12th October 2024
Thetford Town vs Hadleigh United @ Mundford Road - Thetford
Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)
15:00 KO
£8 entry
Attendance - 150
Half-time score: Thetford Town 1-1 Hadleigh United
Goals:
Hadleigh United: Andrews - 27'
Thetford Town: Gilchrist - 42'
Thetford Town: Diggens - 58', 63'
Thetford Town: Gilchrist - 66', 80', 87'
Final Score: Thetford Town 6-1 Hadleigh United
Following the disappointment of Tuesday night, Thetford Town returned to league action where they hosted Hadleigh United. Over the years, Hadleigh have always been a tough and competitive team and usually better than their current mid-table position suggests. Indeed, our last game at the back-end of last season saw Hadleigh secure a comprehensive 2-0 home victory, however, if the Thetford attacking play is anything like it has been for the last few games, Fakenham game included, the Hadleigh defence was in for a tough afternoon.
Today's printed match-day programme had the gifted Ryan Haylett on the cover, who is sadly out for the season, but helping out on the touchline, wishing him the best with his recovery.
The weather was changeable to say the least, drizzle, rain, torrential downpours and even sun during the 2nd half, classic autumnal weather. Into the difficult conditions, Thetford Town were back in their claret & blue, with Hadleigh United in their away yellow and black kits.
KEY MOMENTS
TT = Thetford Town
HU = Hadleigh United
7' - TT - Money nods the ball through to Gilchrist on the left, he strides into the box and shoots across Spurling, his effort rolling just wide of the far-post.
9' - HU - Hadleigh corner taken by captain Ethan Clarke it is swung in and a towering header from Hubert flies just over the crossbar.
16' - TT - Neat 1-2 between Laker and Gilchrist puts Laker in down the left, his powerful drive at the near-post is saved by Spurling, Laker stretches to volley the rebound but cannot guide it in.
24' - TT - Gilchrist sees the run from deep by Jake Mann and threads him through, he powers in a shot from 20yrds that dips as it gets to Spurling forcing him to bat the ball away, but the Hadleigh defenders are able to clear-up.
27' - HU - GOAL (0-1) - Breakthrough comes for the visitors, winger Lloyd Clarke is allowed too much space in the box, he jinks about and makes the room to drive a low ball into the danger area and Andrews slides in from close range.
30' - HU - Kie Dyer, reportedly the son of Ipswich Town & Newcastle United star Kieran Dyer, has a pop from 20yrds, it initially looks over then fiercely dips but is just over the bar, close!
33' - TT - A through-ball is cleverly left and this allows Laker to streak through, bearing down on goal he powers in a strike at the near-post in an attempt to beat Spurling, but fires the wrong side of the post and into the side-netting.
35' - HU - Read beats the offside trap and has acres of time and space alone on goal, he takes too long before he shoots, allowing Thetford captain Sam Bond to get back and block the effort with his head, big let off!
42' - TT - GOAL (1-1) - A Cameron King corner is swung into the near-post, Spurling punches it away but it falls to Gilchrist who takes a touch and rifles it home for the equaliser, great timing before half-time.
45'+1' - TT - A Jaydyn Lott through ball sets Elliot Smith off down the right, he sees the run from Olpin through the middle and manage to find him, Olpin bears down on goal and hits a powerful and clean strike, but it is a bit too close to Spurling who makes the save, not sure how much he knew about that one!
48' - HU - A swift attack sees Blackburn in acres of space in an advanced position on the left, he cuts inside and shoots at the near-post forcing Pereira to make a good save.
58' - TT - GOAL (2-1) - Thetford attack starts through Jake Mann down the left, a 1-2 sees him sprint down the wing unchallenged, he squares the ball back into the box to find King, he jinks about trying to find space to shoot but the ball is lost, but it rolls towards substitute Diggens who turns and shoots, drilling the ball into the net with only his 2nd touch - what an impact off the bench!
63' - TT - GOAL (3-1) - Thetford stun Hadleigh with a 3rd, substitute Grove receives the ball on the right, he shows the defender a clean pair of heels and threads the ball in to Diggens who drives into the box and shoots across Spurling, the ball pinging into the inside of the post and into the net, Diggens on fire!
