1st August 2023
Ely City vs Thetford Town @ Demcom Stadium - Ely
Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)
19:45 KO
£8 entry
Attendance - 92
Half-time score: Ely City 0-2 Thetford Town
Goals:
Thetford Town: Diggens - 29'
Thetford Town: Laker - 43'
Thetford Town: Gilchrist - 48'
Ely City: Theobald - 71'
Final Score: Ely City 1-3 Thetford Town
Having started the season with a solid away win at Mulbarton Wanderers, next up was another away trip, this time an evening kick-off against Ely City. Thetford Town had a great pre-season, the highlights being two home wins against higher league opposition Bury Town and Wroxham, and playing some incredible football in the process. Whilst Thetford have lost some key players, they have also built up the squad and look stronger with more depth in comparison to last season, bringing in players such as Shaun Avis, Ryan Haylett, Kieran Money, Archie Galley, Dylan Grove and Hugh Cullum. Ely City have also started the season with an away win, at Norwich United, and were to be a much trickier opposition than last season, having strengthened the squad, the most notable being striker Jack Friend.
It was great to see that the printed matchday programme was alive and well in Ely, so I snapped one up for £1.50, and it was quite a substantial one too, nice work!
Before long, both teams were out and ready to play, Ely City in their classic robin red home shirts, and Thetford Town in their new black and white striped away kit, in what was a cool and still evening, on a nicely mown pitch, perfect for a evening of football!
KEY MOMENTS
EC = Ely City
TT = Thetford Town
5' - TT - King, the captain today, deftly chips the ball over the backline to release Money, under the attention of a tracking defender he is unable to get control of the ball initially, but he has a second bite of the cherry and manages a shot from an acute angle, but it was at the keeper, who was able to smother the ball.
17' - TT - Thetford are awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position, after a foul on the edge of the box. King steps up and hits the ball sweetly, it is curling into the right side of the goal, but keeper Key makes a fine dive to deny Thetford the opening goal.
29' - TT - GOAL (0-1) - Thetford finally get the reward for all their pressure, Laker, playing in a more central role, threads the ball through for Diggens to run onto from the right, he shoots and the ball takes a deflection over the keeper and into the goal.
33' - EC - Ely respond immediately, a swift attack sees marquee signing Friend thread through Hales, he powers in a strike from the edge of the box, but Tom Smith is equal to the effort, managing to get a fingertip on the ball to deflect it over for a corner.
43' - TT - GOAL (0-2) - That man again, Laker, he is making a habit of scoring left footed stunners in the new black and white shirt. A period of strong pressure sees Thetford take a quick corner, Laker, finding himself in some rare space tees himself up, and curls in a left footed strike from 25 yards, giving the keeper no chance. I'm really enjoying this from Adam and long may it continue!
45' + 1' - TT - Liquid football from Thetford, Haylett charges forwards and whips a ball in from the right wing, it finds Avis in the box who nods down to see Diggens through on goal, but his effort is blazed over. Real shame that one did not go in, would have been a fantastic team goal.
48' - TT - GOAL (0-3) - At half time, Gilchrist replaces Grove, who had a great game down the left wing, but it does not take him long to get involved in the game. A sweeping move from Thetford sees them move the ball out wide swiftly with some neat one touch passing, Haylett gets the half yard on the defence down the right wing and smashes a low fizzing ball into the box, to be met by the fresh Gilchrist who knocks the ball home from close range, an important goal to stem any potential Ely comeback.
58' - TT - Yet more intense Thetford pressure results in a loose ball flying out from the box, the pitch opens up for Galley who has a go from 25 yards, the ball is struck perfectly and whistles past the keeper, crashing into the crossbar, down and out, with the linesman indicating that it did not cross the line. It must have been damn close from my perspective.
66' - TT - A fantastic ball from King sends Laker down the left wing, he charges forwards then returns the favour, squaring the ball back to King, he lets the ball run past him, turns then shoots from 20 yards, it is hit well but fizzes just over the bar.
71' - EC - GOAL (1-3) - Ely launch a late comeback. A rare break into the Thetford box results in a free-kick from a dangerous area. Captain Jenkins steps up to take the set-piece, his effort loops up and down, forcing Tom Smith to dive down low to his right, he is unable to maintain full control of the ball and substitute Theobald is in position to react first as he turns the ball into the net.
85' - EC - From another swift Ely attack, captain Jenkins has a go from outside of the box, the shot is curving away from the keeper, but Tom Smith is able to get across to palm it away to safety.
91' - EC - Another late swift attack sees the ball crossed in from the right, this one finally finds Friend in the box at the far post, but Tom Smith closes down the space fast and is able to get in the way of the strike and smother the ball, great bit of keeping.
Despite the score, Ely City certainly made Thetford Town work for those points, and a strong end to the game did make it a little nervy. However, overall, Thetford were clearly the better team, and put in yet another strong and dominant performance as Ely were forced to play 9-man defence for the majority of the game. The win means two away wins out of two for Thetford Town, against two decent sides, a fine start to the season indeed. Ely City looked dangerous at times today, especially at the end, and for periods at the start of the game when Ben Smith was getting in down the right, they certainly look a better side this season and I wish them all the best, always a great club to visit. Next up for Thetford Town is a Friday night home FA Cup tie against Newmarket Town, having watched them in pre-season, this is sure to be one hell of a game, UP THE TOWN!!!
Line-Ups:
ELY CITY: Tyler Key, Ben Smith, Aaron Hamer, Jake Sulman, Lewis Besley, Brett Wyman, Josh Townshend, Louis Jenkins (C), Jack Friend, Josh Hales, Marcel Rzeszutek. SUBS: Alex Theobald, Joe Brannan, Phil Turner, Harry Farrow, Jevan Cook.
THETFORD TOWN: Tom Smith, Ryan Haylett, Archie Galley, Hugh Cullum, Dylan Grove, Kieran Money, Jake Mann, Cameron King (C), Adam Laker, George Diggens, Shaun Avis. SUBS: Ryan Fuller, Sam Bond, Dan Gilchrist, Malachi Wright, Macauley Rodgers.
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