1st April 2023
Thetford Town vs Long Melford @ Mundford Road - Thetford
Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)
15:00 KO
£7 entry
Attendance - 98
Half-time score: Thetford Town 3-0 Long Melford
Goals:
Thetford Town: Morton - 27'
Thetford Town: Mann - 38'
Thetford Town: Diggens - 45'
Thetford Town: Gilchrist - 64' (P), 76'
Leigh Simons recorded the goals, see the links below:
Final Score: Thetford Town 5-0 Long Melford
Following the events of last week, Thetford Town were going into todays game under strength, thanks to a host of red cards and injuries in the last game. With the top of the league still to play for, Thetford would be hoping to win as many of the remaining fixtures as possible, but today's game was going to be a tricky one to pull off. Long Melford, were sitting mid-table and had a string of variable results, however, just before the game they had made a trio new signings, including a player who was part of the Barcelona development programme, to make what was already a difficult game for Thetford even harder.
It was a wet April day, with on-off rain and a driving wind, to which Thetford Town came out in their home colours of claret and blue, whilst Long Melford were in their home black and white strip.
KEY MOMENTS
TT = Thetford Town
LM = Long Melford
1' - TT - Nearly a goal within the first 30 seconds, Lake pumps the ball forwards and releases Diggens down the right wing, he runs down the line, cuts in and beats his man to square the ball to Gilchrist lurking around the penalty spot, but unfortunately his effort is blasted over.
20' - TT - King takes a corner, and tries to curl the ball in, it is heading for the top far corner, forcing keeper Boulter to jump high and punch the ball clear.
27' - TT - GOAL (1-0) - King curls in a ball from a corner, it finds Diggens on the far side who immediately plays the ball back into the danger area, Long Melford captain Brown hooks the ball and it flies over the keeper and is rolling in, but before it crosses the line, opportunistic player-manager Matt Morton pokes the ball over the line to score his first goal of the season, a well deserved moment for Matt and the team, with the goal importantly breaking the deadlock in this game.
29' - TT - King and Gilchrist attack in tandem, King tees up Gilchrist from 20 yards out, his effort travelling narrowly wide, it certainly had Boulter worried for a moment.
38' - TT - GOAL (2-0) - Gilchrist picks up the ball in midfield, he runs forward into space, and seeing the run of Jake Mann, dinks a beautifully weighted ball over the top, Mann takes a touch to control the ball, then half-volleys the ball with his left-foot, beyond the onrushing Boulter for a well-taken goal, what a ball, what a touch and what a finish!
45' - TT - GOAL (3-0) - Diggens beats the offside trap from a good long ball from Fuller, he watches Boulter come out and deftly chips him for the ball to roll into the goal, clinical stuff from Thetford, and puts them in a strong position going into half-time.
56' - TT - During a swift Thetford counter-attack, King is taken out, the referee waves play on, and alert to the situation, Laker pings the ball over to Olpin, he then threads it out wide to Diggens who is through on goal, as he tries to round Boulter he is contacted and goes down, but after consultation with the linesman, a goal-kick is given, probably the correct decision on this one.
59' - LM - A desperate shot from captain Jacob Brown flies in from 20 yards, it is straight at Rodgers but the ball takes an awkward bounce to make it tricky, although thankfully Rodgers is able to control the ball.
62' - LM - A Ryan Gibbs free-kick is flashed across the face of goal and out, but all it needed was a touch to go in, very close.
63' - TT - Down the left wing, Gilchrist kicks the ball past the defender and breaks forward, he charges down to the edge of the penalty area, plays a 1-2 with Cameron King to allow him to burst into the box, he ghosts past 2 challenges but is wiped out by the 3rd as he tries to make the space for a shot, with the referee pointing to the spot.
64' - TT - GOAL (4-0) - Having worked hard for the penalty, Gilchrist steps up to it and sends the keeper the wrong way to slot the ball into the right of the goal, surely killing off the game.
73' - TT - King threads Diggens through on goal, 1-on-1 he tries to round Boulter, but Boulter makes a great leap to collect and smother the ball.
76' - TT - GOAL (5-0) - A quick free-kick is taken to find King in space on the left wing, he takes the ball into the box, squares to Jake Mann at the edge of the box, he takes a touch and looks up to see Gilchrist open in the box, so he threads the ball through to him, and from close range Gilchrist strokes the ball in for his second of the afternoon.
79' - TT - King gallops down the field with the ball at his feet, he travels into the box and is completely smashed off the ball by an on-rushing defender for a stonewall penalty. Somehow the referee waves it away, but Cameron King stays down and looks to be badly hurt, eventually exiting the pitch cradling his arm to go straight through into the dressing room, I for one am hoping that it is not as bad as it looks.
83' - TT - Substitute Davies threads Gilchrist through, he slots the ball into the goal but it is brought back for offside. This is the 3rd incident like this of the afternoon, and from where I was, this one looked the most puzzling of the bunch, to sadly deny Dan his hattrick.
86' - LM - Ryan Gibbs gets the opportunity to shoot in a dangerous position, his effort struck with venom at the near post is well saved by Rodgers to push it out for a corner, and maintain the clean sheet.
88' - TT - Coach and Cambridge United legend John Taylor comes on for a cameo substitute performance, confusing some of the Long Melford fans, was great to see!
91' - LM - A through ball is threaded forwards for Ryan Gibbs to latch onto, he goes for an early strike but hits it over the bar.
Overall an excellent performance from Thetford Town to comfortably beat a dangerous Long Melford side and the perfect response to the events of last week, although the late injury to Cameron King somewhat took the shine off things. He went off clutching his arm, I am hoping it is nothing too serious. Despite the depleted squad and the difficult weather conditions, Thetford played some excellent football and completely swept Long Melford aside, the visiting team not offering much other than a couple of Ryan Gibbs efforts. It actually could and should have been a lot more, Thetford Town putting the ball in the net a further 3 times, but each pulled back for tenuous offsides, as well as the biggest stonewall penalty of the season that was not given, the same event that caused the injury to Cameron King as he was smashed off the ball. Despite such events, the goals were well taken today, some of the passes were fantastic, Gilchrist's chip forwards, Fuller's long ball and Mann's through-ball to Dan, and the finishing was also on-point, with Jake and George displaying particularly deft touches to put the ball into the onion bag, although special mention to the manager for getting on the scoresheet, it was great seeing him come forwards this game. Just over a weeks rest for Thetford Town as they travel up to the Broads to play Norwich United in Blofield, for what will surely be yet another stern test, with some familiar faces in the squad such as Michael Campbell, Max Melanson and Frank Gammon. I am not 100% sure of my Easter plans yet, so not sure if I can make it, but either way I hope for another big performance from the team to maintain the pressure on Ipswich Wanderers, UP THE TOWN!!!
Line-Ups:
THETFORD TOWN: Macauley Rodgers, Ryan Fuller, Matt Morton, Andrew Cusack (C), Jordan Lake, Cameron King, Jake Mann, Callum Olpin, Adam Laker, Dan Gilchrist, George Diggens. SUBS: Santi Davies, Harvey Lott, John Taylor.
LONG MELFORD: Max Boulter, Charlie Holmes, Sammy Newton, Jake Jackson, Carlos Lazar, Josh Collins, Hassan Ally, Ben Humphreys, Ryan Gibbs, Jacob Brown (C), Will Wingfield. SUBS: Jordan Gibbs, Perry Newman, Charlie Cox, Hugo Hertz, Fred Dende.
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