5th September 2023
Thetford Town vs Lakenheath @ Mundford Road - Thetford
Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)
19:45 KO
£8 entry
Attendance - 240
Half-time score: Thetford Town 2-1 Lakenheath
Goals:
Lakenheath: J. Smith - 8'
Thetford Town: Money - 25'
Thetford Town: King - 32'
Thetford Town: Avis - 51'
Lakenheath: Thulborn - 67'
Lakenheath: Grogan - 93'
Final Score: Thetford Town 3-3 Lakenheath
Although still early days in the season, tonight's game pitted the teams setting the pace in the Thurlow Nunn Premier, with 1st (Thetford Town) vs 2nd (Lakenheath), so excitement levels were high. Both teams have a fast-flowing attacking style, and nobody was sure who would come out on top. Both teams are fairly close so there was a bumper crowd to watch the spectacle, and to add to this, over the summer Thetford signed Shaun Avis from Lakenheath, a player who scored over 100 goals for them, so this added even more spice to the tie, I love nights like this!
On the way in, I picked up a programme, and it was a nice surprise to see the match report from the previous game between these two sides in there, a thrilling 3-2 win for Thetford Town, thanks for all who work on this, is much appreciated.
On a warm and sultry evening, Thetford Town are in their home claret and blue, with Lakenheath in their away white strip, in front of a buzzing crowd.
KEY MOMENTS
TT = Thetford Town
LH = Lakenheath
1' - LH - Lakenheath nearly score within the first 20 seconds, Jamie Smith pounces on a loose ball at the back, he takes it into the box, but his strike at the near post is deflected into the side-netting.
3' - LH - From a corner, a high ball drops to Thulborn on the edge of the area, his snap volley looks to be arrowing it, but it is deflected wide for a corner.
8' - LH - GOAL (0-1) - Lakenheath eventually get the goal for all their early pressure, a shot from outside of the box by ex-Thetford player Ross Bailey is deflected, it falls nicely into the path of Jamie Smith who calmly slots the ball into the goal, across keeper Tom Smith. This striker always seems to score against Thetford, I can certainly recall a few goals when he was at Walsham-le-Willows!
10' - LH - The fast start from Lakenheath continues and they almost get a second. Thulborn intercepts another loose defensive pass, he blazes into the box, but Tom Smith is out quick to close the angle, and makes a fine save with his legs at the near post.
18' - TT - Thetford finally begin to play some football, from a long ball, a deflection puts Gilchrist in, he takes the ball forwards into the box then cuts it back to Avis, just as he is about to shoot he is bundled over in the box, but the referee waves play-on, not sure about that decision from where I was sitting, looked like his legs were taken out by a clumsy challenge.
25' - TT - GOAL (1-1) - Thetford step things up and get a goal back, King and Gilchrist play their usual interlinking routine from a short corner, King then drives in, lays the ball back to Money whose pin-point strike from the edge of the area has Beckwith rooted and it flies into the net, fantastic hit.
32' - TT - GOAL (2-1) - Thetford follow up with a second goal to completely turnaround the game, King starts a run and tries to feed in Gilchrist, but a deflection from Ross Bailey puts the ball right into the path of King, who continues his run into the box, he ghosts past one defender then beautifully curls the ball round the final defender and the diving Beckwith to send the ball into the inside of the side-netting, an exquisite finish from the captain!
44' - LH - A quick break sees Jamie Smith through, he is about to pull the trigger from the edge of the area, but winger Haylett gets across well and puts in a fine sliding challenge to prevent the effort from coming in.
45'+1' - TT - Thetford look to finish the half with a flourish, Haylett runs down the right, cuts inside and feeds the ball out to Gilchrist who is open, he hits a left footed strike which forces a good save from Beckwith, conceding a corner in the process.
45' + 2' - TT - Gilchrist sends in the corner ball to the far-post, Haylett gets on the end of it, and his headed effort is narrowly over the bar and is caught by the top of the net, so close!
51' - TT - GOAL (3-1) - Thetford begin the second half as they finished the first half, and bag a quick goal to give themselves a two goal advantage. Some more fine work down the right wing by Haylett sees him whip a vicious ball into the box, Beckwith collides with a defender and fumbles the ball, and that man, ex-Lakenheath striker Shaun Avis, is on-hand to bundle in the ball, a goal poacher extraordinaire.
57' - TT - It is all Thetford, and they are awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position. High on confidence, King steps up and hits a curling strike heading in at the near-post, but Beckwith gets across well to make a fine save to deny the Thetford captain.
