27th April 2024
Mulbarton Wanderers vs Thetford Town @ Mulberry Park - Mulbarton
Thurlow Nunn Premier Division - Play-Off Semi-Final (Step 5)
15:00 KO
£8 entry
Attendance - TBA
Half-time score: Mulbarton Wanderers 0-2 Thetford Town
Goals:
Thetford Town: Avis - 13'
Thetford Town: King - 25'
Final Score: Mulbarton Wanderers 0-2 Thetford Town
With the regular season over, having finished 4th place secured Thetford Town a place in the play-off semi-finals, where they had to make a trip up the A11 and past the world famous Lotus factory to face the 3rd place side, Mulbarton Wanderers. With the prospect of securing a home tie, Thetford defeated Heacham 6-0 in the final game of the season with Shaun Avis bagging a hattrick, but this feat was matched by Mulbarton who also won 6-0, against Soham Town Rangers, with the leagues 2nd top scorer Ashley Jarvis firing in an impressive 4 goals, taking his tally up to 33 in 36 appearances! This saw Mulbarton pip Thetford Town on a +3 goal difference, signifying how evenly matched this afternoons game was set-up to be, as both teams battled for a place in a play-off final, and with that the chance to move up into Step 4!
It was a shame to see that printed programmes were not on offer, I'm old-fashioned and would have loved a physical memento for this big day in Thetford Town's history. There were online programmes on offer but I forgot to download one, swept up in the atmosphere of the big day and distracted by the smell of sizzling burgers and hot dogs, which I sampled of course!
It was an unseasonally chilly afternoon, and with an earlier downpour the pitch was on the soft side. Under the grey skies, both teams lined up in their home colours, Mulbarton Wanderers in blue and black stripes, with Thetford Town in their famous claret and blue. The Thetford fans had turned up in good numbers and were in form. Mulbarton had also turned out in big numbers, must have been at least half the village down at the ground!
KEY MOMENTS
MW = Mulbarton Wanderers
TT = Thetford Town
3' - TT - Thetford Town are awarded a free-kick on the right flank. The ball is launched over to the far-post by King, Elliot Smith rises to get his head on the ball, but ihs effort is just wide of his near-post.
13' - TT - GOAL (0-1) - From a corner, King floats the ball over to the far post, Haylett wins his header, the ball drops into the middle and there is a goalmouth scramble, and fox-in-the-box Avis is on hand to smash the ball into the onion bag from close range to give the away side a deserved early lead, stunning the home crowd.
14' - TT - Thetford win another corner shortly after their goal. King again sends it over to the far-post, there is another scramble and Elliot Smith manages to fire off two quick fires strikes, the first blocked and the second wide of the target.
25' - TT - GOAL (0-2) - Olpin pings a ridiculous switched ball from the right flank to the left, Grove wins his header to release Gilchrist, he drives forwards and squares the ball to King who skips into the box and blasts the ball in at the near post, sending the Thetford faithful crazy!
33' - TT - Olpin is taken out on the edge of the box to win a free-kick. From a brilliant position, King steps up and hits the ball beautifully, it is curling into the top left corner but keeper Tom Wright makes a fantastic diving save to push the ball out for a corner.
36' - MW - Mulbarton craft their first decent chance of the game, playmaker Owen Lane threads through a neat ball, it is flicked on by Lambert to put hitman Ashley Jarvis on, but Tom Smith is out fast to narrow the angle and the strike is somehow pulled wide, big chance and let off for Thetford!
45' - TT - A booming Elliot Smith clearance is pounced on by King down the left, Thetford are 2v1 with Olpin in support, King finds him, Callum takes the ball into the box and shoots across Wright, the effort is narrowly wide of the far post. A goal here could have killed off the game.
47' - MW - Mulbarton are quick out of the blocks and have a great chance through Owen Lane. He drives into the box from the right and powers in a strike across the face of goal, but Tom Smith makes a fine diving save to push the ball out to safety.
79' - MW - RED CARD - The second half is mostly Mulbarton with Thetford putting in a strong defensive shift to absorb the pressure. As the clock ticks down, desperation begins to creep in and Angus Mackie loses his discipline. On the 75th minute a late challenge on Callum Olpin sees him get his first yellow, his second comes on the 79th minute as he foolishly yanks Olpin back as he tries to take a quick throw-in, and he receives his marching orders, bit daft and seriously hampers Mulbarton's chance of getting back into this game.
90' - MW - The 10-men of Mulbarton attack with abandon and go close on the 90th, forcing a goal-line clearance from Haylett.
92' - TT - Olpin is released down the left, he drives down the flank, beats his man and squares the ball in to the penalty spot to find Elliot Smith, whose effort crashes into the crossbar and out, so close to the clincher, I was sure it was going in!
What a brilliant performance from Thetford Town as they secure their place in the play-off final, which will see them travel to face Newmarket Town in a winner takes all finale! Thetford were dominant in the 1st half, they were fired up and first to the ball, strong in the challenge and quick on the counter, and deservedly went into the break 2-0 up. Naturally, as the game went on, they began to sit back, but done remarkably well to absorb the pressure, with key man Ashley Jarvis taken out the game, I barely noticed him to Thetford's credit. Captain Sam Bond marshalled his defence expertly, his experience and leadership skills coming to the fore, to guide Thetford home to victory. There were big performances throughout the Thetford team to a man, they really turned it up for the big occasion, and they will need to carry this into the next game as they face the much fancied Newmarket Town for a 5th time this season, The Jockeys winning 3 out of the 4 played so far. Reflecting on Mulbarton Wanderers, they had chances, I was certain Jarvis was going to bury his one and I feel the reckless red card scuppered any chance of a comeback, but too many of their long balls were wayward as they chased the game. They are a well organised and well run club, I was super impressed with Owen Lane in particular, and I'm sure they will be in the mix again for the 24/25 season, and they were great hosts today - thank you. Big day for Thetford next Saturday, with the fans behind them, and in numbers, hopefully we can push the boys over the line, can't wait for it, UP THE TOWN!!!
Line-Ups:
MULBARTON WANDERERS: Tom Wright, Angus Mackie, Tom Hunter, James Page (C), Joe Easton, Kieran Smith, Owen Lane, Ben Jones, Peter Lambert, Ashley Jarvis, Josh Pond. SUBS: Dom Doggett, Noah Hunt, Tom Baird, Ben Thompson, Billy Wenn.
THETFORD TOWN: Tom Smith, Ryan Haylett, Sam Bond (C), Josh Wells, Dylan Grove, Kieran Money, Elliot Smith, Callum Olpin, Cameron King, Dan Gilchrist, Shaun Avis. SUBS: Malachi Wright, Ryan Fuller, George Diggens, Jake Mann, Adam Laker.
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