17th September 2022
Newmarket Town vs Thetford Town @ Tristel Stadium - Newmarket
Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)
15:00 KO
£8 entry
Attendance - 70
Half-time score: Newmarket Town 1-3 Thetford Town
Goals:
Thetford Town: Gilchrist - 9'
Newmarket Town: Seymour - 33'
Thetford Town: Machaya - 38', 43
Thetford Town: King - 93'
Leigh Simons recorded the goals, see the links below:
Final Score: Newmarket Town 1-4 Thetford Town
It was only a few months ago, at the end of last season, that I was at The Tristel Stadium watching Thetford Town, although the circumstances then were very different. Thetford were fighting a relegation battle, and after a poor first half looked certain to be travelling back up the A11 with 0 points. However, a much improved 2nd half from Thetford saw them turn things around for a famous 2-1 victory, with Clarke scoring a memorable winner from inside the box in what was my favourite moment from last season, with the win seemingly triggering a period of good form. This time round the roles have almost been reversed, with Thetford sitting 3rd in the table, with Newmarket currently mid-table in 12th, but despite this, Newmarket is always a difficult place to travel to, as well as one of my favourite grounds in the league, so I was expecting another hard fought game on the artificial pitch.
As always, I picked up a match-day programme, an absolute bargain for £1, with 40 full-colour glossy pages - in my book the best programmes in the league printed by Newprint Ltd, with quality that would not look out of place in the EFL.
I got a nice cold pint in the club house and sat in the top row of the stand ready for todays game. Once the players were out, with both teams in their home colours (Newmarket in yellow and Thetford in claret & blue), the players assembled around the centre circle for the tribute to the late Queen, marked by a minutes silence, followed up with the National Anthem.
KEY MOMENTS
NT = Newmarket Town
TT = Thetford Town
5' - TT - Cusack crosses in from the left, and Diggens is unable to steer the ball home at the far-post.
9' - TT - GOAL (0-1) - Captain Elliot Smith dinks a ball over the backline for Gilchrist to run onto, despite close attention from the defence he runs through into the right-side of the box and fires in a strike across goal that has keeper Archer beaten, despite him getting a touch-on it.
18' - NT - A headed effort from a corner is headed off the line by Laker, the ball is recycled by Newmarket resulting in another headed effort, this time from Williams, but it is narrowly wide.
25' - NT - From another set-piece, the ball falls to Ben Robinson just outside the box, his low driven effort is heading into the corner of the goal, but keeper Tom Smith gets down low to push the effort out for another corner.
32' - NT - During a Newmarket attack, the ball falls to Tokley just outside the area, he takes a touch and lashes in a dangerous effort that flies just over the bar.
33' - NT - GOAL (1-1) - Newmarket break quickly, player-manager Shinn releasing Ben Robinson down the right flank, he crosses in a ball and at the far post captain Seymour heads in, a goal that had been coming for a while it has to be said, with Thetford having soaked up a lot of pressure from set-pieces and balls whipped into the box.
36' - TT - Gilchrist manages to get a shot off in the box, forcing a decent save from the outstretched arm of keeper Archer, Machaya clears up at the by-line and fires the ball back in across the face of goal, but it is cleared close to the goal-line.
38' - TT - GOAL (1-2) - Cusack threads Gilchrist through, he cuts into the box, and takes a touch to beat the defender, and with the ball rolling towards Machaya, who was running in to support, he hits the ball with venom with his left boot, past the flailing Alex Archer to put Thetford back into the lead.
40' - TT - King squares to Diggens in the box, he darts around to make some room and lashes a shot across the box, flashing millimeteres wide of the far post.
43' - TT - GOAL (1-3) - During a Newmarket attack, Jordan Lake steps in to intercept the ball, and immediately plays a long through ball up the field to release Diggens, he runs through to the goal and at the last minute squares the ball across to Machaya for a simple tap-in, to give Thetford a 2-goal cushion.
