25th February 2022
Swaffham Town vs Thetford Town @ Shoemakers Lane - Swaffham
Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)
19:45 KO
£7 entry
Attendance - 85
Half-time score: Swaffham Town 1-0 Thetford Town
Goals:
Swaffham Town: Brindle - 4'
Thetford Town: Fuller - 80'
Leigh Simons recorded the goals, see the links below:
Final Score: Swaffham Town 1-1 Thetford Town
With all the storms and recent bad weather, this was my first non-league game for two weeks since Thetford emphatically beat Swaffham Town 6-0 at home, but it was not for want of trying, I had Thetford Town vs Gorleston, Dereham Town vs Barking and Mulbarton Wanderers vs Heacham all pencilled in, but all fell sadly by the wayside. Nevertheless, the tie tonight was an exciting game, the second chapter of Thetford vs Swaffham in the former's bid to escape the relegation zone, so another huge game on a Friday night to enjoy. I drove the short journey through the forest and up the A1065 and down a narrow dirt track to Shoemakers Lane, surprisingly my first time at this ground.
As ever, I picked up a programme and this one was in memory of Albert Hudson, presumably a prominent figure in the club.
The start of the game was frantic, and in the 3rd minute, Thetford had a chance to emulate their first goal from two weeks ago, Fuller stepping up to launch a long throw-in into the box, the ball eventually fell to Enaro whose side footed volley went narrowly over. Swaffham responded with a swift attack of their own, Tipple dinked the ball over for Brindle to chase, he got between the two defenders, and seeing Thetford keeper Bugg in no-mans land, he managed to chip the ball over him and into the goal, despite Clarke's best effort, to give Swaffham an unexpected early lead.
Thetford responded, and in the 6th minute, Elliot Smith stole the ball and quickly released Gilchrist with an excellent ball, he was 1-on-1 but a heavy first touch saw keeper Phillips just get to the ball first. In the following minute, Swaffham went up the other end, and the ball went across the face of goal, just begging for the feintest of touches, but it was cleared by the Thetford defence to prevent them from going 2-0 down. For the next 20 minutes, the game was very even, with each team battling hard in the midfield, but after this, it was all Thetford, shooting down the slope in this first half.
In the 26th minute, another good ball from Smith released Gilchrist, he showed some blistering pace to get to the ball and flashed his strike across the goal, wide of the far post. In the 31st minute, Lake released Elliot Smith down the right, Enaro was unmarked in the middle of the box, but Smith only managed to muster a half-shot and missed both the goal and Enaro, a huge chance for Thetford to equalise before the break. In the 33rd minute, Enaro had possession of the ball outside of the box, he jinked to make some room and unleashed a brilliant strike that was heading for the top right corner, but a sensational finger tip save from Phillips tipped the ball over for a corner. Gilchrist whipped the corner ball in at the near post and it had to be punched clear by Phillips. In the 34th minute, Gilchrist was played through again, this time the angle was good and it looked like a certain goal, but as he was about to strike, Cupit slid in with an excellent last ditch tackle to put the ball out for a corner. In the 39th minute, a snap shot from Elliot Smith was well saved, and in stoppage time, Lake looped in a good ball, but Elliot Smith's header went just over.
Despite now shooting uphill, Thetford started the second half brightly, nearly scoring in the 52nd minute. Gilchrist beat the offside trap again, he was through on goal, but overran the ball, tried to flick the ball past Phillips, but his effort went wide of the far-post. Swaffham responded in the 55th minute, a dangerous run from Clunan allowed him to penetrate deep into Thetford territory, he laid the ball back to Jewell, and as he was about to strike, a brilliant last-ditch sliding tackle from player-manager Matt Morton prevented the shot, and Jewell took a big clattering from Bugg and Clarke, and went down injured for a few minutes.
Thetford continued to attack in numbers, looking for the equaliser, and in the 67th minute, another Gilchrist effort was saved. In the 76th minute, there was a big penalty shout for Thetford, Fuller was completely taken out in the area, just before he was about to shoot, but the referee waved play-on despite it looking like a dead cert. Fuller made a mends in the 80th minute, Enaro made a superb run down the left wing, cut back and whipped in a ball at the far post, it was headed back into the penalty area by Visocanskis, and Fuller finished from close range to give Thetford the deserved equaliser.
Thetford pushed hard for a winner, in the 82nd minute, another through-ball played Gilchrist through 1-on-1, but he was unable to convert with Phillips making yet another save, he really had the best of Gilchrist this evening. In the 87th minute, a ball in from Fuller was fumbled by keeper Phillips, but no Thetford players were close enough to pounce. In the 88th minute, from a corner, Clarke picked up ball on the left of the area, cut inside to strike the ball, he beat the keeper, but his low effort was cleared off the line by a defender, and shortly after, Lake fired in a shot from outside the box that went just over. In the 90th minute, Swaffham had a chance to sensationally re-take the lead, being awarded a free-kick in a dangerous central position 5 yards outside the box. Cupit stepped up and his effort shaved the top of the crossbar, it was so close that some Swaffham fans cheered thinking that it was in. Thetford had one last chance in the 92nd minute, a Lake free-kick was nodded on by Elliot Smith, and Visocanskis managed to get a good connection on the ball, but it was deflected out for a corner that came to nothing. In the dying minutes, the game became scrappy as both teams lost their discipline, and the game ended with both teams sharing the spoils.
This is a difficult one to reflect on, on the one hand I was glad that Thetford got a late equaliser to salvage a point, but on the other hand, it felt like two lost points as Thetford had the chances to win the game by 3-4 goals easily, I am hoping that Thetford don't end up regretting losing these points come the end of the season. Focussing on the performance, Thetford played good attacking football, and dominated the midfield for the majority of the game, winning most of the first and second balls. What is clear is that their finishing needs work, as against Gorleston on Tuesday, they are going to need to be more clinical to stand a chance. The point puts Thetford 5-points clear of the relegation zone, and I hope that Thetford can pick up more valuable points over the remaining fixtures. I will be at the Gorleston game on Tuesday night, and if Thetford put in a big performance, they should certainly back themselves win at least a point, if not more, UP THE TOWN!!
Line-Ups:
SWAFFHAM TOWN: Charlie Phillips, Brad Yates, Harry Cupit, Oli Williams (C), Callum Madigan, Luke Fox, Tom Jewell, James Karanicolas, Alfie Brindle, Alex Clunan, Jordan Tipple. SUBS: Charlie Lambe, Josh Malin, Alex Smith, Tom McCarthy, Sary Rahma.
THETFORD TOWN: George Bugg, Sam Bond (C), Matt Morton, Nathan Clarke, Joao Varela, Jordan Lake, Elliot Smith, Adam Laker, Kelvin Enaro, Ryan Fuller, Daniel Gilchrist. SUBS: Artur Visocanskis, Kristian Dixon, Andrew Cusack, Connor Balment, Macauley Rodgers.
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