2nd October 2021
Thetford Town vs Newmarket Town @ Mundford Road - Thetford
Thurlow Nunn Premier League (Step 5)
15:00 KO
£7 entry
Attendance - 50
Half-time score: Thetford Town 0-0 Newmarket Town
Goals:
Thetford Town: Smith - 52'
Thetford Town: Varela - 72'
Thetford Town: Fuller - 75'
Newmarket Town: Seymour - 77'
Final Score: Thetford Town 3-1 Newmarket Town
Today's game up at The Rec was an interesting match-up, a somewhat local derby, with Newmarket being only 20 mins down the A11, that on paper, had visitors Newmarket Town as the favourites. However, they were on a poor run of form, taking some heavy defeats, and in contrast, Thetford Town had won four games in a row, playing some confident and exciting football, so this was going to be a good contest. The weather was certainly feeling more autumnal, it was a wet and windy day, which would also throw more uncertainty into the mix, but the pitch was looking fantastic and both sets of players looked up for it.
Thetford came out of the blocks fast, Smith and Visocanskis linking up well down the left, and with space, Visocanskis fired off a venomous shot that went over in the first minute. Despite the fast start, Newmarket began to play themselves back into the game, and they were almost through in the 6th minute, a poor goal kick followed by a spooned clearance fell to Whitehead on the left wing, he nearly got in but some desperate covering back prevented the shot. In the 10th minute, a long ball from player-manager Shinn was fired up to striker J. Hall, a good touch from him put Robinson through on the right wing, he squared back to Paterson and his snap shot was well saved by Rodgers.
As the game progressed in the tough conditions, Thetford were having the better possession and territory, outplaying Newmarket in the midfield for the most-part, however, Newmarket were looking dangerous on the break. In the 23rd minute, Varela worked the right-wing, took the ball round his man and squared the ball in to Fuller, in the centre of the box, and what looked to be a certain goal was somehow blocked and cleared by the defender in one movement, very close! In the 25th minute, the Newmarket midfield, becoming increasing frustrated by Smith and Mann in particular, started throwing in some reckless challenges on the slippery surface, and Newmarket midfielder Seymour committed a horrible challenge on Mann, sliding in and making heavy contact with Jake at shin height, completely wiping him out in the process. Jake was clearly hurt, and I was waiting for the yellow card, but bemusingly the referee presented nothing. Other than being dumbfounded, I was worried that this would set a precedent, but thankfully the game did not decent into a brutal game of dangerous tackles, credit to both teams. Sadly, Jake Mann had to come off 10mins later, despite trying to run it off, he was clearly not right and Felgueiras came on to replace him. I hope that Jake's injury is only minor, I've been impressed with his tenacious, fast-pressing style of play in the middle of the park this season.
In the 33rd minute, Newmarket attacked the Thetford goal, and got in two quick fire shots on goal, the first from J. Hall who controlled the ball after a corner to let rip, the shot was saved by Rodgers and parried out to left wing, directly into the path of corner taker Shinn, who took the ball forward and powered in another shot at near post, that was again well saved by the Thetford keeper. In the resultant corner, Newmarket managed a close range header that was again saved by Rodgers, an important couple of minutes from the keeper. Rodgers was tested again in the 38th minute as Newmarket stepped it up, the right back Chivers made a good run down the wing, cut back to Whitehead who fired in a stinging shot that was parried out to Chivers who had continued his run, and with the goal begging, he somehow pulled his effort wide, much to the delight of the Thetford faithful, a huge let off indeed.
With the first half drawing to a close, Thetford pushed to break the deadlock and nearly managed to in the 44th minute courtesy of a Cusack corner and a bullet header from Smith, that was directed downwards, and what looked like a certain goal was kept out by an amazing save from Archer, using an outstretched leg to block the ball, both keepers were certainly looking on form today, it was not going to be easy to beat either of them.
In the second half, Thetford came out playing the brighter football, and they had a 10 minute spell where they created a whole host of good chances. In the 51st minute, substitute Felgueiras found Fuller in box, his back was to goal but like all good centre-forwards, he managed to turn and fire off a powerful shot that was rifling into the bottom left corner, but that man again, Alex Archer, got down well to save and put the ball out for a corner. From the resultant corner, Cusack curled in another dangerous ball, and it went in off Smith's back for the opener. Not as pleasing to the eye as his effort just before half-time, but they all count, and crucially Thetford has the lead.
Cusack whipped in another dangerous corner ball in the 57th minute, and keeper Archer came out to punch clear, but the ball flew off his fist at an odd angle, and travelled towards goal. Somehow the ball stayed out and was scrambled clear. In between the periods of good Thetford pressure, Newmarket had a couple of breakaway chances of note, in the 60th minute, J. Hall looped in a cross/shot from the left side of the box, that had Rodgers scrabbling back, but it ultimately went wide, and in the 61st minute, Whitehead blasted in a shot from the left that flew over the crossbar. With Newmarket pressing higher, they were left vulnerable to the long ball, and in the 62nd minute, Cusack launched a counter-attack with a long ball up to Varela, he ran at the Newmarket defence and slid the ball out to Visocanskis coming in from the left-wing. The pass and run were well timed, beating the offside trap and seeing him through 1-on-1 on goal. Visocanskis opted to shoot early before the keeper could close the angle, and from outside the box, his shot went agonisingly wide, and a big chance to go 2-0 up went begging.