66' - TT - GOAL (4-1) - Crazy 8 minutes sees Thetford bag a 4th, and what a goal! A deflected ball spins to Gilchrist in a forward position, his effort on goal is saved, the rebound falls to Diggens but his effort is also saved, it spins up above Diggens but he performs a back-heel flick to push the ball into Gilchrist who sweeps in on his 2nd attempt, almost telepathic play from the Thetford Town duo, incredible!
68' - TT - Excellent diagonal ball from Gilchrist releases Grove down the right, he curls the ball into the far-post, the incoming Diggens gets to the ball and tries to guide it in, but keeper Spurling is across quickly to kick the ball off the line.
69' - HU - Substitute Curtis Harvey cuts across the edge of box and tries to squeeze the ball inside the post with a powerful effort, but it is just wide and pings into the tyre on the goalposts and up.
70' - TT - Similarly to Hadleigh's goal, Grove has the ball on the right side of the box, he jinks left and right until he makes the space for a strike, his effort stopped by the legs of Spurling, who then manages to fall onto the ball to prevent the follow-up.
74' - TT - A wayward pass at the back is latched onto by Laker, he drives forwards and curls the ball into Gilchrist whose first time effort is poked in directly at Spurling.
80' - TT - GOAL (5-1) - Gilchrist gets his hat-trick!!! A sublime moment from Diggens on the left welcomes Hubert to charge in, but like a matador he sends the defender the wrong way and sliding on his arse in front of the Thetford faithful. He then drives up the wing and with the outside of his boot he curls the ball beyond the defenders and into Gilchrist who takes the ball round Spurling to tap in from close range, what did I say before, almost telepathic, what a high quality goal from start to finish!
85' - TT - Jake Mann feeds Grove down the right wing, he bursts through into the box and desperate to bag a goal tries to beat Spurling at his near-post again, but Spurling denies the young winger.
87' - TT - GOAL (6-1) - The cherry on top, wonderful strong and skilful play from Jake Mann in the middle sets up a nice ball out to Diggens on the right, he drives forward and crosses in a perfect ball to Gilchrist, the ball seemingly dropping onto his boot as he slices in his volley, simply sublime, and a 4th goal for Gilchrist to boot!
What was a very even and tough first half was completely turned on its head in the second-half with the substitutions and change in formation having a huge impact on the game. Diggens looked incredibly sharp when he came on, scoring with only his 2nd touch before scoring again shortly afterwards, then setting up 3 goals for Gilchrist who himself was on-fire, scoring 4 well-taken goals to make it 7 goals in 2 league games! Gilchrist and Diggens, when they are firing, are the most potent partnership in the league, and we certainly saw that in the 2nd half! There were also amazing performances across the pitch from all, Laker was a constant threat down the left, Grove's pace caused issues when he came on, Elliot Smith put in a shift up-front and then at centre-back, Bondy was a force at the back, Jake Mann looked bright all game and Miguel Pereira had an assured performance in goal, to a man it was an excellent day in the office, and in difficult conditions. Hadleigh United are a very decent team which makes the scoreline even more incredible, especially as Spurling made some good stops to keep the score down, and they will themselves will rue chances in the 1st half, how and why Charlie Read did not shoot sooner when alone on goal I will never know. Today's result wipes out the disappointment from Tuesday night, and indeed Thetford Town's next game sees them in the FA Vase 1st Round Proper, where another good performance would surely see them make it to the 2nd Round, but cup games are never easy as Thetford know very well, UP THE TOWN!!!
Line-Ups:
THETFORD TOWN: Miguel Pereira, Josh Wells, Jaydyn Lott, Sam Bond (C), Adam Laker, Kieran Money, Jake Mann, Callum Olpin, Cameron King, Elliot Smith, Dan Gilchrist. SUBS: George Diggens, Dylan Grove, Malachi Wright, Marley Reynolds.
HADLEIGH UNITED: Jack Spurling, Lloyd Clarke, Harry Blackburn, Ethan Clarke (C), Josh Hubert, Mason Harvey, Kyron Andrews, Josh Folkes, Charlie Read, Max Dinnell, Kie Dyer. SUBS: Curtis Harvey, Zak Gayfer, Liam Wales, Oli Dunlop, Sam Mills.
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