26th November 2024
Walsham-le-Willows vs Thetford Town @ The Morrish Stadium, Walsham-le-Willows
Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)
19:45 KO
£8 entry
Attendance - 121
Half-time score: Walsham-le-Willows 1-1 Thetford Town
Goals:
Thetford Town: Mann - 16'
Walsham-le-Willows: Garcia - 29'
Thetford Town: Gilchrist - 65'
Thetford Town: Bond - 71'
Walsham-le-Willows: Huckvale - 94'
Walsham-le-Willows: Nicholls - 96'
Final Score: Walsham-le-Willows 3-3 Thetford Town
A quirk of the fixtures sees Thetford Town face Walsham-le-Willows for the second and last time in the league this season, when there are some teams that we have not even played once in the league such as Ely City, Fakenham Town, Lakenheath, Dereham Town and Harleston Town. This time Thetford Town made the short trip down to the village to play their long standing local rivals. In the reverse fixture, Thetford Town secured a famous 4-1 victory at a time when Walsham-le-Willows were sitting pretty at the top. Since then, Thetford Town have gone on a strong run sitting 2nd in the league with games in hand, whereas Walsham-le-Willows have fallen to 8th, but with the play-offs still within range. Despite the differing recent fortunes, all seasoned Thetford Town fans know that this has always been a difficult hunting ground for us, and therefore we were going to have to be at our absolute best to get something out of this game, especially as they would be looking to make up for the earlier heavy defeat against us, was shaping up to be a good one!!
Today's match day programme was free, as it was printed for the previously cancelled October game.
It was a chilly yet still evening, and under the floodlights the hosts Walsham-le-Willows lined up in their classic red and yellow colours, with Thetford Town in their away mint green kit.
KEY MOMENTS
WLW = Walsham-le-Willows
TT = Thetford Town
16' - TT - GOAL (0-1) - A long ball releases Laker down the left, he skins his man and slides Jake Mann in and he curls the ball around the keeper and into the top right corner, sublime finish!
20' - TT - King steals the ball in the middle and finds Buttle in the middle, under a lot of attention he shuffles the ball out to Gilchrist on the left and his shot is deflected and loops out for a corner.
22' - WLW - Twinn plays Chaplin through the middle, he goes for goal but Dickerson is out quick to make a fine save.
24' - WLW - Bugg powers in a stinging effort at the near-post, Dickerson is unable to hang onto it and it rolls out for a corner.
29' - WLW - GOAL (1-1) - The inevitable equaliser comes, Thetford fail to clear the ball several times and the loose ball is powered into the net across Dickerson by Garcia, game on!
31' - WLW - Thetford attack and Grove charges down a ball but keeper Dunne gets their first. From this winger Kyran Cooper is played through on goal but a combination of pressure from the scrambling defence and Dickerson coming out sees the latter making the save.
33' - WLW - Chaplin slides the ball through to Twinn who fires wide of the far post, Thetford under immense pressure.
38' - TT - Grove and Buttle link up down the left, Buttle cuts inside then through to the edge of the box where he powers in a strong strike, but it is deflected and flies just wide of the post, so close!
55' - WLW - Garcia across to Bugg, good position to shoot which he does, but his effort is blocked then collected by Dickerson.
63' - WLW - Walsham with all the play in the 2nd half so far, another chance sees Bugg put Garcia in down the right, he shoots from a narrow angle but hits the side netting
65' - TT - GOAL (1-2) - Thetford score against the run of play! Buttle scythes through the middle of the Walsham midfield then slides in Gilchrist, he takes a neat touch to send the Walsham defenders the wrong way before swinging his boot and driving the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal, keeper Dunne no chance with that one!
71' - TT - GOAL (1-3) - With Walsham rocked by the goal Thetford continue to attack and score a goal for the scrapbook! Captain and centre-back Sam Bond with a rare foray forwards drives through the middle with the ball, he plays a neat 1-2 with substitute Harvey Lott, and continuing his run he is through on goal, and with the skill of a seasoned striker slots the ball into the bottom right corner, and despite keeper Dunne getting a touch on it the ball was hit with enough pace to see it nestle into the net, what a moment for the captain!!!
82' - TT - Thetford are awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position. Laker steps up and wraps his left foot around the ball, the ball curling in at the near-post, but keeper Dunne gets across well to make a fine diving save, unlucky!
94' - WLW - GOAL (2-3) - Substitute Wyatt tries a speculative long range shot, it is fumbled by Dickerson and fellow substitute Huckvale powers in from close range, surely Thetford could not lose this win?
96' - WLW - GOAL (3-3) - Indeed they can, in the dying seconds the ball is pumped in from the right, it drops in the box and several shots fly in, they are all blocked until the ball falls to Nicholls who drills it into the bottom left corner. Before the game can even restart the referee blows for full-time, heartbreak for Thetford Town!!
Well, what can I say about that one. On the face-of-it a tough one to take being 3-1 up in the 93rd minute with all three points seemingly in the bag and losing two points in that fashion is undoubtedly painful. However, reflecting on the game as a whole, Walsham had long periods of dominance and Thetford certainly rode their luck at times, and ultimately came unstuck at the end, the Walsham-le-Willows substitutes making all the difference. Thetford certainly had chances to get the 4th, but the final ball was not quite good enough and Dunne made a fine save to deny Laker, but in the end they let slip a 2-goal lead, and thus remain 2nd in the league, losing one of their games in hand in the process. Let's be honest here though, Walsham-le-Willows are a great footballing side, they played excellent attacking football and I think they are the best team I have seen going forward, in both games against them this season. They strike at pace and know how to hit the channels, and play and exciting brand of football. Therefore, all-in-all, a point away at a good club is not all that bad, but hopefully the nature of the draw gives the Thetford Town players a big wake-up call, and at least they don't have to wait long to make-up for tonight with an away trip to Harleston Town this coming weekend, UP THE TOWN!!!
Line-Ups:
WALSHAM-LE-WILLOWS: Ryan Dunne, Kyran Cooper, Reece Lanchester, Isaac Moss, Oliver McKenzie-Vince, Ryan Clarke, Harvey Hubbard, Scott Chaplin, Kieran Twinn, George Bugg, Ethan Garcia. SUBS: Connor Lewis, Jesse Wyatt, Cameron Nicholls, Reon Huckvale.
THETFORD TOWN: Ryan Dickerson, Adam Laker, Sam Bond (C), Jaydyn Lott, Dylan Grove, Kieran Money, Jake Mann, Elliot Smith, Cameron King, Dan Gilchrist, Jordan Buttle. SUBS: Callum Olpin, Harvey Lott, Malachi Wright, Josh Wells.
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