28th October 2023
Thetford Town vs Ely City @ Mundford Road - Thetford
Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)
15:00 KO
£8 entry
Attendance - 110
Half-time score: Thetford Town 1-1 Ely City
Goals:
Ely City: Friend - 1'
Thetford Town: Avis - 8'
Ely City: Mansfield - 59'
Thetford Town: Fuller - 85'
Thetford Town: Avis - 90'
Final Score: Thetford Town 3-2 Ely City
With Thetford Town's last game, away at Woodbridge Town, cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch, it has now been two weeks since their last game, where a brilliant first half performance saw them secure the three points against Fakenham Town. The break has given the team time to get over those niggly injuries and prepare for todays game, where back-to-back wins would give them a boost after some tough recent results. However, todays opponents, Ely City, despite sitting 16th in the league at the start of the day, will not be easy to overcome, showing some erratic form this season which includes a recent big victory over Lakenheath, pushing Newmarket Town close and defeating Heacham away, having strengthened the squad since the teams met earlier in the season. Of particular note was the signing of Dean Grogan, who recently scored a famous last minute equaliser for Lakenheath, before taking his shirt off and receiving his second yellow. With this in mind, it was sure to be a fiery game!
Todays Barnes Print programme had striker Dan Gilchrist on the front, and he was back in the starting line-up after recovering from an injury.
It was a sunny and mild autumn afternoon, with perfect weather conditions and a brilliant looking pitch ready for this afternoons contest. Thetford Town lined-up in their home claret and blue, with Ely City in their away blue strip.
KEY MOMENTS
TT = Thetford Town
EC = Ely City
1' - EC - GOAL (0-1) - A poor ball from Gilchrist is intercepted by Castle, he immediately threads in Jack Friend, and seeing keeper Tom Smith off his line, he chips him from 20 yards, a brilliant finish to put Ely City in the lead after only 45 seconds!
8' - TT - GOAL (1-1) - Thetford respond quickly, the referee plays advantage for a foul on a Thetford player, and they capitalise. King gets the ball out to Diggens on the right, he drives a low ball across the box, it finds Gilchrist on the left and he shoots at the near-post, the keeper gets a block in and the ball is bobbling near the line, where goal-poacher extraordinaire Avis stabs it over!
10' - EC - Thetford switch off at the back and Ely strike down the right, the ball is cut back to Mansfield in a prime shooting position, but he cannot wrap his foot around the ball and his shot skews wide of the target.
17' - EC - Captain Jenkins, spotting Tom Smith off his line, has a go from 35 yards out, the ball has a flat trajectory and is sneaking inside the post, but Smith gets down well to turn the ball out for a corner.
23' - TT - Mann steals the ball and finds Diggens on the right, the ball is returned to Jake inside the box, he drives the ball low through the danger area, but Avis is unable to connect, so close!
34' - TT - King drives into the box, he pulls the ball back for Avis, and from just inside the area, he hits a powerful strike, but it is at keeper Congreve, and although it stings his gloves, he is able to retain control of the ball.
53' - TT - Some great work down the left wing from Laker sees him free Gilchrist, he travels into the box and slips through King, but under the close attention of Tunnell he is shepherded wide, and from the narrow angle his strike is wide of the mark.
57' - TT - King and Gilchrist link-up in a short corner, King drives into the box, but his low powerful strike at the near-post is turned wide by Congreve.
59' - EC - GOAL (1-2) - After a questionable 'head injury', Thetford's attack is halted. On the restart, they are dispossessed, Ely burst forwards through Jack Friend down the right, he whips the ball into the box, and at the far-post, it is nodded into the net by Mansfield to put Ely back in the ascendancy.
65' - EC - A swift counter from Ely City sees Mansfield feed captain Jenkins, he strikes the ball with his first touch from the edge of the box, it is heading for the bottom right corner, but Tom Smith dives low to make a great save.
85' - TT - GOAL (2-2) - Thetford make some wholesale changes, and the substitutes begin to have a positive impact on the game. Winger Haylett keeps trying crosses into the box from the right-wing all game, and this time his cross beats the first man and travels into the danger zone, where utility player and substitute, Ryan Fuller, playing in an advanced role, rises highest to flick the ball into the net with his head, sending the home crowd wild! The big man was having a big impact on the game after coming on, and the goal was well deserved.
87' - TT - Thetford push for the winner, a long throw-in from Fuller ends up back with him and he recycles the ball chipping it into the box, substitute Olpin picks it up at the far-post and has a couple of swings at the ball, but he cannot connect cleanly and the chance goes begging.
90' - TT - GOAL (3-2) - Rapturous scenes as Thetford turn this game around, some brilliant work from Laker down the left, he makes space to drive the ball into the box, substitute Malachi Wright flicks it on, and that man again, Shaun Avis, pounces onto the ball and fires it in from close-range, simply amazing stuff!
95' - EC - RED CARD - Ely get a free-kick in a dangerous position, instead of sending the ball into the box, Hamer tries to squeeze the ball in at the near-post, but Tom Smith is equal to it and bats it away for a corner. During the build-up to the corner, Tom Smith goes down, and after talking to the linesman, substitute Tatum Cartner receives a red card, and Ely go down to 10-men for the final moments.
97' - EC - In the dying moments, the ball falls to captain Jenkins on the edge of the box, he drives in a powerful effort, forcing a great reaction save from Tom Smith to secure the hard-earned and important 3-points for Thetford Town.
What a brilliant game, where the momentum swung from one team to another as the game progressed, but ultimately, the Thetford substitutes were able to turn around the game from a losing position, with particular credit having to go to Ryan Fuller. When he came on as a striker, he created a nuisance of himself immediately and gave the team a strong focal point to feed off, what a fine performance! There were times that Thetford struggled this afternoon, but it has to be said that Ely City are a much improved team and came with a great game plan, and it almost paid off, I'm certainly sure they will begin to rise up the table in the coming weeks. The back-to-back wins for Thetford Town keeps them in the play-off running, and sees them turn around their recent form. Next up is another home game, this time hosting Soham Town Rangers who are on a similar trajectory of improvement as Ely City, so it will certainly be another big battle at Mundford Road, but the crowd will be there to back the team, UP THE TOWN!!!
Line-Ups:
THETFORD TOWN: Tom Smith, Sam Bond (C), Ryan Haylett, Hugh Cullum, Adam Laker, Kieran Money, Jake Mann, Cameron King, Dan Gilchrist, George Diggens, Shaun Avis. SUBS: Callum Olpin, Ryan Fuller, Malachi Wright, Santi Davies, Jaydyn Lott.
ELY CITY: Charlie Congreve, Benjamin Smith, Charlie Tunnell, Ben Harnwell, Dean Grogan, Brett Wyman, Charlie Castle, Louis Jenkins (C), Jack Friend, Luke Mansfield, Aaron Hamer. SUBS: Ardened Hida, Josh Lewis, Tatum Cartner.
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