3rd February 2024
Sheringham vs Thetford Town @ Weybourne Road - Sheringham
Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)
15:00 KO
£7 entry
Attendance - 55
Half-time score: Sheringham 0-0 Thetford Town
Goals:
Thetford Town: Mann - 73'
Thetford Town: King - 77'
Thetford Town: Fuller - 96'
Final Score: Sheringham 0-3 Thetford Town
Thetford Town follow-up last weekends 4-0 victory over Kirkley & Pakefield with an away trip to the scenic North Norfolk coast, where they faced the hosts, Sheringham FC. With Thetford up to 3rd in the table, they would were looking to make it 4 league wins on the bounce to maintain their position in the play-offs. With Sheringham sitting 14th in the table before kick-off, Thetford were fancying their chances, however, the last 3 games have seen a goalless draw and two Sheringham victories, add to that a fair few of the Thetford starting XI are ex-Sheringham, this was going to be an incredibly tough game for the boys in claret & blue.
Being a long journey, 80mins to the coast amazingly all within the same county, I made the most of the trip, getting their early to take in the coastal scenery. Had a lovely pint right on the sea front at The Two Lifeboats, followed by some banging chips from Dave's chippy, definitely need to come back with the family, a lovely town and decent weather to boot for this time of year!
On the way into the ground, I grabbed a programme for £2, very decent and full colour, with lots of content and young winger Ted Henman on the front cover.
On a glorious sunny and mild February afternoon, the teams walked out onto the somewhat bobbly pitch, Sheringham in all red, with Thetford Town in their away black and white stripes. Despite the distance, there was a strong away showing with a lot of claret and blue scarves on show, is brilliant to see.
KEY MOMENTS
SH = Sheringham
TT = Thetford Town
22' - TT - A ball is whipped in from the right, it falls to Avis, he is unable to convert from close range as Denham Oliver gets down to make a fine stop, and Grove powers in a strike on the follow-up, but the is effort blocked, so close!
39' - TT - A long ball down the left is picked up Grove, some brilliant skill sees him dink the ball over Henman he then cuts back to beat him a second time and drives into the box before squaring the ball to Avis, who side foots from close range, but again, Denham Oliver makes himself big to make the stop, yet again denying Thetford the opener.
50' - TT - King probes down the right wing, beats his man and powers a low ball in towards the near post, Avis is there but only manages to get a feint touch on the ball and the chance goes begging.
59' - TT - Grove curls a brilliant ball into the box from the right, captain Elliot Smith is almost on the end of it, it then takes an awkward bounce and looks to be heading in, but the feintest of touches sees Denham Oliver push it out for a corner.
69' - TT - Elliot Smith surges forwards and finds King, he spots the run of substitute Diggens and threads a frankly ridiculous ball through with the outside of his boot to set him through on goal, Diggens takes the ball in and shoots towards the bottom right corner, but Denham Oliver gets down to make another fine stop - will Thetford be able to make all this pressure count and score?
73' - TT - GOAL (0-1) - Thetford break the deadlock, from a corner, King never gives up on the right hand byline, and on the third attempt breaks through into the box and squares the ball into the near post where it is leathered in from close range by Jake Mann, to give Thetford the deserved lead and nailing his second goal in two games, great stuff!
75' - TT - Thetford almost score a quick second, they break quickly through King who finds the blistering run of Haylett down the right, in space he whips the ball into the box, where Diggens gets in front of the defender to head the ball goalwards at the near-post, but the effort flashes wide of the far post, was so close!
77' - TT - GOAL (0-2) - Thetford get a deserved second, King intercepts a loose back-pass, instigated by some strong pressing from Diggens, he skips into the box and through on-goal it never looks in doubt as he tucks the ball into the bottom left corner, excellent work from our midfield maestro.
82' - SH - A loose goal-kick is picked up by substitute Blois, from 25-yards he fires the ball over the stricken Rodgers, it dips and crashes into the cross-bar and out, big let-off.
96' - TT - GOAL (0-3) - Thetford add the cherry on-top, some patient build-up culminates in Jake Mann zipping down the right wing and squaring the ball to the near-post, where substitute and fan favourite, Ryan Fuller, blasts the ball into the net from close range, the ball close to bursting through the net, he certainly made sure of that one!
Absolutely brilliant performance from Thetford Town, that has to be up there with one of the best this season! They completely dominated the first half, only heroics from Denham Oliver stopping Thetford, and after a 10min pick-up by Sheringham, they continued the second half in the same vein to comfortably seal the win. Sheringham, despite starting a proven top goalscorer in Liam Jackson, were limited to half-chances all game, Thetford's centre-back pairing of Cullum and Lott having another brilliant game snuffing out attacks early. King was mercurial today, running the show from the middle and popping up everywhere, with Olpin, Mann and Smith all contributing to Thetford's control of the midfield, with Grove and Haylett proving strong outlets down the wings, with some incredible switches of the ball and fine ball control, a real treat for the travelling Thetford contingent. A complete performance from the team, seeing them running out deserved winners, and to finally defeat Sheringham in the league, something not done in the last two seasons. Next up is a Tuesday night Challenge Cup game away at Lakenheath, these fixtures are always eventful, but if they play like today, they will have a strong chance of making it through to the next round, UP THE TOWN!!!
Line-Ups:
SHERINGHAM: Denham Oliver, Ted Henman, Jamie Nelson, Joe Boardman, Shane Cox (C), Sammy Imessaoudene, Liam Jackson, Zach Bourner, Spencer Cawcutt, Nel Lemos, Marley Flute. SUBS: Charlie Mayhew, Maca Holt, Ryan Dickerson, Jake Spooner, Ronnie Blois.
THETFORD TOWN: Macauley Rodgers, Ryan Haylett, Dylan Grove, Kieran Money, Hugh Cullum, Jaydyn Lott, Jake Mann, Elliot Smith (C), Shaun Avis, Cameron King, Callum Olpin. SUBS: Ryan Fuller, Adam Laker, Sam Bond, George Diggens, Tom Smith.
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