18th March 2023
Thetford Town vs Haverhill Rovers @ Mundford Road - Thetford
Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)
15:00 KO
£7 entry
Attendance - 87
Half-time score: Thetford Town 2-1 Haverhill Rovers
Goals:
Thetford Town: E. Smith - 8'
Thetford Town: Gilchrist - 19'
Haverhill Rovers: Newell - 32'
Thetford Town: King - 57'
Final Score: Thetford Town 3-1 Haverhill Rovers
With the midweek away game against Woodbridge Town called off due to a waterlogged pitch, the team have had a whole week to rest, recover and prepare for the game against Haverhill Rovers. Whilst Haverhill are currently 2nd from bottom, and almost certain to finish in the relegation zone, if the recent chaotic away fixture was anything to go by, it was not going to be an easy game. With Ipswich Wanderers snapping at Thetford's heels, only a win was to be satisfactory.
It was a miserable grey and rainy day, and the pitch was certainly on the soft and slippery side. Thetford Town came out in their usual claret & blue, whilst Haverhill Rovers were in their away navy blue strip.
KEY MOMENTS
TT = Thetford Town
HR = Haverhill Rovers
2' - TT - Gilchrist, with the ball at feet, travels along the edge of the box, he feeds the ball to King, who seeing a run from Cusack down the left wing lays it on for him to skip onto, he drives a direct ball into the box where it meets Machaya at the near post, but his effort goes over from close range, so close!
8' - TT - GOAL (1-0) - Another incisive run from Cusack down the left wing, this time he crosses the ball, where it finds captain Elliot Smith who nods in from close range to give Thetford the early lead.
14' - TT - King is given some rare space on the edge of the box, using this time he curls in a pinpoint ball to the far post, where it is met by Elliot Smith for a classic bullet header, the ball crashing into the post and out, unlucky.
19' - TT - GOAL (2-0) - More sustained Thetford pressure, Gilchrist receives the ball just inside the box in some space, he lashes in a strike, which takes a deflection and goes in, to give Thetford an early 2-goal cushion.
27' - TT - Diggens attacks down the right wing, he finds King at the edge of the box and he attempts to curl the ball into the top left corner of the goal, his effort just missing the mark.
32' - HR - GOAL (2-1) - Captain Weaver dinks a bouncing ball forwards, it takes an awkward trajectory, forcing keeper Rodgers to come out, but he is just short and the youngster Newell prods the ball forwards and it rolls into the goal, something from nothing but it gives the Haverhill team a visible boost, game on!
38' - HR - Haverhill have a brilliant end to the half, and almost peg Thetford back, a poor defensive pass is intercepted by Newell, he bounds down the right wing, and cuts in, just as he is about to fire the trigger, a Thetford defender manages to get a leg in to concede a corner.
50' - TT - The Haverhill goal is peppered, a strike from Gilchrist and two from King, all blocked as Haverhill pack out the box with lots of bodies.
52' - TT - Diggens flies down the right wing, he feeds the ball to King who powers in a shot at the near post, but hits the side-netting.
57' - TT - GOAL (3-1) - Laker hits a handy ball over the top, down the right wing, King latches onto it, gallops forwards, cuts into the box, and this time his strike is spot on, straight and true to beat Tedaldi at the near-post, an important goal for Thetford to capitalise on all their pressure.
84' - TT - King is gifted the ball in the midfield and he threads Olpin through 1-on-1, Tedaldi is out fast and just does enough to block the ball and snuff out the chance.
That was another bitterly hard fought 3 points, against a physical and defensive side, and it was well earned. Thetford were good for their win, they were the better team throughout, other than a 10-15 min period at the end of the 2nd half following the Haverhill goal. Thetford closed out the game relatively comfortably in the end, and although it was scrappy at times, they bombarded the Haverhill goal until the final whistle, but it was proving a difficult nut to crack as Haverhill had lots of bodies back. There was certainly a counter-attacking threat from Haverhill so Thetford had to be diligent, with the youngster Newell and captain Weaver looking particularly dangerous at times. The three points reinstates Thetford Town's 4-point lead at the top, a buffer that will certainly be tested in the next two games as they welcome local rivals Mildenhall Town on Tuesday, followed by a game which is building up to be a huge one, as they travel to the county town of Suffolk to play fierce promotion rivals Ipswich Wanderers, I for one cannot wait for next week, here's to 2 big performances, UP THE TOWN!!!
Line-Ups:
THETFORD TOWN: Macauley Rodgers, Ryan Fuller, Matt Morton, Adam Laker, Andrew Cusack, Elliot Smith (C), Jake Mann, Cameron King, Emmanuel Machaya, Dan Gilchrist, George Diggens. SUBS: Jordan Lake, Callum Olpin, Santi Davies, Connor Balment, Tom Smith.
HAVERHILL ROVERS: Jaime Tedaldi, Ollie Bell, Harvey Farmer, Ryan Swallow, Mike Agboola, Lewis Sorak, William Newell, Charlie Davies, Nathan Scarborough, Kewin Kwiek, Ryan Weaver (C). SUBS: Ollie Emsden, Alex O'Leary, Danny Lively, Kyle Markwell, Lewis Nial.
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