1st April 2024
Thetford Town vs Newmarket Town @ Mundford Road - Thetford
Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)
15:00 KO
£8 entry
Attendance - 247
Half-time score: Thetford Town 0-1 Newmarket Town
Goal:
Newmarket Town: Lee - 23'
Final Score: Thetford Town 0-1 Newmarket Town
With Thetford Town losing on Saturday away at Fakenham Town they held the final play-off position at kick-off, but with Downham Town snapping at their heels this was a big game for the boys in claret and blue. It is also a huge one for Newmarket Town as a win for Thetford Town would see them leapfrogged, and thus exposing them to the possibility of missing out on play-offs, having been in the top-2 for most of the season, making a brilliant fixture with added jeopardy. To add to this, both teams are stuttering a bit and struggling to find form, therefore the game was for the taking for whoever turned up on this Easter Monday afternoon.
Today's Barnes Print programme had right-back Ryan Haylett on the front cover.
It was a gloriously sunny and warm afternoon, although it has to be said it was a bit chilly when the sun went down, not quite shorts weather yet, but almost! Under the blue skies, Thetford Town lined up in claret and blue with Newmarket Town in their home yellow kit with blue shorts, in front of a big crowd for this important game.
KEY MOMENTS
TT = Thetford Town
NT = Newmarket Town
6' - TT - Haylett crosses the ball in from the right, Elliot Smith is onto it but his header is just over the bar, so close to an early opener!
9' - TT - Gilchrist wins the ball deep in Newmarket territory, he takes it forward and sends a flat diagonal ball across the danger area, Elliot Smith leaves it for King, with the space closed out fast by the defence he controls the ball, re-sets himself and shimmies past the defender allowing him to shoot from a narrow angle, but keeper James Young won't be beaten at his near-post and he turns the ball out for a corner.
10' - TT - A short corner routine is well worked between King and Gilchrist, King squares the ball in to find Jake Mann just behind the penalty spot, he cracks in a stinging shot but it is blocked close to the line, a fast start from Thetford, unlikely not to have a goal for all their endeavours.
23' - NT - GOAL (0-1) - Against the run of play, Foster wins the ball deep in Thetford territory, he threads through Joshua Lee who does well to ride the incoming challenge of Josh Wells and from the edge of the area he hits a pinpoint strike across Tom Smith and into the bottom right corner, brilliant finish.
32' - NT - The goal galvanises Newmarket and they begin to dominate the game. They attack through Cole down the left, he has the ball on the by-line and tries to square the ball into the danger area, the defensive block sees the ball come straight back to him and with a second chance he takes a touch to give him a better angle and opts to shoot, his effort flying just wide of the far-post.
45' + 4' - TT - Gilchrist feeds the ball through to King in the area, he snaps in a strike which takes a wild deflection to loop just beyond the top left corner of the goal, but winning a corner in the process.
50' - TT - Thetford come out quickly again and get a good chance early on. A long free-kick from Olpin skims into the box with a flat trajectory, captain Sam Bond is the fastest to react and flicks his header towards goal, but it is wide of the far-post.
51' - TT - A rapid break from Thetford, King picks up the ball and sends Olpin on his way, he charges through and squares to Gilchrist on his left, Gilchrist from the edge of the box shoots towards the near post, but Young makes a great stop to deny Thetford the leveller.
57' - TT - A long ball is pumped forward, the Newmarket defender mis-judges the header and it falls to Gilchrist, who immediately gives the ball to King. King bounds forwards and finds Elliot Smith open in the box, with the goal begging his strike towards the bottom left corner is a bit too close to James Young who makes another fine stop to frustrate Thetford.
58' - TT - Thetford are really going at it, a sustained attack on the Newmarket goal ends up with James Young down on the floor and the ball ending up with Olpin just outside the box, he hits a firm strike to try and get the ball through the sea of bodies, but the effort whizzes just wide of the upright, the Newmarket goal leading a charmed life!
70' - TT - Another long free kick from Olpin well struck into the box, Haylett gets on the end and heads it into the middle where Elliot Smith is lurking, but there is not enough on his headed effort allowing Young to make a relatively comfortable save.
75' - NT - A defensive blunder from a Thetford throw-in deep in their territory allows Foster to steal the ball, he immediately cuts into the box and shoots across Tom Smith, but the ball rolls millimeters beyond the far post, I was sure that one was going in!
88' - TT - Newmarket stand firm, absorbing the pressure and looking dangerous on the counter as Thetford push bodies forward. In the end, the best chance comes when substitute Avis flicks on a long ball to fellow strike partner Gilchrist, he is open and through on goal, Young is out fast and rather than shooting across him or chipping, Gilchrist tries to round him, he succeeds somewhat but it was not neat due to contact from the keeper and this gives him enough time to scramble back to get his body in the way of the shot, big moment in this game, and maybe in the league! And with that, Newmarket Town secured all three-points in this crucial game.
For Thetford Town, this game can be best summed up as 'could'a, should'a, would'a'. Against a strong opponent, they controlled large parts of the game and were unlucky not to get an early goal. Once Newmarket pounced on yet another Thetford defensive error, although Joshua Lee still had a lot to do and his finish was class, they controlled the first half, but the second was mostly Thetford barring a smattering of long ball counter-attacks where they looked threatening through their powerful runners in Lee, Foster, Conway & Cole. As Thetford chased the game, they had at least 3 excellent goal-scoring opportunities, and if they had just taken one, they could have secured something from this game, as would have been deserved. And they would have if it were not for the heroics between the sticks of James Young, particularly the Gilchrist chance in the 88th minute, man-of-the-match performance for me. With only three games remaining, and with Downham Town drawing, making the play-offs is still in Thetford's hands, but they will need all 9-points I feel, and to do that they need to be more clinical in front of goal, and cut out defensive errors at the back. If they can do this and put in a performance like today, there is no reason why Thetford cannot prolong their season and make a bid to move up to Step 4, UP THE TOWN!!!
Line-Ups:
THETFORD TOWN: Tom Smith, Adam Laker, Ryan Haylett, Josh Wells, Sam Bond (C), Jake Mann, Elliot Smith, Kieran Money, Callum Olpin, Cameron King, Dan Gilchrist. SUBS: Dylan Grove, Shaun Avis, George Diggens, Malachi Wright, Harvey Lott.
NEWMARKET TOWN: James Young, Andy Ballester, Will Gardner, Ashley Walter (C), Ben Robinson, Jake Eady, Jordan Foster, Kacper Brzozowec, Josh Lee, Ali Conway, Ryan Cole. SUBS: Jacob Mingay, Isaac Maynard, Oscar Dean, Toby Andrews, Clinton Frank.
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