8th October 2022
Thetford Town vs Kirkley & Pakefield @ Mundford Road - Thetford
Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)
15:00 KO
£7 entry
Attendance - 89
Half-time score: Thetford Town 2-1 Kirkley & Pakefield
Goals:
Kirkley & Pakefield: Goldspink - 6'
Thetford Town: Gilchrist - 12' (P)
Thetford Town: Diggens - 16'
Thetford Town: Machaya - 48'
Kirkley & Pakefield: Russell - 59'
Leigh Simons recorded the goals, see the links below:
Final Score: Thetford Town 3-2 Kirkley & Pakefield
Upon first glance, todays game may have seemed like a foregone conclusion with Thetford Town riding high on 27 points, and Kirkley & Pakefield struggling on 4, but delve a bit deeper and you will realise that Kirkley & Pakefield appear to have been on the wrong side of a lot of very close games, so I don't think the table tells the full story here. Kirkley & Pakefield are always a strong side, and they have already played a lot of the top teams, including an opening day fixture against Thetford Town where they narrowly lost 1-0, so they are certainly a side that deserves respect. Luckily, Thetford will already know this due to this game, but I still went into this one a bit wary, but also excited at the same time.
It was a gloriously sunny and dry autumn day, and both teams came out in their home colours, Thetford in claret and blue, and Kirkley & Pakefield in blue, coincidentally the same Errea template as the Bury Town kit.
KEY MOMENTS
TT = Thetford Town
KP = Kirkley & Pakefield
4' - KP - Barber bursts down the left and plays in Cameron Russell down the left of the box, his shot is deflected out for corner.
6' - KP - GOAL (0-1) - Captain Lopez chips a brilliant ball into the box, Goldspink heads the ball straight at keeper Tom Smith, but it falls back into his path on the rebound for a close range left footed tap in, to shock the home fans with an early lead for the visitors.
10' - TT - KP RED CARD - Thetford fight back and break through Gilchrist, he plays in Diggens, but the keeper comes out quickly, forcing him to cut back, he squares to captain Elliot Smith, whose strike from just inside the box is blocked off the line by the stray arm of defender Lewis Flower, and after a second dig by Gilchrist which is also blocked off the line, the referee signals to the spot to award the penalty, and dishes out a straight red card to Flower, undoing all of the great early work from the Kirkley & Pakefield team.
12' - TT - GOAL (1-1) - After strong protests, Gilchrist finally gets to step up and he makes no mistake, slotting the ball into the low left corner of the goal, to bring Thetford back level, and now with a man advantage.
15' - KP - Despite going a man-down, Kirkley & Pakefield keep pressing, and they get a tenuous free-kick in a dangerous position. Barber whips the ball in at the near-post, where captain Lopez is almost able to bundle the ball in, but Tom Smith is ever present and he manages to prevent the goal, the ball going out for a corner.
16' - KP - Barber launches a long throw-in into the box, it is allowed to bounce and falls to Goldspink who comes up will a sublime overhead scissor kick, striking the ball well, but unfortunately it is straight at Tom Smith for an easy save, but had it have gone in, it would have been a brilliant goal from the striker.
16' - TT - GOAL (2-1) - Tom Smith releases the ball quickly and Thetford counter fast, Gilchrist attacks down the left flank, cuts back and squares into the box towards captain Elliot Smith, he steps over the ball and it travel onto Diggens who has the time and space to control the ball and hit a clean left-footed strike to slide it past the keeper, a nice swift goal from the team to put them into the lead.
35' - TT - Some nice interplay from King and Gilchrist puts King into some space in the middle of the park, he bursts forwards towards the edge of the area and hits a powerful strike which forces a diving save from keeper Blowers, pushing it out for a corner.
39' - TT - Laker goes on a run and had a dig from just outside the area, his well hit strike forcing a good stop from Blowers.
48' - TT - GOAL (3-1) - A neat 1-2 between Diggens and King releases Diggens down the right wing, he gets beyond the back-line and squares an accurate ball across the box to Machaya at the far post who hits it home to give Thetford an all important 2 goal cushion.
52' - KP - Goldspink has a crack from 20 yards, hit with real venom it forces an excellent save from Tom Smith, pushing the ball out for a corner.