Thetford continued to press to get the 2nd goal, and in the 66th minute, another long ball, this time from Vasileiou, was pinged over for Fuller to chase, but Newmarket keeper Archer was just able to get their first. After this, Newmarket stepped up a gear to get an equaliser, and what followed was a frantic and exciting 10 minutes in the sheeting rain. In the 70th minute, Shinn powered a free-kick into the box, captain York got control of the ball, was able to work some space but blazed his shot over. What then followed was a poor clearance from Newmarket, and with the ball falling between two Thetford attackers, there was bit of a tangle, but Fuller eventually got control of the ball, ran into box and was well tackled just before he pulled the trigger. There was the hint of a foul but the challenge looked clean to me. Up the other end, J. Hall had another chance, which was followed by a Thetford counter, a deft touch from Fuller released Visocanskis down the left wing, who again beat the the offside trap to go 1-on-1 on goal, and this time opted to run the ball into the box. With Archer covering the angle well, he saw Varela running in unmarked from the right, squared the ball to him and having plenty of time, Varela picked his spot and slotted home to make it 2-0, importantly giving Thetford that much needed cushion.
Thetford knew the threat Newmarket possessed, so went in search for a 3rd to put the game to bed, and in the 75th minute, a swift move saw this become reality. Newmarket launched another poor clearance in the difficult conditions, Vasileiou got possession of the ball, found Felgueiras making a deep run, and he was able to pull the ball back to Fuller, who slotted home to make it 3-0. With the comfortable lead, Thetford just had to maintain discipline, but Newmarket replied quickly, a good cross in from Robinson was headed home by midfield partner Seymour in the 77th minute.
Despite the threat of a comeback, Thetford maintained composure, and rather than sitting back, took the game to Newmarket and pressed for a fourth, after all, the best form of defence is attack, and Thetford had been enjoying the better territory and winning the midfield battle so it made sense to carry on in the same vein. And in the same vein they continued, coming close to a 4th in the 82nd minute, some lovely footwork and ball control from Delgado allowed him to evade the defenders and find Felgueiras in space in a central position, he shot low to the right of the goal but the shot was well saved by Archer. In the 86th minute, Thetford substitute Laker was put through but he shot wide. For the final minutes, Thetford closed out the game well, with Newmarket unable to craft any chances of note, and the young, fearless Thetford players maintained pressure up the park, with Delgado, Felgueiras and Varela all displaying some nifty footwork. And with that, Thetford picked up another 3 points to move further away from the relegation zone, comfortably in the middle of the table.
Wow, what a cracking game in the rain, and a phenomenal performance from Thetford, certainly the best I have seen them play. There is a real confidence and swagger to the team, and a relentless desire to attack and not sit back, which is brilliant to watch. The team is finding a nice balance of experience and youth, and although every player would have got at least an 8 out of 10 today, I enjoyed the steadying influence of Smith, Cusack, captain Bond and player-manager Morton helping the young attacking players Varela, Visocanskis, Felgueiras, Vasileiou and Delgado to express themselves, and a special mention has to go centre-back Balment who was imperious today. He looked assured and I thought he must be a new signing but I understand he was promoted from the reserve team, which is very impressive indeed. Reflecting on Newmarket, their turn-around in form is concerning, after recording six wins from the opening six games, they have now lost the last 4 league games, conceding a lot of goals in the process. To me, they looked to be lacking in the midfield, and they kept falling foul of the offside law, getting into offside positions when attacking and getting caught out in defence, but I am sure they will be able to correct things soon and finish in a good position in the league. I am hoping to follow Thetford Town away at Whitton United, but this all depends on the fuel situation improving, something I am not hopeful for, either way, UP THE TOWN!!
Line-Ups:
THETFORD TOWN: Macauley Rodgers, Sam Bond (C), Andrew Cusack, Matt Morton, Connor Balment, Elliot Smith, Artur Visocanskis, Jake Mann, Ryan Fuller, Sonil Vasileiou, Joao Varela. SUBS: Adam Laker, Marley Delgado, Bernardo Felgueiras, Frank Gammon, John Taylor.
NEWMARKET TOWN: Alex Archer, James Chivers, Henry Hall, Scott Paterson, Max York (C), Jonathan Carver, Ben Robinson, James Seymour, James Hall, Michael Shinn, Lewis Whitehead. SUBS: Ryan Swallow, Jack Whiting, Jordan Lake, Sam Gomarsall.
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