13th September 2022
Thetford Town vs Fakenham Town @ Mundford Road - Thetford
Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)
19:45 KO
£7 entry
Attendance - 94
Half-time score: Thetford Town 3-1 Fakenham Town
Goals:
Thetford Town: King - 2'
Thetford Town: Machaya - 5'
Thetford Town: King - 30'
Fakenham Town: Hogston - 43'
Thetford Town: Gilchrist - 68'
Thetford Town: Diggens - 70', 79'
Thetford Town: Gilchrist - 88'
Final Score: Thetford Town 7-1 Fakenham Town
It seems like a really long time since I was last at Mundford Road, and looking back it has indeed been over a month when Thetford played a incredible draw against Soham Town Rangers in the FA Cup, so I was looking forward to being back at The Rec. Thetford have been playing some exhilarating football of late, with the new strike partnership of Gilchrist and Diggens clicking well almost immediately, scoring 4 goals each in two games against Lakenheath and Ely City to shoot Thetford up to 3rd in the table. Fakenham Town will be a tough prospect tonight, generally a well-organised and resolute side, although they did concede 4 against newly promoted Sheringham in their most recent game. However, I watched them against Mildenhall Town a few weeks back and they looked a good side, so I was expecting a hard fought game between two decent teams.
Both Thetford Town and Fakenham Town came out in their home strips, Thetford in claret & blue, and Fakenham in yellow. Before the game, there was a minutes silence held in memory of the late Queen Elizabeth II, it was well respected and was followed with a round of applause.
KEY MOMENTS
TT = Thetford Town
FKT = Fakenham Town
2' - TT - GOAL (1-0) - Gilchrist plays a beautiful ball that dissects the Fakenham defence, Diggens picks up the ball and plays King into the box, he twists and turns, shaking off several challenges, and makes enough room for an effort which dribbles into the goal, off the post, to put Thetford 1-0 up early on.
4' - TT - King attacks down the left, he momentarily loses the ball, but quickly regains possession to cross the ball towards the far-post, and it is met by Diggens whose headed effort goes over.
5' - TT - GOAL (2-0) - King plays Machaya in down the right wing, he bursts forwards, cuts in and with a lovely step over to round the defender and blast his effort into the bottom right corner of the goal, beyond the reach of the outstretched keeper to emphatically put Thetford 2-0 up after only 5 minutes, a lovely individual goal.
21' - FKT - Brasero looks to shoot from a central position, just outside of the area, but as he is well covered he elects to ping the ball out to the left flank for Robinson to pick up, he cuts inside and powers in a right-footed shot heading for the bottom right corner, forcing a good save from Tom Smith.
26' - TT - King shows yet more flair to burst into the box, he finds Gilchrist alone on the left, but his effort is agonisingly wide of the post.
28' - TT - Machaya breaks forward and is taken out, the referee plays advantage and King picks up the ball to slots in Diggens, he rounds the keeper, but the touch is slightly too heavy, and the strike comes from an extremely narrow angle and into the side netting. Shortly afterwards, Gilchrist flashes a shot across goal, narrowly wide.
30' - TT - GOAL (3-0) - The intensive Thetford pressure finally results in their 3rd goal of the night, created by Diggens down the left flank, he cuts in at the by-line and plays the ball into King close to the penalty spot, he needed little invitation from that range and slots the ball home with ease to give Thetford a comfortable lead.
43' - FKT - GOAL (3-1) - Watts goes on a great run down the right flank, not giving up a ball that looked like it was going out, he cuts inside and lays the ball back to Hogston who hits an absolute thunderbolt from just outside the area, the ball flying straight into the top of the net, giving Tom Smith no chance of making a save, an excellent finish and just before half-time, giving Fakenham a glimmer of hope for a comeback.
50' - FKT - Brasero plays in Royle, he is through on goal but his effort is wildly blazed over the bar, a big let off for Thetford.
56' - FKT - From a deep position, forward Jack Robinson goes on a mazy run through the centre of the field, culminating in a dangerous strike that Tom Smith does well to collect.
