12th August 2023
Soham Town Rangers vs Thetford Town @ Julius Martin Lane - Soham
Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)
15:00 KO
£9 entry
Attendance - 124
Half-time score: Soham Town Rangers 2-3 Thetford Town
Goals:
Thetford Town: Gilchrist - 7' (P)
Soham Town Rangers: Cristica - 18'
Thetford Town: Gilchrist - 29' (P)
Soham Town Rangers: Sharman - 38' (P)
Thetford Town: Gilchrist - 42'
Leigh Simons recorded the goals, see the links below:
Final Score: Soham Town Rangers 2-3 Thetford Town
Thetford Town's third game of the season was another away game, this time another journey down to Cambridgeshire to face Soham Town Rangers. Thetford went into this game with two wins from two, whilst Soham were pointless having been defeated by Harleston Town and Downham Town. Despite Thetford being favourites, a big performance was going to be needed as the Soham players were sure to be fired up to secure their first points of the season.
On the way to the bar I picked up a match day programme, so far everywhere I have been this season is offering one and long may it continue. This one cost £2 and was another classic Barnes Print programme.
I also grabbed a cheeseburger with onions at half-time, £5 for a decent sized burger with a slice of real cheddar and a decent floury bun, very nice!
This afternoons games was played in largely sunny and dry conditions, with a few ominous dark clouds on the horizon with a bit of a breeze in the air to go with this and a bit of a bobbly pitch. Soham Town Rangers were in their home green shirts, whilst Thetford Town were in their away black and white stripes.
KEY MOMENTS
STR = Soham Town Rangers
TT = Thetford Town
7' - TT - PEN & GOAL (0-1) - King sees the run of Money and slots him through in the box, where he is clumsily taken out by a defender, the referee making no hesitation to point to the spot. Last season's league top scorer Dan Gilchrist steps up and neatly slots the ball into the bottom right corner, sending the keeper the wrong way, to give Thetford an early lead.
11' - TT - King chips a lovely ball over the Soham back-line to put Gilchrist through, he tries to loft the ball over the keeper, but Conroy swipes at the ball to bat it away for a corner.
18' - STR - GOAL (1-1) - Some poor defensive errors sees the ball lofted high a couple of times, and on the second occasion, Cristica takes the ball off a Thetford boot just inside the box and nudges it round Tom Smith, to give them an unlikely equaliser.
29' - TT - PEN & GOAL (1-2) - In a very similar manner to the first penalty, Gilchrist sees the darting run of Money and slots him through, he rounds the keeper but is scythed down by keeper Conroy, again, the referee pointing immediately to the spot and dishing out a yellow card. Gilchrist steps up again, and in a carbon copy of the first, slots it into the bottom right corner, never in doubt, even though the keeper guessed correctly this time.
35' - TT - Gilchrist and Grove link up brilliantly down the left wing, with Gilchrist beating his man and threading Grove through, he takes the ball forwards into the box and shoots, but his effort is well stopped by the boot of Conroy, the rebound cleared up by the defence.
36' - TT - Haylett crosses the ball into the box, a loose clearance is picked up Gilchrist, he controls the ball and shoots from close range, but the defender on the line is able to make an important block, how did that not go in?
38' - STR - PEN & GOAL (2-2) - Immediately up the other end, another defensive mix-up sees winger Briggs take full advantage, he bursts into the box where a daft challenge from behind sees him go down, with the referee rightfully pointing to the spot, for the games third penalty. Sharman steps up and sends the keeper the wrong way to nestle the ball into the bottom left corner, game on!
42' - TT - GOAL (2-3) - Haylett picks up a brilliant run from captain King, into the open space to the right of the box. He takes the ball to the by-line and squares it across, it evades Conroy and at the far post is Gilchrist who smashes the ball into the roof of the net, making absolutely sure of no on-the-line blocks this time round, and in the process secures his first half hat-trick, what a finisher!
53' - TT - A long ball is pumped up the right wing, it bounces and Avis latches onto the bounce at the edge of the area, his effort trying to lob Conroy off his line, but it is narrowly over.
56' - STR - A quick break from Soham sees Sharman feed Jackaman open in the middle of the box, but he stabs at the ball to send it over and wide.
58' - TT - During a Thetford attack, King picks up the ball in the box and has a dig, but his effort is straight at Conroy for a comfortable save.
65' - TT - From a free-kick, Thetford probe around the edge of the box, the ball eventually falling to King who lines up a strike from the right corner of the box, the fizzing shot at the near post is batted away and out, with the defender making no mistake to clear it out to concede a corner.
67' - STR - When Thetford are attacking a loose ball is intercepted by captain Auger, he looks up and immediately pings the ball down the right wing, seeing the run of substitute Ed Watson, the red-haired attacker controls the ball well and takes it into the box at speed, but as he was lining up to shoot, Grove is able to sprint back in time to make an all important challenge.
81' - TT - Gilchrist gallops down the right, he finds Diggens in a good central position, but instead of shooting he opts to shuffle the ball out to the left to find Avis, his snap shot is blocked and Money volleys in the follow up, but it is just over from a narrow angle.
93' - STR - Almost disaster for Thetford, having held on to the lead for so long. A long ball out to the right corner is chased well by substitute Adiado, with his first touch he knocks it back into the middle to find fellow substitute Mulready, the striker having got in front of his man, and with the goal begging in front of him he heads the ball, it is going in but a fine reaction save from close rang3e by Tom Smith sees him tip the ball over for a corner, what an incredible save, surely securing all three-points for Thetford!
95' - TT - Thetford look to put the game beyond all doubt, Gilchrist picks up a deep goal kick from Tom Smith, he wrong-foots the defender and squares to Avis, his strike from the edge of the box forcing the second brilliant save in as many minutes, this time from Conroy.
A third away win in a row for Thetford Town sees them maintain their perfect start to the season, but boy were they made to work hard for those points, the acrobatic effort of Tom Smith saving two points in stoppage time. Thetford had a brilliant first half, but allowed Soham back into the game with two very poor defensive errors, and this set things up for a scrappy second half, where they somewhat laboured to victory, although it has to be said the chances were there. Based on today, Soham Town Rangers should be pleased with their performance, they disrupted the Thetford game, were clinical in the first half and had a few chances to draw level again in the 2nd half, taking Thetford right to the wire, I would not expect to see them bottom of the league as the season progresses. Thetford Town are clearly not firing on all cylinders, but despite this have 9 points from 3 away games, and they don't stop there, another away tie against Long Melford coming up on Wednesday, with just about enough time for the coaching and management team to get the squad fired up to go again in what will be another huge test, I for one cannot wait, UP THE TOWN!!!
Line-Ups:
SOHAM TOWN RANGERS: Niall Conroy, Lowin Hercules, Kodi Briggs, Ryan Auger (C), Jordan Gent, Cameron Watson, Robert Cristica, Lewis Jackaman, Ryan Sharman, Jordan Chipps, Kai Nicholls. SUBS: Sead Zeneli, Byron Adiado, Brody Warren, Ed Watson, Sam Mulready.
THETFORD TOWN: Tom Smith, Ryan Haylett, Ryan Fuller, Archie Galley, Dylan Grove, Kieran Money, Jake Mann, Cameron King (C), Dan Gilchrist, George Diggens, Shaun Avis. SUBS: Adam Laker, Sam Bond, Callum Olpin, Malachi Wright, Macauley Rodgers.
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