53' - KP - A minute later, captain Lopez unleashes his own long range strike, forcing yet another difficult save from Tom Smith, the rebounding ball is recycled and crossed back in the box, with Smith rising highest to get all important contact on the ball, taking a knock from one of the big Kirkley & Pakefield forwards in the process.
55' - TT - King releases Diggens through on goal, seeing keeper Blowers charging in, he attempts the chip, but it is hit too low and is easily claimed by Blowers.
58' - TT - Diggens is released down the right, he cuts in towards goals and strikes at the near post, his stinging effort saved by Blowers.
59' - KP - GOAL (3-2) - Barber collects a lax Thetford pass in the middle of the field, he runs forwards and lays the ball out to captain Lopez down the right wing, his cross is pin-point accurate and is headed in cleanly by striker Cameron Russell to bring 10-man Kirkley & Pakefield back into the game, against all the odds.
73' - KP - Another impressive Kirkley & Pakefield attack sees Cameron Russell square the ball in from the right to set-up an easy tap-in were it not for Tom Smith diving out to claim the ball, a great bit of goalkeeping.
86' - KP - Kirkley smell blood, and finish the game the better side, and hunt desperately for the equaliser. They go close when a Cameron Russell strike from inside the box is skewed out wide, a huge moment in the game.
88' - KP - Kirkley & Pakefield are awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position, just beyond the right hand corner of the Thetford area, captain Lopez hits a clever free kick, an out-swinger aimed at the near-post which has everyone fooled except Cameron King, who reads the ball and intercepts it to put it out for a corner. From this corner, there is a goalmouth scramble resulting in a shot cleared off the line by a Thetford defender, nervy times for Thetford indeed.
91' - KP - Attacks come wave after wave, and in injury time, a ball is crossed in from the left wing, striker Cameron Russell connects with the ball but doesn't get enough on it and Tom Smith is able to gather it up.
95' - TT - Thetford get a free-kick right on the edge of the box, King drives in a low, powerful ball to substitute Fuller, who hits it well and it flashes narrowly wide across the face of goal.
That was certainly a rollercoaster of a game, and a fine one for the neutrals for sure. I am finding it hard to believe that Kirkley & Pakefield are 2nd from bottom, along with Soham Town Rangers, they are best team I have seen Thetford play so far, and they only had 10-men for most of the game, an unbelievable performance from them! The front 4 of Lopez, Russell, Goldspink and Barber were particularly impressive, breaking with pace, power and accuracy. I hope results start going their way soon as they deserve it, to move them outside the relegation zone. From a Thetford perspective, it shows how far the club has come that they have secured a 3-2 win and all three-points with a performance that I am sure a lot of the players and coaching staff will not be pleased with. Games like this always come along, but I was glad to see that they put away enough chances to seal the game, and also see off relentless waves of attacks at the end of the game, I honestly thought the equaliser was on the way. There are certainly lessons to have been learned from today, but it should not spoil the fact that the three points puts Thetford Town at the helm of the Thurlow Nunn Premier League table, and with a game in hand still, a magnificent sight to behold. Unfortunately, I won't be at the Mildenhall Town away game next week as I will be travelling down to Swindon Town to see Col U under new management, as well as my parents in nearby Reading, but I get the chance to do this fixture on the 8th November for the Challenge Cup which was a touch of luck for me as I always love this tie. I will be checking my phone from the Arkell's Stand (which incidentally is a great brewery in Swindon - will be on the hunt for a pint of 3B), and wish Thetford all the best, UP THE TOWN!!!
Line-Ups:
THETFORD TOWN: Tom Smith, Artur Visocanskis, Matt Morton, Connor Balment, Adam Laker, Jordan Lake, Elliot Smith (C), Cameron King, Emmanuel Machaya, Dan Gilchrist, George Diggens. SUBS: Jake Mann, Ryan Fuller, Santi Davies, John Taylor, Sam Bond.
KIRKLEY & PAKEFIELD: Alex Blowers, Macaulay Holt, Alex Meeken, Kieren Underdown, Lewis Flower, Keenan Hutchings, Ben George, Miguel Lopez (C), Cameron Russell, Kaiden Goldspink, George Barber. SUBS: Daniel Munro, Callum Bell, Harry Creamer, Connor Swan.
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