27th July 2024
Brantham Athletic vs Thetford Town @ Brantham Leisure Centre
Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)
15:00 KO
£10 entry
Attendance - 92
Half-time score: Brantham Athletic 0-1 Thetford Town
Goals:
Thetford Town: Diggens - 9'
Thetford Town: Gilchrist - 78' (P)
Final Score: Brantham Athletic 0-2 Thetford Town
And so it begins, another football season commences for the 141 year old Thetford Town FC. Thetford have come painfully close to promotion for the last two seasons, so will it be 3rd time lucky? I certainly hope so, and with the majority of the squad maintained, and some bright performances from the youngsters in the pre-season, I see no reason why they should not be challenging again. This seasons sees Stowmarket Town, Great Yarmouth Town and Cornard United all joining the league, and a lot of the other teams have strengthened over the Summer, setting things up nicely for an exciting 9 months of football.
Thetford's first game saw them travel almost as far as they can in this league, all the way down to the Suffolk-Essex border, on the shore of the River Stour, to face the ever-present Brantham Athletic. After their disappointing season, they were sure to be fired up for this one.
Entry at the turnstile was £10, I think that is the first time I have paid double figures at this level, with an extra £1 for the decent printed programme.
It was a gloriously sunny day, but thankfully not overly hot, and onto the nicely tended pitch, hosts Brantham Athletic lined up in navy blue, with Thetford Town in their smart looking new claret and blue shirts.
KEY MOMENTS
BA = Brantham Athletic
TT = Thetford Town
3' - TT - Jake Mann threads a beautfully weighted ball through the middle for Diggens to run onto, he bounds into the box and shoots across keeper Avenell, who gets down well to get enough on the ball to push it out for a corner.
6' - TT - This time Laker threads through the free-running Diggens, but is called offside by the linesman. I was in-line and he looked on to me, just a really intelligent run from Diggens, real shame.
9' - TT - GOAL (0-1) - Diggens finally gets his well deserved opener, captain Bond wins the ball and find Gilchrist who immediately chips a neat ball over the backline, Diggens latches onto it and slots it into the bottom corner, with Avenell's feint touch not enough to prevent the ball nestling into the onion bag. Fast start from Thetford!
16' - TT - A really slick move from Thetford, King goes on a mazy run through the middle and finds Diggens in the box, the ball is pushed out to the left wing to find Mann who squares the ball in towards the penalty spot, where Gilchrist's snap shot forces a good reaction save from Avenell.
18' - TT - King finds Gilchrist on the left, he cuts the ball back across the box to Diggens cutting in from the right, in space he tries an audacious chip using the outside of his boot and it nearly pays off dropping onto the top of the net just behind the bar, certainly gave the keeper a scare!
28' - BA - Brantham find Morley-Robertson completely open down the left, he cuts in and powers in a stinging shot at the near post, but Tom Smith is equal to the effort, bit of a let off for Thetford Town.
47' - TT - Storming run by Grove down the left, he shuffles the ball into Gilchrist who lays it across to find Jake Mann on the run, his first time strike forces another good reaction save from Avenell from close range, unlucky.
61' - TT - King scoots in a daisy cutter of a strike from 20 yards out, Avenell dives and is at full stretch to push the ball wide, Diggens recycles the ball, finds Grove who crosses in a deep ball, captain Bond gets to it first and fires it back into the mixer where Elliot Smith shoots straight at Avenell, Thetford doing everything but finding the net there!
78' - TT - PENALTY & GOAL (0-2) - A ball is chipped into the box, where the arm of Billy Wales prevents the Thetford runner latching onto the ball, causing the referee to point straight to the spot. Dan Gilchrist steps up and dispatches his penalty clinically, sending Avenell the wrong well and tucking the ball into the bottom right corner, Thetford finally with the all important two goal cushion.
95' - BA - Deep in stoppage time, Brantham barrage the Thetford goal, a long range drive is powered in by Marshall, Tom Smith dives to push the ball wide and manages to get up in time to block the follow-up strike from James Lee at his near post to concede the corner.
97' - BA - In the death, Brantham go close again through James Lee, his powerful effort forcing Tom Smith to make another tricky stop.
A fantastic start to the 24/25 season for Thetford Town, securing a good away win and a clean sheet against tenacious opposition. Thetford had spells of brilliantly fluid football, and were it not for a fine performance from Brantham goalie and captain Avenell, there could have been a couple more on the scoresheet. Brantham certainly had their chances, and broke through several times, but their efforts were mostly wayward and blasted far over the target, had their shooting boots been on it would have certainly forced keeper Tom Smith to work harder. Early days, but a lot of positives to build on with strong performances across the field, with Diggens particularly looking sharp and pacey. Big test next for Thetford Town as they host newly promoted Great Yarmouth Town on Tuesday evening, with the visitors sure to bring a lot of fans as well as the famous Amber Wave, should be a good one, UP THE TOWN!!!
Line-Ups:
BRANTHAM ATHLETIC: Luke Avenell (C), Keelan Milburn, Leo Morley-Robertson, Jack Clampin, Jack Sibbons, Billy Wales, Adam Wrathall, Jack Marshall, Callum Griffith, James Lee, Joe Heron. SUBS: Tom Lawson, Louie Bloom, Kyle Ferguson, Nathan Hammond, Rob Weller.
THETFORD TOWN: Tom Smith, Adam Laker, Dylan Grove, Kieran Money, Sam Bond (C), Jaydyn Lott, Jake Mann, Elliot Smith, Cameron King, Dan Gilchrist, George Diggens. SUBS: Callum Olpin, Liam Levy-Twomey, Santi Davies, Malachi Wright, Ryan Dickerson.
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