26th December 2023
Walsham-le-Willows vs Thetford Town @ The Morrish Stadium, Walsham-le-Willows
Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)
11:00 KO
£8 entry
Attendance - 146
Half-time score: Walsham-le-Willows 0-0 Thetford Town
Goals:
Thetford Town: Avis - 57'
Walsham-le-Willows: Norman - 64'
Final Score: Walsham-le-Willows 1-1 Thetford Town
Change of plan, was not supposed to go to this game, but family illness left me with a free-day, so I headed down to watch Thetford Town take on local rivals Walsham-le-Willows away from home. Games between these two teams are always tight and a great watch due to a lot of intertwined history, so this certainly made up for the altered plans, but I had to head down early for the 11am kick-off.
On the way in I grabbed a programme, great to see them still on offer from Barnes Print.
It was a sunny morning, with a chill and a bit of wind in the air to drop the temperature. Walsham-le-Willows lined up in their home yellow and red stripes, with Thetford Town in their home claret and blue.
KEY MOMENTS
WLW = Walsham-le-Willows
TT = Thetford Town
6' - WLW - Iglesias has a dig at a loose ball, his 25 yard effort flying just wide of the post.
22' - WLW - Thetford lose the ball in a deep position, Charlie Norman drives forwards down the right, he shoots from 20 yards out towards the near-post, but Tom Smith is equal to it to make the save.
43' - TT - From the right, captain Cameron King threads through Olpin, he latches onto the ball and shoots at the near-post, but Dunne is in position to make the stop.
47' - TT - Gilchrist is in, cutting in from the left but from the narrow angle he fires his strike over the bar.
56' - TT - A long-ball is pumped forwarded, it falls in an awkward position forcing keeper Ryan Dunne to handle it outside the area, under great pressure from King. After a discussion with the linesman, the referee showed Dunne a yellow, awarding the free-kick to Thetford on the edge of the box, but being the last man, should it have been a red?
57' - TT - GOAL (0-1) - Avis steps up to take the free-kick and he connects with the ball sweetly to power it into the net, tucking the ball just inside the right-hand upright, what a goal!
64' - WLW - GOAL (1-1) - Just as Thetford look on top, Walsham equalise to peg Thetford back. Walsham attack down the right through Charlie Norman, he steps through a couple of weak challenges, into the box and beats Tom Smith at his near-post, his direct scooting daisy cutter of a strike squeezing just inside the post.
77' - WLW - From a corner ball, Nunn rises highest and flicks the ball with his head, his effort travelling just wide.
84' - WLW - Substitute McKenzie-Vince battles hard against Haylett, eventually beating him, he drives towards goal and finds captain Brame in the middle, he lines up to shoot but is closed quickly so opts to shuffle the ball to the right to find Garcia whose shot is well saved by Tom Smith at the near-post.
85' - WLW - Glover's deflected shot from just outside the area flies out just wide of the goal for yet another corner.
86' - WLW - From the corner, the diving header from the centre-back, Nunn, is just missed, if he connected would surely have been in at that range.
87' - WLW - Moss shoots from long range, its heading into the bottom left corner and bounces in-front of Tom Smith, but he is able to stay firm to make the save.
90' - WLW - Another corner and another big header from Nunn, from 3 yards out it crashes into the turf and bounces over both Tom Smith and the cross-bar, big let off for Thetford!
92' - WLW - The bombardment of the Thetford box continues, a defensive header drops to Glover, who from the edge of the area strikes the ball cleanly, it is curling in but Tom Smith gets across well to bat the ball away for yet another corner, fine save that man to keep Thetford in the game.
93' - WLW - From the corner, a big scrap results in a big cheer from the Walsham-le-Willow players, but the referee and linesman wave play-on. I was far too far away to see what happened, but there were some strong shouts from the nearby fans and players hinting that the ball may have crossed the line during the chaos.
In what was a fairly even game for the majority of it, Thetford Town were left clinging on with their fingernails as Walsham-le-Willows absolutely hammered the Thetford goal for the final 10 minutes, with Tom Smith keeping Thetford in the game. I have no idea how Walsham did not bag a winner, although perhaps they did? On that there were two big controversial decisions, one for each side, so on balance, perhaps a draw could seem a fair result. Thetford Town played some nice football at times, last ditch defending often cutting out the final ball, but as the game went on, they seemed to tire on the long grass, the bobbly pitch seeing their usual fast-paced game grind to a halt. Walsham used their height and size advantage to good effect, with the equaliser looking like it would come from a set-piece, and the big No.6 certainly had his chances! All-in-all, a good point on the road for Thetford Town against a local rival, at a traditionally difficult place to go. Next up is a home game against Hadleigh United, a win vital to kick-start the currently spluttering season, see you all there, UP THE TOWN!!!
Line-Ups:
WALSHAM-LE-WILLOWS: Ryan Dunne, Kyran Cooper, Reece Lanchester, Sam Nunn, Isaac Moss, Callum Dongray, Matthew Glover, Charlie Norman, Ethan Garcia, Jack Brame (C), Charlie Iglesias. SUBS: Oliver McKenzie-Vince, Owen Walton-Ross, James Blyth, Harvey Hubbard.
THETFORD TOWN: Tom Smith, Ryan Haylett, Hugh Cullum, Jaydyn Lott, Dylan Grove, Jake Mann, Kieran Money, Cameron King (C), Shaun Avis, Dan Gilchrist, Callum Olpin. SUBS: Sam Bond, Dylan Kirk, Adam Laker, George Diggens, Macauley Rodgers
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