16th November 2024
Thetford Town vs Heacham @ Mundford Road - Thetford
Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)
15:00 KO
£8 entry
Attendance - 210
Half-time score: Thetford Town 1-1 Heacham
Goals:
Heacham: Davies - 16'
Thetford Town: Money - 45'+2'
Thetford Town: Diggens - 67'
Thetford Town: Grove - 75'
Thetford Town: Buttle - 81'
Final Score: Thetford Town 4-1 Heacham
Following Thetford Town's dramatic 8-7 penalty shoot-out victory in the FA Vase, next up was a home fixture against Heacham. The visitors were 13th in the table prior to kick-off and with a recent up-tick in form and a tight game earlier in the season on the Norfolk Coast, things were set-up for another competitive game at Mundford Road. With both Fakenham Town and Ely City faltering of late, it was a huge opportunity for Thetford Town to make-up some much needed ground in the race to top spot, the one and only guaranteed promotion spot into Step 4. Today would also be a chance for Thetford fans to see new signing and left winger Jordan Buttle from Step 4 Gorleston, class player and a statement signing!
On the front cover of today's match day programme was the now iconic image of Jake Mann sliding in front of the home fans to celebrate his last minute winner against Downham Town a couple of weeks ago, what a moment!
Today was another relatively mild afternoon, with light rain coming in half-way through the 2nd half. In front of a buzzing Mundford Road crowd, Thetford Town lined up in claret and blue with Heacham also in their home colours of black and white stripes.
KEY MOMENTS
TT = Thetford Town
HE = Heacham
16' - HE - GOAL (0-1) - Colby Wood flops down very easily, the referee awards a free-kick and the Thetford players are too busy protesting when Wood takes a quick free kick to Williams on the edge of the box, he shoots but the effort is deflected, it spins out to the far-post where Davies is all alone and he smashes in from close range, Thetford caught napping there.
30' - TT - Elliot Smith reads a pass and intercepts, he plays Diggens through and having drawn in the defenders he shuffles the ball out to the open Kieran Money on the right, he drives into the box and cuts back to shoot, but his effort is blocked, good scrambling defence from Heacham.
45'+2' - TT - GOAL (1-1) - Moments before the half-time whistle, Money and Gilchrist play a neat 1-2 down the left, Money is through on goal and slots the ball past Watson, huge moment to go in level at the break!
67' - TT - GOAL (2-1) - Heacham proving tricky to breakdown but Thetford keep plugging away, ball played into Gilchrist at speed on the edge of the box, he flicks it on to release Diggens down the right and he buries it in at the near-post, that little moment of class to put Thetford into the lead.
75' - TT - GOAL (3-1) - Brilliant ball over the top from Jake Mann, substitute Grove times his run to perfection and is through on goal, he lets the ball bounce then deftly chips it over Watson, the ball nestling into the net, sublime finish!
80' - TT - Debutant Jordan Buttle goes on a strong run down the left, he gets to the edge of the box and shifts round the defenders and drills in an effort at the near-post, Watson only able to knock it out for a corner.
81' - TT - GOAL (4-1) - From the resultant corner the ball eventually comes to Buttle just outside the box in a central position, he takes a step forwards, picks his spot and passes the ball into the bottom left corner, composed pinpoint finish from the new signing, he took that really well!
87' - HE - Wells gifts the ball to substitute Hutton, he is through on goal from the right but Dickerson is out quickly and makes the save at the near-post, great goalkeeping.
After a tough first-half, Thetford Town made the changes and managed to slice through an organised and compact Heacham defence to run out comfortable winners and bag another huge 3-points. The bench was incredibly strong today and in the end Thetford's class shone through. With rivals at the top dropping points again the table looks good from a Thetford perspective, with Town sitting 3rd and with four games in hand on the current table toppers Ely City. Games like today are so important in the context of the league and Heacham made Thetford work hard, sitting back and looking to hit their hosts on the break, but Thetford need to find a way to counter this as it will happen again, and today they managed it. For instance, Kirkley & Pakefield visit next week, and with a 5-1 Thetford win earlier this season, another defensive performance could be on the way to Mundford Road. Thetford Town certainly have the players to break these teams down and new signing Jordan Buttle showed enough that he will also be a big threat, looking strong, quick, skilful and composed in the 30mins he had on the pitch. Joining an attacking force that includes Diggens, Gilchrist, King, Grove, Olpin etc. is an exciting prospect for the Thetford Town faithful. Looking at Heacham, they will be a difficult opponent for any team, they defended well, Colby Wood was a threat all game and I thought substitute Hilliard looked dangerous when he came on. The momentum is building at Thetford Town, hopefully this will continue, everyone at the club and all the fans are behind the team, UP THE TOWN!!!
Line-Ups:
THETFORD TOWN: Ryan Dickerson, Josh Wells, Jaydyn Lott, Sam Bond (C), Jake Mann, Kieran Money, Elliot Smith, Harvey Lott, Adam Laker, George Diggens, Dan Gilchrist. SUBS: Jordan Buttle, Cameron King, Callum Olpin, Dylan Grove, Malachi Wright.
HEACHAM: Aaron Watson, Shane Akers, Tom Harwood, Jordan Goult, Colby Wood, Matty Franks (C), Nathan Davies, Tommy Hunt, Jack Prentice, Harvey Pightling, Josh Williams. SUBS: Toby Hilliard, George Hutton, Conall Forde, Royce Rawlings, James Suckling.
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