1' - TR - Sandell crosses the ball into Levy-Twomey at the far-post, seeing keeper Lemmon rushing in he slips the ball out to Vickers, but his strike is smothered by the keeper.
5' - TR - Molloy crosses the ball in and it finds player-manager Danny White, he moves across the box and fires in a shot which forces a good save from Lemmon. Wymondham counter-attack quickly, where captain Propustins brings down the Wymondham No. 8 in the box, his attempt at kicking the ball missing the mark and finding the man instead.
6' - WT - PEN - Dunthorne-McInerney steps up to take the penalty, it is hit hard, but too high, crashing into the crossbar and out.
10' - WT - Rovers lose the ball in a dangerous position and the ball is played through to Dunthorne-McInerney, under close attention of two defenders, he manages to turn both and hit an excellent shot which forces a brilliant diving save from Callum Hunt to push the ball all the way out for a throw-in.
19' - WT - A swift attack ends with a powerful strike from the dangerous Dunthorne-McInerney at the edge of the box, it looked to be in but flew into the wrong side of the netting. Moments later, a cross from Dunthorne-McInerney is met with a diving header which forced another great save from Callum Hunt, pushing the ball out for a corner.
32' - TR - Levy-Twomey pings a ball into the box, the Wymondham defence allows the ball to bounce and Vickers latches on to the end of it at the far-post, he turns and volleys but only makes light contact, resulting in a simple save for Lemmon.
46' - TR - Rovers come of the blocks quickly again, almost scoring in the first minute of the 2nd half, striker Buhlemann hits a ball in towards goal, Lemmon spills it and it falls to Sandell at the far-post whose effort is wide, whilst it looked a tap-in, there was the suggestion that he was pulled back by a defender to unbalance him.
48' - TR - GOAL (1-0) - Hutt finds player-manager Danny White down the right flank, he squares the ball into Vickers who bundles the ball in from close range to put Theford Rovers 1-0 up.
64' - WT - Following a corner, the ball falls to the substitute Daniel Owusu Adu, he lets rip from the edge of the area, forcing Callum Hunt to make the save of the afternoon, an incredible dive to get a hand to the ball and push it out safely for a corner.
78' - TR - A Sandell free-kick is headed forwards, sending Levy-Twomey free on goal, he tries a flicked volley on the bouncing ball, but it was a tricky one and his effort flies over the bar.
85' - WT - GOAL (1-1) - Following a dubious call to play-on from the referee, from what looked a clear foul on Levy-Twomey in the middle of the park, Dunthorne-McInerney is threaded through and he slots the ball in across the face of the goal, making amends for his earlier penalty miss.
88' - TR - Rovers respond, and from a corner the ball falls to Vickers at the edge of the area, his strike is headed clear a couple of yards from the goal-line by a defender, up and over the bar and out for a corner.
90' - WT - The No. 4 crosses the ball into Dunthorne-McInerney coming in from the left, in a similar position to where he scored, but this time his shot flashes wide of the far post.
PENALTY SHOOT-OUT
TR - Callum Hunt - MISS (0-0) - goes down the middle, keeper dives but gets a leg on the ball to send it over the bar.
WT - No. 7 - MISS (0-0) - diving save to keepers left.
TR - Robbie Molloy - GOAL (1-0) - low to keepers left.
WT - No. 6 - GOAL (1-1) - low to keepers right.
TR - Todd Hutcherson - GOAL (2-1) - low to keepers right.
WT - Dunthorne-McInerney - GOAL (2-2) - low to keepers right.
TR - Steven Davies - GOAL (3-2) - low to keepers right, feint touch but goes in.
WT - No. 9 - GOAL (3-3) - smashed in.
TR - Jamie Smith - MISS (3-3) - Perfect height for Lemmon who dives to his left to save.
WT - No. 15 - GOAL (3-4) - Slotted in past keepers right.
WYMONDHAM WIN 4-3 ON PENALTIES
That was a good competitive game of football between two evenly matched teams, and had either had been more clinical, either could have won the game in regular time. Instead the game went to penalties, my first shoot out for a long time, with Wymondham edging it on the final penalty. Overall I do think Rovers were the better team, but Wymondham had the best player on the pitch, all the best chances came through Dunthorne-McInerney, he looked a really handy player and was a threat all game, certainly deserving of his goal. The result does mean that Thetford Rovers are out of the Norfolk Cup, thus ruling out any chance of meeting Thetford Town in later rounds, something I would have enjoyed seeing, but alas it was not to be. I enjoy coming to Euston Park, and will be back again when fixtures allow. Until next time, I wish Thetford Rovers and Danny White all the best for the season.
Line-Ups:
THETFORD ROVERS: Callum Hunt, Robbie Molloy, Luke Hunt, Harry Hutt, Mihail Propustins (C), Todd Hutcherson, Bradley Sandell, Danny White, James Buhlemann, Liam Levy-Twomey, Taylor Vickers. SUBS: Jamie Smith, Steven Davies.
WYMONDHAM TOWN: Harley Lemmon, Lewis Dugdale, Charlton Halliday, Cadan Hill, Dion Hill, Leo Hughes, Lucas Kent, Brad Rivett, Marcus Dunthorne-McInerney, Calum Webb. SUBS: Max Dunderdale, Tom Nurse, Daniel Owusu Adu.
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