58' - TT - Grove bursts forwards with a trademark pacey run, he travels into the box then fires it across the face of goal, King slides in and is millimeters away from making contact in what would have been a sure goal, fine margins!
62' - LH - Some lax defending from Thetford results in Young winning possession, he charges through into the box and is brought down in the area, but the referee waves play-on. I think Thetford got away with one here, but this cancels out the earlier penalty shout which was also not given.
67' - LH - GOAL (3-2) - Some more poor decisions at the back sees Thetford dispossessed, the ball is moved quickly across the box to find Thulborn open on the far side, and he makes no mistake to side-foot the ball into the inside of the side-netting, Tom Smith has no chance.
67' - TT - RED CARD - In the aftermath, I did not see what happened as I was taking my notes for the goal, but Thetford defender Hugh Cullum has an altercation with the goalscorer, and receives a straight red. I can only assume he lashed out in some way, but the lack of discipline from the young defender turns the game on its head, meaning Thetford now have to hold on for the best part of 30mins with only 10-men, not a great move from the young man and one I hope he learns from.
87' - LH - Thetford are defending resolutely, but substitute Nicholls carves out a chance from the edge of the area, he cuts back and hits a pacey daisy cutter of a strike, but it travels just wide.
91' - LH - RED CARD - Debenham received a second yellow, seemingly for an altercation with the referee, and is given his marching orders, 10v10 now.
93' - LH - GOAL (3-3) - With Lakenheath still in attack mode, they keep pressing, and they get a sensational equaliser, a long ball isn't cleared and it finds Grogan open at the far post, he takes a good touch and powers in the ball from close range, a fine finish from the centre-back.
93' - LH - RED CARD - Having taken quite a bit of stick from the young Thetford fans, Grogan certainly enjoyed his goal, celebrating in front of the Thetford fans, and during this he whips off his shirt, and he seemingly knows what is coming as he receives a second yellow and is off, leaving Lakenheath with 9 men to close out the game. It did look like it was worth it though, fair play to Dean, was a well taken goal and a hilarious moment.
94' - TT - Gilchrist and King link up, trying desperately to carve out a winning opportunity, King sends a low ball into the danger area, Avis tries to convert, but the effort is blocked by the scrambling Lakenheath defence.
97' - TT - A late effort from either King or Avis, there was so much going on at this point that I'm not sure, but in any case, a fine strike from the edge of the box forces a fingertip save from Beckwith, the ball is open to be hit, but both Laker and Gilchrist are unable to control the follow-up and the ball goes harmlessly out for a goal-kick.
Where to start with this one? This game certainly lived up to its billing, and it was a thrill ride from start to finish, there's surely not be a single fan in the ground gutted to have spent £8 on this one! Lakenheath came out on fire, and could easily have been 2-0 up after 10mins, but Thetford woke up and dominated the game for the next 40 minutes, until some poor decision making gifted Lakenheath a lifeline, and in the aftermath of this, a moment of petulance from Hugh Cullum put the result at huge risk. Thetford weathered the pressure, until the Lakenheath red card, at which the point the game went absolutely bonkers, a brilliant equaliser from Grogan, another red card, and some strong chances from Thetford in the death, but ultimately the points were shared. Thetford should feel like this was 2-points lost, but after going down to 10-men with at least 30mins to hold on, a draw should not be considered a bad result. Either way, both sides remain undefeated, and will certainly be going toe-to-toe as the season unfolds, it is certainly going to be fun to watch, and I cannot wait for the reverse fixture if it is even half and eventful as this one! Next up for Thetford Town is another away game, this time at a troubled Norwich United, and one I intend to be at where we can hopefully get another away result, UP THE TOWN!!!
Line-Ups:
THETFORD TOWN: Tom Smith, Ryan Haylett, Ryan Fuller, Hugh Cullum, Adam Laker, Kieran Money, Jake Mann, Cameron King (C), Dan Gilchrist, Dylan Grove, Shaun Avis. SUBS: Callum Olpin, Sam Bond, Malachi Wright, Santi Davies, Isaac Gilby.
LAKENHEATH: Charlie Beckwith, Sam Hawley (C), Sam Peters, Ross Bailey, Dean Grogan, Karl Saffery, Kane Manels, Ryan Taylor, Jamie Smith, Tommy Thulborn, Luke Young. SUBS: Matthew Collins, Cameron Nicholls, Tom Debenham, Max Melanson, Euan Banks.
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