10th February 2024
Thetford Town vs Mulbarton Wanderers @ Mundford Road - Thetford
Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)
15:00 KO
£8 entry
Attendance - 198
Half-time score: Thetford Town 1-0 Mulbarton Wanderers
Goals:
Thetford Town: Laker - 45'+3'
Mulbarton Wanderers: Page - 85'
Final Score: Thetford Town 1-1 Mulbarton Wanderers
A big game down at Thetford Town today, as they hosted Mulbarton Wanderers, in a 3rd vs 4th clash! Games between these two teams have always been close since the visitors promotion into this league, with Thetford Town edging out a 1-0 win in the first game of the season. Amongst the Mulbarton line-up is Ashley Jarvis, with 22 goals in 25 games, but he was unavailable for todays game in some lucky news for Thetford. With the annual pre-match meal down at The Thomas Paine Hotel, the dignitaries were in attendance, and with the recent downpours, the Thetford groundstaff were tending to the pitch from 6:30 in the morning to get this game on, and to avoid a second cancelled game in a row, a brilliant effort from all involved.
It was a mild Saturday afternoon and stayed dry until the final 5 minutes when a fine shower became to come down. Thetford Town lined up in their home claret and blue, with Mulbarton Wanderers in their away orange strip.
KEY MOMENTS
TT = Thetford Town
MW = Mulbarton Wanderers
10' - TT - Laker shows great skill down the left to ghost past the defender, he squares the ball into the box to find Avis at the near-post, but he is unable to turn the ball under immediate pressure from the Mulbarton defence.
12' - MW - A corner ball is swung in dangerously, prompting a headed clearance off the line from Haylett.
13' - TT - Laker cuts in from the left and flashes a ball into the box, it misses everyone and has the keeper beaten heading into the far side of the goal, forcing an off-the-line clearance from Doggett.
17' - MW - A Mulbarton free-kick from 25 yards out slams into the wall and falls fortuitously to Owen Lane inside the box, he turns and shoots, the ball is heading into the bottom right but Tom Smith gets down well to collect.
27' - MW - Mulbarton attack down the left and look to cross the ball into the box, it takes a wild deflection and falls to the player-manager Ben Thompson, who shows brilliant skill to turn and volley the ball with some venom, it has Tom Smith beaten but slams into the post and out, best effort of the game so far.
34' - MW - A loose pass at the back is intercepted by Owen Lane, he strides forwards and shoots from 20 yards, it is well struck and heading in, but Tom Smith makes a wonder save to get a strong hand to the ball, tipping it onto the post and out for a corner!
40' - TT - Excellent work rate from Olpin sees him close the ball down quickly to block a long-ball, it falls nicely for him, he gains possession and from the left squares the ball into Avis open at the near-post, he takes one touch to set the ball and strikes towards goal, but Easton flies out of nowhere to make an important block.
45' + 3' - TT - GOAL (1-0) - A ball is whipped into the box from the right by Haylett, Jake Mann of all people gets his head onto the ball to flick it on to the far-post, where Laker volleys the ball, leathering it into the roof of the net, giving the keeper no chance, what a hit to put Thetford into the lead on the stroke of half-time!
57' - TT - Haylett whips another dangerous ball in from the right, it bounces and skips dangerously, forcing the keeper to bat it away for a corner.
66' - MW - Mulbarton attack down the right, the ball is squared into the box and it is on a plate for player-manager Ben Thompson, he picks his spot and shoots, but Tom Smith is equal to it and dives to tip the ball out for a corner, another brilliant save to add to his collection!
67' - MW - Thompson battles hard for the ball inside the box and comes out on-top, he immediately snaps in a goal-bound strike which is deflected wide for a corner.
69' - MW - An underpowered goal kick is won by Mulbarton and Baird tries to lob Tom Smith from 30 yards out, but the ball sails just over the bar, was certainly worth a pop.
85' - MW - GOAL (1-1) - It had certainly been coming, Mulbarton finally put the ball into the net for a deserved equaliser. They are probing around the Thetford box, Owen Lane sees captain Page open in a central position just outside the box, he squares to him, and with some space he strikes the ball into the bottom-right corner, great finish it has to be said.
88' - MW - Mulbarton nearly nick the win, from more pressure, the ball falls to Baird inside the box, he strikes towards the left corner, but that man Tom Smith is equal to the threat again.
A physical, intense battle between two closely matched sides with perhaps Thetford Town the happier of the teams to secure the point, as they clung on at the end. This was a day of good defensive performances, with Thetford keeper Tom Smith the undoubted man of the match, making a host of fine saves, including two magnificent ones, to frustrate Mulbarton Wanderers. There was a great atmosphere and turnout in the ground, and this was matched by the intensity on the pitch, with a few flair-ups as the game went on. Mulbarton are well versed in what I will term 'referee management', and they looked to the man in the middle and played up for him to gain an advantage in this tight game. Whilst I'm not a fan of this, the referee allowed this to happen so of course Mulbarton pressed this, I don't blame them at all. In any case, despite fielding a weakened side, Mulbarton were as always, a well organised hard working team, and proved challenging to break down, and as the game went on they began to dominate the all-important midfield area. There are still realistically 6 teams in the hunt for the 4 play-off places, so this point, for both teams, could prove to be important. Next up for Thetford Town is their re-arranged Challenge Cup fixture, lets hope Lakenheath does not live up to its name again this Tuesday evening, UP THE TOWN!!!
Line-Ups:
THETFORD TOWN: Tom Smith, Ryan Haylett, Adam Laker, Jaydyn Lott, Hugh Cullum, Jake Mann, Elliot Smith (C), Kieran Money, Shaun Avis, Callum Olpin, Cameron King. SUBS: George Diggens, Dylan Grove, Sam Bond, Ryan Fuller, Dan Gilchrist.
MULBARTON WANDERERS: Tom Wright, Dom Doggett, Tom Hunter, James Page (C), Joe Easton, Kieran Smith, Tom Baird, Angus Mackie, Ben Thompson, Owen Lane, Noah Hunt. SUBS: Ethan Lane, Emmanuel Machaya, Dan Self.
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