Following Thetford Town's exhilarating home game against fellow frontrunners Lakenheath, this game was an entirely different proposition, away to opponents Norwich United, a team currently experiencing a fair bit of turbulence, resorting to fielding reserve team players in the last fixture. Despite this, Norwich United are a traditionally strong club in this league, so I was hoping that Thetford Town would not be underestimating their opponents, as securing a win would be important to secure all three-points after conceding a late equaliser to drop two against Lakenheath, as it is looking like this will be a fiercely contested league this season.

This was my first time at Plantation Park, looked a decent facility, and had a Macron Store near the entrance which was nice to see. On the way in through the turnstile I picked up a match day programme, yet again another classic Barnes Print programme.

In the fierce 30+ degree heat, I headed to the far end of the stand with plenty of fluids. Thetford conducted their initial warm-up down a thin slither of shade near the stand, and before long Norwich United were lining up in their home yellow and blue shirts, with Thetford Town in their away black and white.

KEY MOMENTS

NU = Norwich United

TT= Thetford Town

3' - TT - A ball over the top releases Gilchrist, he takes the ball in and fires in a strike at the near-post, but Dickerson is equal to the effort.

7' - TT - GOAL (0-1) - King takes a short corner with Avis, he darts in down the by-line and when at the post, squares the ball back to Gilchrist who simply side-foots it into the net from close range, easy as you like.

9' - TT - GOAL (0-2) - King threads through Gilchrist, whose run beats the static defence, and with his first touch he sweeps the perfectly weighted ball from King beyond the keeper.

12' - TT - GOAL (0-3) - Thetford are probing around the box, Money is just inside the box then lays it back to tee up Laker inside the D, who obliges with a cracking left-footed strike to send the ball curling into the net, what a hit!

31' - TT - Olpin feeds Avis in the box who beats the offside trap, his powerful strike is well saved by Dickerson, pushing the ball out for a corner. From the corner, King makes another run down the by-line and his effort hits the post before it is scrambled clear.

40' - TT - GOAL (0-4) - Money is bursting forwards, the ball goes to Avis who does a great job stepping over the ball, taking the defender out of the game, Money had continued his run and is now through on goal, he takes it into the box, he rounds the keeper, who gets a touch and nearly manages to steal the ball off him, but once round him, he strokes the ball into the bottom left corner, out of reach of the defender waiting on the line.

43' - TT - GOAL (0-5) - King bursts forwards and drives into the box, his shot is heading into the bottom left corner, but Dickerson gets down well to make a fine stop, but the ball falls straight into the path of Avis who blasts the ball inside the near post from close range.

44' - TT - Avis is in again, and is denied yet again by a good save, despite making a good connection with the ball.

45'+1' - TT - Laker slides Mann through, his effort beats Dickerson, but rolls narrowly past the wrong side of the post.

45'+4' - TT - Gilchrist plays a breathtaking flicked looping ball to release Olpin, he is through but has 3 defenders snapping at his heels, and his effort is saved by Dickerson who managed to close down the space well.

45'+5' - TT - GOAL (0-6) - King slots in Gilchrist yet again, much like for the 2nd goal, and in this position he makes no mistake to fire the ball beyond the keeper and into the net to secure his hattrick!

51' - TT - GOAL (0-7) - A masterclass of dribbling from King sees him round several defenders out on the right, he then plays a 1-2 to drive into the box, where he fires the ball into Avis at the near post who guides it into the net.

53' - TT - GOAL (0-8) - King feeds through Avis who beats the offside trap, he rounds the keeper and from a tight angle fires it into the open net, allowing him to secure a hattrick of his own!

54' - TT - GOAL (0-9) - Avis makes it four goals for himself, King slides through Olpin, who unselfishly squares the ball across to the open Avis who stabs it into the open net.

56' - TT - Some great work from Jake Mann sees him ride and bounce his way through several challenges, through, he squares the ball to Avis who is denied his 5th goal by a good save from Dickerson.

58' - TT - GOAL (0-10) - A short corner between King and Gilchrist, this time Gilchrist chips the ball over the defenders to release King, he takes the ball to the edge of the box and lashes in a fierce pinpoint strike across the face of goal to bury the ball into the far side of the goal, a well worked goal with a brilliant finish.

62' - NU - Norwich United make a rare foray into the Thetford box, the strike coming in from Walker forcing Tom Smith to get down low to make a relatively comfortable save.

67' - TT - GOAL (0-11) - Gilchrist clears up a loose ball and drives towards the goal, he is tackled and the ball bobbles around, falling to Olpin whose firm side-footed effort sees him slot the ball into the net from the edge of the box.

82' - TT - Grove, who had run tirelessly all game, plays a neat 1-2 with Gilchrist to be through on goal, the strike is saved by Dickerson and the looping deflection is volleyed by Gilchrist, but it spins out wide.

85' - NU - Two substitutes link up well, Cook does well down the right side, then sends in a brilliant ball across into the box, Sparkes, having gotten in front of the defenders, only needs to turn it into the goal, but his boot skims the top of the ball and the chance goes begging, this really should have been a late consolation goal for the young team.

90' - TT - GOAL (0-12) - Thetford bring up the dozen, from a corner multiple efforts fly in, which includes Dickerson scooping the ball off the line, but the loose ball is immediately recycled by substitute Galley to Olpin lurking at the edge of the box, and with space he fires in another long range strike which flies through the traffic and into the left side of the goal, beyond the reach of the diving Dickerson, another fine hit!

96' - TT - Captain Bond has pushed up into the box, the ball drops perfectly for him, and he hits a crisp volley, but it is saved, to deny him a rare goal.

Well, what a result for Thetford Town, a contender for the highest scoring game in the Eastern Counties Premier Division, but due to the circumstances it was men against boys. Thetford done well to just play what was in-front of them and block out all the noise, scoring a lot of goals in the process to bolster their goal difference in the league table. Fair play to the Norwich United youngsters, they battled and fought all game through relentless +30 degree heat, and deserved to even get a consolation goal on the 85 minute mark. I hope they don't let this result deter them, I'm sure there will better days for them in the future. Next up for Thetford Town is a tricky home fixture against Sheringham, a team which got the better of Thetford twice last season, but since then several of their players have moved across to The Brecklanders, which will no doubt make this another game with a bit of that extra spice. I will sadly miss this game as I have tickets to watch Col U, but will be hoping for another big performance from the lads, UP THE TOWN!!!

Line-Ups:

NORWICH UNITED: Ryan Dickerson, Richard Towers, Tyler Blyth, George Mann (C), Ruben Gwilliam, Ray Wright, Tai Walker, Josh Wilsea, Henry Briggs, Kieran Hagan, Aidan Jolly. SUBS: Euan Sparkes, Joe Coleman, Jacob Whitehead, Callum Cook, Jake Halliwell.

THETFORD TOWN: Tom Smith, Sam Bond (C), Dylan Grove, Hugh Cullum, Adam Laker, Kieran Money, Jake Mann, Cameron King, Dan Gilchrist, Callum Olpin, Shaun Avis. SUBS: Ryan Fuller, Malachi Wright, Archie Galley, Santi Davies, Macauley Rodgers.

Thurlow Nunn Premier: Norwich United 0-12 Thetford Town

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