21st September 2021
Lakenheath vs Swaffham Town @ The Nest - Lakenheath
Thurlow Nunn Premier League (Step 5)
19:45 KO
£7 entry
Attendance - 71
Half-time score: Lakenheath 1-0 Swaffham Town
Goals:
Lakenheath: Thulborn - 17'
Lakenheath: Hawley - 54'
Lakenheath: Morris - 73'
Leigh Simons has footage of each goal, see links below:
Final Score: Lakenheath 3-0 Swaffham Town
I made the short trip up to Lakenheath for their mid-week home game against local opposition in Swaffham Town. On the face of it, this looked to be 3 points in the bag for Lakenheath, with Swaffham taking some heavy defeats to the likes of Woodbridge Town, March Town United and Long Melford, and with Lakenheath themselves thrashing early front runners Newmarket Town 6-0 away from home, so many were expecting a lot of goals. The Lakenheath players had to be careful to not get too complacent, or let the pressure get to them, but they have a lot of experienced players at this level, such as new signing Ross Bailey from Thetford Town, to make sure that this does not happen. Even in the short time since I was last at The Nest, there have been further upgrades to the ground with a path around the perimeter of the ground, and the new stand taking shape. I think every time I come back there is something new, which is great to see, and the playing surface was excellent, as I have come to expect here.
True to form, from the outset, Lakenheath dominated the possession and territory, and Swaffham were set up defensively, but looking to counter when possible. The final third was very congested, and getting through was going to be tricky for Lakenheath, and many of the better chances came through set-pieces. In the 5th minute, Peters whipped a corner into the near-post that was going in, but was punched clear by goalkeeper Sayer and out for a corner. In the resultant corner, Peters again sent the ball to the near-post area, and striker Avis managed to head the ball but his effort went wide. In the 8th minute, another corner ball was sent in, it was hit high into the air by a Swaffham defender, and Grogan managed to get to the second ball first, but his header hit the crossbar.
Lakenheath finally broke through in the 17th minute, unsurprisingly from a corner. Peters sent another ball into the near post that was cleared by a defender, but into the path of Thulborn who was able to strike home from close range. There were shouts of handball from the Swaffham defenders but the goal was quickly given by the referee.
After the goal, the pattern of the game did not change, and Lakenheath were getting a lot of set pieces. In the 22nd minute, a Castellan corner was met by a close range Grogan header that somehow went over, but there was contact on the way so another corner was given. Peters took this one from the opposite corner, with Grogan getting into position for a free header, but his effort went wide.
In the 26th minute, Swaffham had a rare chance, a loose pass was cut out and a good ball was pinged over for striker Stangroom to chase and he managed to get off a looping shot that had goalkeeper Beckwith beaten, but it hit the crossbar and out, a let off for Lakenheath. Following this, Lakenheath toiled to get a second goal, with the best chance coming in the 30th minute, another Peters corner was sent in, Avis headed a looping ball to the far post, but it was cleared off the line by a defender. In the 45th minute, Swaffham had another rare chance with a snap shot on goal from a very tight angle that Beckwith was equal too.
After half-time, Swaffham had a good two minute spell with some good possession and territory, but after this, normal service resumed. More corners rained in from Peters, with the balls being headed over or cleared. However, in the 54th minute, following another corner, Lakenheath recycled the ball and attacked the Swaffham goal. After a series of passes and play down the left, the ball found Walters in the centre, he passed to Peters on the left hand side of the box, and he saw Hawley running in from the left so he pushed the ball into his path and captain Hawley slotted the ball home to give Lakenheath the all important 2 goal cushion.
Lakenheath nearly followed up quickly with another goal in the 57th minute, Walters received the ball with his back to goal, and having plenty of space and time, he turned and picked out a pinpoint pass to Avis, who first time flicked the ball out to Thulborn running in from the right, he was 1-on-1 with the keeper and looked certain to score, but agonisingly dragged his shot wide.
Swaffham replied by nearly pulling a goal back in the 60th minute. B. Yates sent a corner in that was headed back to him by Rahma, he took a touch and from the left side near edge of box sent a beautifully struck shot curling into the far top corner of the goal, that would have gone in if it were not for a fine fingertip save from Beckwith.
Following this, Lakenheath continued to press Swaffham hard, in the 63rd minute, a Peters cross from the left flank fell to Enaro on the other side, he managed to get off a shot but it was blocked. In the 65th minute, a low ball in from Peters bounced after contact off a defender into the path of Avis, who was completely open, but uncharacteristically, his shot went over, he usually puts chances like that away. In the 70th minute, another chance went begging, a Bailey cross was headed over by Castellan.
Having peppered the Swaffham goal, Lakenheath finally got their third in the 73rd minute. Avis was working the ball in the box, was tackled but substitute Morris managed to get in front of defender that the ball was heading towards, steal the ball, turn, and shoot into the bottom right corner, a great opportunistic and clinical bit of play. After the third goal, Swaffham did not really challenge the Lakenheath goal, and Lakenheath continued to press but Swaffham were to resolute and Lakenheath laboured, unable to create any more good chances of note, and with that, Lakenheath took the win and all three points, moving them up to 9th in the table.
Despite getting a win, a three goal margin and a clean sheet, I imagine that some of the Lakenheath players will feel disappointed as their overall performance and domination should have yielded more goals. Ultimately, I think a combination of resolute and frustrating play from Swaffham, and Lakenheath trying too hard to score a hatful of goals, ultimately led to a lot of missed chances and wasted opportunities. Games like this are challenging as everyone expects a big score, so getting mentally up for the game can be difficult, but ultimately Lakenheath were able to achieve all their objectives and did not make any silly mistakes at the back, so all-in-all, a good day at the office. Looking at Swaffham, they put in a brave defensive performance, and frustrated Lakenheath for large portions of the game, and it has to be said that they had 2 very good chances of their own, so perhaps deserved a goal. I am also glad to see that they did not get thumped again as seeing a team struggling is not nice. However, despite the tenacious performance, as Swaffham struggled to compete, the game was rather dull for large parts.
I am not sure when I will be next at The Nest, so I wish Lakenheath all the best with their next few fixtures, UP THE HEATH!!
Line-Ups:
LAKENHEATH: Charlie Beckwith, Lee Hammond, Sam Peters, Sam Hawley (C), Dean Grogan, Tom Walters, Kelvin Enaro, Ross Bailey, Shaun Avis, Nick Castellan, Tom Thulborn SUBS: Reece Clarke, Alex McIntosh, Brandon Morris, Casey Underwood, Teddy Webber
SWAFFHAM TOWN: Matt Sayer, Fin Yates, Charlie Lambe, Jordan Turner, Josh Malin, Jack Johnson, Josh Parry, David Weaver-Pope (C), Blake Stangroome, Brad Yates, Luke Middleton SUBS: Sary Rahma, Liam Exley, Tom McDermott, James Karanicolas, Jack Minister
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