25th February 2023
Thetford Town vs Walsham-le-Willows @ Mundford Road – Thetford
Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)
15:00 KO
£7 entry
Attendance – 160
Half-time score: Thetford Town 2-0 Walsham-le-Willows
Goals:
Thetford Town: Diggens - 17', 45'+2
Walsham-le-Willows: Chaplin - 56'
Thetford Town: King - 82'
Leigh Simons recorded the goals, see the links below:
Final Score: Thetford Town 3-1 Walsham-le-Willows
A huge game at Mundford Road this afternoon as league leaders Thetford Town took on local rivals Walsham-le-Willows. Despite Walsham-le-Willows sitting in 12th place, the form book tends to go out of the window in fixtures like this, so Thetford were going to have to work hard to secure any points. Walsham-le-Willows had recently strengthened their squad, bringing in Diss Town captain Kehan Whitby, along with two Thetford loanees in Artur Visocanskis and Marley Delgado, who I had presumed would not be playing today. Thetford had also reinforced the squad with Callum Olpin on loan from Wroxham, a player I was looking forward to seeing.
A bumper crowd turned up, with more than the official attendance of 160 present, and there was a great buzz around the ground in what was a largely sunny, but very chilly afternoon, with the odd short shower blowing in. Thetford were in their traditional claret and blue, with Walsham-le-Willows in their away white strip.
KEY MOMENTS
TT = Thetford Town
WLW = Walsham-le-Willows
11' - WLW - Jamie Smith has the ball on the edge of the box and squares it to Cooper coming in from the right, he hits a powerful strike but it fizzes over the bar. Whilst it looks like there was no contact on the ball, a corner was awarded to Walsham-le-Willows much to the bemusement of the Thetford players.
17' - TT - GOAL (1-0) - A short corner routine from King and Gilchrist results in King charging into the box along the back-line, he fires the ball across the goal, the Thetford players in the middle of the box fail to make contact, but Diggens is lurking around the far post and he blasts in from close range.
21' - TT - Gilchrist bursts forward and has a shot from the edge of the area, it flies narrowly wide due to a deflection off a defender for a corner.
30' - TT - Gilchrist attacks down the left-flank, Laker overlaps at pace and is fed the ball, he bursts into the box and powers in a shot at the near post, forcing a good save from the keeper. The ball is recycled and Thetford continue to pressurise, resulting in another strike from Laker that is cleared off the line by a Walsham defender.
36' - TT - King goes on a classic forward run, he chips the ball back to Lake running in to support and he immediately cracks a half-volleyed effort, it is well struck and beats the flailing Mayhew, only to smack into the crossbar and out, so close!
38' - WLW - Hubbard hits a volley from the edge of the area, it looked to be momentarily heading in, but it bananas out wide.
43' - TT - Forwards King and Gilchrist launch a sweeping attack, and with neat interplay between the two they get into an advanced position. King fires in the ball to the far-post to find Diggens, he hits the ball first time and it is heading into the top right of the goal from close range, but somehow keeper Mayhew gets a hand to the ball to push it out for a corner, a fine reaction save!
44' - TT - King hits a corner ball in, Elliot Smith climbs high for a free-header, his effort going just wide.
45' + 2 - TT - GOAL (2-0) - Thetford are awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position, after King is body checked as he was about to be free on goal. Diggens steps up, and hits the ball hard and low, travelling under the jumping wall and into the bottom left corner of the goal beyond the reach of Mayhew, a very important goal at an important time, what a hit!
53' - TT - Thetford attack down the right, Diggens tries a different ball, a dink into the near post, Smith gets to the ball first and hits the ball towards the goal at close range, but somehow Mayhew gets another glove on the ball to push it out for a corner, yet another fine save to deny Elliot this time.
56' - WLW - GOAL (2-1) - A long ball is headed on, Chaplin latches onto the bouncing ball and hits a brilliant half-volley that goes just beyond the reach of Tom Smith, but dips just under the crossbar and into the net, what a hit, literally inch perfect, and it was hit with some power! Game on at Mundford Road.
61' - TT - More great work from King feeding Gilchrist, he twists and turns in the box but is well shepherded, he eventually lays it back to Jake Mann, whose effort at the near post skids just wide.
65' - TT - Gilchrist is through on goal, but his effort goes wide of the mark.
66' - TT - Gilchrist marauds down the left wing, he cuts in and fires a strike at the near post, the ball smashing the outside of the box and out.
82' - TT - GOAL (3-1) - After a 15 minutes of battling between the two sides, Thetford are awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position. Cameron King, steps up, and much like the goal at the end of the first half, he hits the ball low and hard, under the wall, and across the goal to nestle in the bottom left corner. Another great hit, and what felt like a match winning strike.
86' - WLW - From a free-kick in a dangerous position, the ball pinballs around the box, forcing some frantic defending from Thetford and a couple of blocks to stop the goal, the move eventually culminating in a skied effort.
Such is the level that Thetford have been playing this season, that a 3-1 win against Walsham-le-Willows, an opponent where results have been difficult to come by over the years, is a game where Thetford may be looking at their performance as they certainly had a whole host of chances to really put Walsham to the sword. However, despite a nervy 20mins in the 2nd half, Thetford always looked the better side, and it was only a matter of time until they sealed the win. Despite a whole host of flowing moves, the game was won by two near identical free-kicks, both hit hard and low by Diggens and King, proving to be an effective tactic today. Walsham certainly battled hard today, they competed well in the midfield, the defenders done well preventing goals on the counter, and keeper Mayhew made two excellent saves to keep them in the game, but ultimately they lacked that finishing ability on the day. I am hoping that Thetford loanees Artur and Marley can have a positive impact on the team. Back to Thetford, all-in-all a job well done, 3 more points on the board, another fixture scratched off the list and no damage done in a game with some iffy officiating at times. Next up is another difficult opponent in Sheringham on Tuesday night, an opponent who beat Thetford earlier in the season in the away game, so Thetford will have to be on their A-game to get another win, but I'm sure the supporters will be behind them no matter the weather, UP THE TOWN!!!
Line-Ups:
THETFORD TOWN: Tom Smith, Ryan Fuller, Matt Morton, Adam Laker, Sam Bond (C), Elliot Smith, Jordan Lake, Jake Mann, Cameron King, Dan Gilchrist, George Diggens. SUBS: Andrew Cusack, Emmanuel Machaya, Callum Olpin, Santi Davies, Connor Balment.
WALSHAM-LE-WILLOWS: Ben Mayhew, Henry Harvey, Sam Last, Ryan Clark, Kehan Whitby, Karl Saffrey (C), Scott Chaplin, Harvey Hubbard, Jamie Smith, Jack Brame, Kyran Cooper. SUBS: Ollie McKensie-Vince, Joe Greenslade-Cross, Ryan Twinn.
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