28th November 2023
Thetford Town vs Aylsham @ Mundford Road - Thetford
Norfolk Senior Cup - Second Round (Step 5 vs Step 7)
19:45 KO
£8 entry
Attendance - TBA
Half-time score: Thetford Town 3-2 Aylsham
Goals:
Aylsham: Lambe - 6'
Thetford Town: Fuller - 40'
Aylsham: Malin - 41'
Thetford Town: King - 43', 45'+1'
Thetford Town: Diggens - 66'
Thetford Town: Kirk - 73', 77'
Thetford Town: Fuller - 93'
Final Score: Thetford Town 7-2 Aylsham
Second attempt at this game, as it was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch the first time round. Thetford Town enter the second round of the prestigious Norfolk Senior Cup hosting Anglian Combination Premier side Aylsham, two divisions below Thetford Town. Despite the gap, it was not going to be an easy game, there is plenty of quality in the Anglian Combination, and Thetford Town were reeling after a big defeat at Downham Town on the weekend.
Tonight's Barnes Print programme had Haylett and Money on the front cover.
It was a cold evening dropping close to zero, but with no breeze in the air, surprisingly manageable, I was expecting a lot worse. Into the frigid evening, Thetford Town came out in their home claret and blue, with Aylsham in a fluorescent orange and blue kit.
KEY MOMENTS
TT = Thetford Town
AY = Aylsham
6' - AY - GOAL (0-1) - Tom Smith collects a bouncing ball on the edge of the box and is pushed out by the oncoming Aylsham forward. The referee inexplicably awards a free-kick and the No. 10 steps up to curl the ball into the far side of the goal, and despite the dubious nature of it, the effort itself was a quality hit to stun the hosts.
8' - TT - Thetford win a free-kick out on the right. The ball is sent in and bobbles about, Olpin clears up and takes a touch towards goal, but his following effort from point-blank range is straight at the keeper.
14' - TT - Fuller goes on a marauding run down the left, he squares the ball back to Diggens whose effort is deflected wide for a corner.
15' - TT - A short corner is taken between captain King and Gilchrist, King drives in and lashes in a stinging strike at the near post, and it is blocked by the keeper, not sure how much he knew about that one!
23' - TT - A commanding header from Jaydyn Lott releases Haylett down the right, he beats his man and finds the captain in the box, as he skips round challenges to make room for a strike, King is taken out, but only a corner is awarded.
27' - AY - A bit of trouble at the back from Thetford, the No.9 intercepts Cullum's clearance but it flies out wide of the post to spare the hosts blushes.
28' - TT - A ball is whipped into the box by Grove, at the far-post Olpin heads the ball back into the mixer, Diggens stretches for it but is just short of making contact.
34' - TT - From a throw-in, Gilchrist hooks the ball forwards and Diggens latches onto it and beating the offside trap to be through on goal, but he is unable to compose himself and his tame effort is straight at the scrambling keeper.
37' - TT - Gilchrist plays a neat 1-2 with King inside the box, he strokes the ball towards goal, beating the keeper, but his effort is swept off the line by a covering defender.
40' - TT - GOAL (1-1) - Thetford finally break the deadlock, Gilchrist finds Fuller in the box who controls the ball, turns and rifles his left-footed strike into the bottom left corner, great hit from the big man!
41' - AY - GOAL (1-2) - Aylsham strike back immediately! A long ball is pumped in, the clearance is intercepted by the No.11 and it pings off him and into the net, beyond the reach of Tom Smith, stunned silence in the ground...
43' - TT - GOAL (2-2) - Thankfully, Thetford respond quickly, a venomous strike from captain King across the face of goal is palmed by the keeper, but there is too much on it and the ball continues its path of travel into the net, difficult to save those!
45'+1' - TT - GOAL (3-2) - A powerful defensive header from Fuller falls to Gilchrist and he surges down the left, he shoots at the near-post, the keeper makes a stop but King turns in the rebound to put Thetford into the lead just before the break.
66' - TT - GOAL (4-2) - A tight start to the second-half, both teams sensing the next goal will be important, but it is Thetford who eventually strike first. Haylett goes on a trademark run down the right, he lays the ball back to Diggens who controls the ball and slots it into the bottom right corner, to give Thetford an important 2-goal lead.
68' - TT - King threads in Diggens, he connects well with the ball from the edge of the area, but his stinging effort is just wide of the upright.
73' - TT - GOAL (5-2) - Two substitutes link up well, Laker whips in a perfect ball from the left-wing, and at the far post it is met by the onrushing Dylan Kirk who smashes it home from close range, emphatic!
77' - TT - GOAL (6-2) - Thetford put the game beyond all doubt, they break quickly through Olpin, he shuffles the ball out to the right to find Kirk whose clean strike creeps in low to the keepers left, tight to the upright.
81'- TT - From a free-kick, the ball ping about the box and falls perfectly to Jaydyn Lott, but he cannot keep his effort down and it flies over the bar.
89' - TT - From a King corner, the ball skims off the head of Cullum and falls nicely to Laker on the far side, who cleanly volleys the ball, his effort marginally wide of the near-post.
90' - TT - Fuller finds Laker entering the box from the left, he controls the ball, steps past the defender and cracks off a shot towards the near-post, forcing the keeper to make a good save.
93' - TT - GOAL (7-2) - The cherry on top for Thetford, King goes on a classic jinking run through the box and gets off a strike at the near-post, the keeper makes a decent save, but it falls to club captain Bond whose effort flies in off Fuller. I think we have to give that one to the big man who opened up the scoring today as it was a big deflection, but not sure how much he knew about that one!
Firstly, fair play to Aylsham, who we must remember are an amateur side. They went toe-to-toe with Thetford Town in the first half, and held on to a lead for over half an hour, and even struck back immediately after Thetford equalised, it was a brilliant performance. As the quality of the higher level side eventually shone through, their heads did not go down and they were attacking to the end, for which I applaud them. For Thetford, a convincing win in the end, but they were made to work for it, and a few defensive frailties cropped up again. However, it would have been a confidence booster for the players who scored, and would have gone a long way towards shaking off any remaining cobwebs after the recent long gap between games. Special mention to Ryan Fuller who proved his worth again, scoring the opener for Thetford and playing both centre-back and centre-forward as the game progressed, and King as captain was class as ever. The win sets-up another home tie in the 3rd round of the competition against a Diss Town team performing well in the division below, so a good local derby to look forward to in January. I will sadly miss the next game, a home fixture against Brantham Athletic, but I hope Thetford can get back to winning ways in the league, UP THE TOWN!!!
Line-Ups:
THETFORD TOWN: Tom Smith, Ryan Haylett, Hugh Cullum, Ryan Fuller, Jaydyn Lott, Dylan Grove, Kieran Money, Cameron King (C), Callum Olpin, Dan Gilchrist, George Diggens. SUBS: Adam Laker, Dylan Kirk, Sam Bond, Jake Mann, Shaun Avis.
AYLSHAM (alphabetical order): Charlie Abbs, Kyle Armstrong, Ronnie Blois, Stuart Boam, Andrius Bonkas, Jake Bonner, Charlie Lambe, Josh Malin, Toby Oliver, Philip Read, Bailey Roger. SUBS: Leo Armstrong, Jordan Kenny, Joe Pinches.
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