60' - TT - Defender Kerr attempts to clear a King free-kick from a deep position, but it is deflected off his boot and loops towards the goal, narrowly over the crossbar to concede a corner.
68' - TT - GOAL (4-1) - Having weathered a lot of Fakenham pressure, Thetford break through King who is played onside down the left, with the outside of his boot he curls an exquisite ball across the backline to Gilchrist running in from the right, he collects the ball and blasts home to restore Thetford's 3-goal cushion, a brilliant assist and a ruthless finish.
70' - TT - GOAL (5-1) - Shortly after, Gilchrist powers into the box and lays the ball into to Diggens who has the time and space to turn and shoot beyond the flailing keeper to surely put the game to bed, more fantastic clinical finishing from the lads.
74' - FKT - Watts sees Tom Smith off his line, so from the edge of the centre circle he tries his luck, but his effort harmlessly flies wide of the goal, worth a go however.
74' - TT - Moments later, Laker goes on a pacey run down the right, he cuts inside and flashes a shot across the face of goal, marginally wide.
79' - TT - GOAL (6-1) - Substitute Fuller makes a big impact when he comes on with his physical presence, he brilliantly steals possession in midfield and pings out a sublime pinpoint ball out to the right flank for Diggens to run onto, and through on goal he makes no mistake to smash the ball into the back of the net, to give Thetford a convincing lead.
88' - TT - GOAL (7-1) - Gilchrist plays substitute Visocanskis through down the right flank, he cuts inside and blazes a shot across the goal, beating the keeper, but it flies into the post and out, only to fall to Gilchrist who cleans up to put Thetford into seven heaven, rounding off a wonderful performance from The Brecklanders!
I am almost running out of things to say about this superb Thetford team, each performance is an attacking masterclass and thoroughly entertaining, and the pleasing thing tonight was the ruthless and clinical way in which Thetford took their chances, killing off all hopes of a Fakenham comeback, which at one point looked on thanks to a 43rd minute goal and a dominant start to the 2nd half. Having seen them twice, I actually think Fakenham look a decent team despite the result and their league position, I expect results will eventually come for them. Back to Thetford Town, it was great to see Cameron King playing with so much confidence, he was pulling the strings tonight, releasing players like Machaya, Gilchrist and Diggens into dangerous positions, causing the Fakenham defence to back-pedal most of the game, but somewhat worryingly, he did come off after taking a knock, so I hope there is no long lasting damage. Each player put in a shift tonight, and the other pleasing thing to see was each substitute coming on to make an impact, be it Fuller, Visocanskis or Davies, showing the strength in depth that this squad currently possesses, not to mention the fact that Bondy, Elliot Smith and CJ were not in the squad tonight. It is great to enjoy these moments and celebrate when the times are good, but Thetford are facing 3 extremely tough games in a row, away at Newmarket Town then Soham Town Rangers, two of the strongest teams in the league, followed by hosting high-fliers Woodbridge Town, so the next week and half is going to a thorough examination of the lads, but what better preparation than a 7-1 win? I will be following the team to both Newmarket and Soham so I wait with eager anticipation for these games, I hope that Thetford train well over next couple of days to secure another two huge results, UP THE TOWN!!
Line-Ups:
THETFORD TOWN: Tom Smith, Andrew Cusack, Matt Morton, Nathan Clarke (C), Adam Laker, Jordan Lake, Jake Mann, Cameron King, Emmanuel Machaya, Dan Gilchrist, George Diggens. SUBS: Artur Visocanskis, Ryan Fuller, Macauley Rodgers, Santi Davies.
FAKENHAM TOWN: Joe Coleman, Mitchell Rasberry, TJ Kerr, Dan Hogston, Cameron Beazer, George Edwards, Alex Brasero, Lewis Sturman (C), Charlie Royle, Jack Robinson, Jake Watts. SUBS: Jayden Wright, Myron Abodunde, Karol Wengrzik, Ethan Patrick, Calum Dickinson.
Comentarios