45' - NT - Newmarket counter-attack and Whitehead finds Ben Robinson in an advanced position, keeper Tom Smith rushes out so Robinson opts for the chip, the ball is heading in, but Morton gets back in time to knock the ball back off of the line, but the danger isn't over, and Ben Robinson on the follow up looks to strike, but Tom Smith gets to the ball moments before to clear the ball, and take a firm whack to the leg in the process. A big moment in the game, the last-ditch defending paying off to maintain the 2-goal cushion going into the break.
55' - TT - Gilchrist dinks a ball over the backline to release Machaya, who also opts to try and chip the keeper from the bouncing ball, and goes really close with his effort, requiring a clearance from off the line by a Newmarket defender.
57' - NT - Whiteheads attempts a shot from the edge of the area, it was well hit but Tom Smith is able to make a comfortable save.
61' - NT - A Tokley cross is headed over by Maynard.
70' - TT - Laker cuts across the field and picks out Gilchrist with a lovely ball, he unleashes a curling effort from just inside the box, but it sails narrowly wide of the goal.
71' - NT - RED CARD - Substitute Matthew Green absolutely clatters Cameron King with a reckless challenge, resulting in a red card, making an already difficult task to get back into the game for Newmarket even harder.
75' - TT - Thetford break, King fires the ball out to the right-wing for Machaya, he takes the ball to the edge of the area and hits a low, firm strike that is just wide of the far post.
77' - TT - A beautiful back-heel down the left-wing releases Jordan Lake, he bursts forward and plays a ball in to Gilchrist, once again he shoots from just inside the box, but his effort flies over the bar.
80' - NT - Another dangerous Ben Robinson cross is pumped into the box, it is nodded down and back into the danger area by Whitehead at the far post, the ball falls invitingly for the captain Seymour to get his second goal, but Cusack gets there first, putting his body on the line to take the full force of the Seymour challenge, some brave last gasp defending.
93' - TT - GOAL (1-4) - Thetford weather the pressure well and have extended periods of comfortable possession to close out the game. In the dying embers, Gilchrist jogs down the left-wing, King runs an overlap and is played in, he runs into the box and cuts past the keeper to tap in to seal another 3-points for Thetford.
That was yet again another impressive Thetford victory, this time away from home, and on an unfamiliar artificial pitch. Thetford are playing some lovely attacking football, preferring to play the ball on the ground, and at pace, whilst attacking in waves, making it an absolute nightmare to defend against, because if you cover one player there are another three coming at you. They are also looking more solid in the middle of the park, with Smith and Lake doing a fantastic job this afternoon to boss the midfield, causing Newmarket to go long more often than not. Also a special mention to Adam Laker, the 2nd game I have seen him at right-back and he is certainly making it his own with an assured defensive performance, as well getting forwards when required, man-of-the-match for me. Newmarket looked fairly decent at times, and certainly had their chances, but Thetford stayed resolute at the back to snuff out many attacks before they had a chance to get going, with the biggest threat coming from set-pieces and crosses from the wings, particularly from Ben Robinson. A 4-1 away win is certainly a big confidence boost going into a tough away fixture against Soham Town Rangers, a tie that happened around a month ago resulting in a 2-0 FA Cup Replay loss, so I am sure that the lads are looking to avenge this. I will be there on Tuesday night, looking forward to another big performance from the team. A couple of players took some big knocks today, so I hope they can recover in-time, but until then, UP THE TOWN!!!
Line-Ups:
NEWMARKET TOWN: Alex Archer, James Chivers, Joseph Asensi, Adden Tokley, Tom Williams, Rob Ruddy, Ben Robinson, Isaac Maynard, James Seymour (C), Michael Shinn, Lewis Whitehead. SUBS: Tom Stoker, Matthew Green, Kacper Brzozowec.
THETFORD TOWN: Tom Smith, Andrew Cusack, Matt Morton, Nathan Clarke, Adam Laker, Jordan Lake, Elliot Smith (C), Cameron King, Emmanuel Machaya, Dan Gilchrist, George Diggens. SUBS: Macauley Rodgers, Artur Visocanskis, Ryan Fuller, Santi Davies, Connor Balment.
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