9th October 2021
Whitton United vs Thetford Town @ King George V Playing Field - Whitton, Ipswich
Thurlow Nunn Premier League (Step 5)
15:00 KO
£7 entry
Attendance - 54
Half-time score: Whitton United 0-1 Thetford Town
Goals:
Thetford Town: Fuller - 32'
Whitton United: E. Clarke - 85'
Leigh Simons recorded the goals, see the links below:
Final Score: Whitton United 1-1 Thetford Town
I managed to get to my third Thetford Town away day of the season so far, and a new ground for me at Whitton United, on the northern edge of Ipswich. Whitton have been a good team over the past couple of seasons, but they are having a slow start, currently sitting 18th, 8 points behind Thetford Town, however, it does have to be pointed out that they have played 4 games fewer. Nevertheless, Whitton have been struggling so far this season, notably losing 8-3 to Fakenham Town a week ago. Thetford, in contrary, are currently in a rich vein of form and playing some brilliant football, but I expect Whitton to react after last week at their home ground, so I was expecting a close and competitive encounter, and pleased to be crossing another ground off the list, but sadly, there was no programme today.
Both teams made a bright start to the game, and in the 5th minute Whitton had a shot on target, L. Clarke coming in from the right wing and shooting at the near post for it to be saved by Rodgers. Rodgers released the ball quickly, and Thetford replied with a chance of their own up the other end, Campbell having a long range crack at goal that was heading for the top bins, but a good fingertip save from Whitton keeper Spurling prevented his effort from hitting the back of the net. From the resultant corner, Visocanskis whipped the ball in, Fuller put the ball back into box and defender Balment collected the ball, found the room to turn and shoot but his effort went wide.
In the middle of the first half, Whitton had the better of the play and the better chances, courtesy of some set-pieces deep in the Thetford half. In the 16th minute, Milliard beat Balment down the right wing, squared the ball in the centre of the box for Dunlop, he struck the ball first time but his attempt was excellently blocked by player-manager Matt Morton to prevent the opening goal. In the 22nd minute, a dangerous Ethan Clarke free-kick was well cleared by Smith, and in the 29th minute, a well placed Bradlaugh free-kick found Dunlop, his close-range header looked to be a certain goal but it was brilliantly saved by Rodgers, Thetford were living dangerously.
Thetford played themselves back into the game, and in the 31st minute, Morton pinged a long ball down the right wing to Campbell, he took control of the ball, got past his man and managed a low shot directed at the corner of the goal, but it was underpowered and the keeper got down easily. Thetford tried the same ball in the 32nd minute, Campbell took hold of the ball on the right wing, held it up, spotted a deep run from Felgueiras and slid the ball into his path, and with his first touch he squared the ball into the centre of the box, and Fuller got ahead of his man to slot home to make it 1-0 to town, a classic poachers goal, and great bit of play from the Thetford attackers.
Thetford pressed for the second goal, and had the better of the play other than a deflected Lucraft shot on the 41st minute that was saved. In the 42nd minute, some lovely interplay between Varela and Felgueiras allowed them to drive the ball forward, and Felguieras played in Fuller who rifled off a shot from outside the area that had to be parried out for a corner. In the 43rd minute, a good turn from Delgado gave him some space, and he fired a long ball down the left flank for Campbell to chase, he got hold the ball, crossed into the box for Fuller, but his header was too weak to trouble the keeper. Just before half-time, there was a heart-stopping goal mouth scramble in front of the Thetford goal from a free-kick on the right wing, but it was ultimately to come to nothing to preserve Town's lead going into the break.
The second half was an altogether scrappy and niggly affair, with the referee constantly awarding free-kicks for any minor contact, and this ruined the flow of the game. The autumn sun has also dropped low, behind the goal that Thetford were shooting towards, making playing conditions difficult. As a result, there were few chances of note compared to the first half, with long periods of scrappy play in the midfield.
In the 58th minute, Thetford tried to break from a Whitton corner, but this fizzled out, and Lucraft sent a 30 yard strike over the crossbar. In the 66th minute came one of the pivotal moments of the game, Varela used his pace to pressurise goalkeeper Spurling, he blocked the shot and manged to get possession of the ball, Spurling closed down the space and Varela tried to shoot through the keeper, he collected the rebound, tried to go round the keeper the second time, but Spurling managed to smother the ball, a missed opportunity for Thetford to go 2 up.
Whitton had an excellent chance of their own in the 69th minute courtesy of great interplay down the right flank from Lucraft and Lloyd Clarke, with Clarke getting into the box and powering in a shot that beat Rodgers and smashed into the post, ricocheting across goal and out, painfully close for Whitton! Whitton stepped it up at the end of the game, there was a penalty shout that was waved away, rightly so in my opinion, but their pressure ultimately paid off in the 85th minute. A Whitton corner kick eventually found captain Ethan Clarke on the edge of box, he dinked the ball back in to the far post but his effort sailed past the keeper and into the top left of the goal. The goal was not without controversy, the Thetford players and fans had protested the preceding corner, it was alleged that Smith did not touch the ball from the previous free-kick that was sliced in. Nevertheless, it was 1-1, and it has to be said that Whitton did deserve the goal.
Whitton were riding high after the goal and looked to bag a late winner. In the 86th minute, they managed a shot from outside the box, and in the 88th minute, substitute Betts found Dunlop in the centre of box, but his heavy first touch fell into the path of Rodgers who obligingly collected the ball. In injury time, the pendulum swung, and Thetford pressed hard to re-take their lead, and the linesman made two big offside calls that certainly looked close, and would have put the Thetford attacker through 1-on-1 on each occasion, fine margins! In the 92nd minute, Fuller got possession inside the box, he failed to turn and shoot and opted to play in Campbell down the right, but a poor touch let him down, and with that, it was full-time with the spoils being shared.
That was a well contested, close battle between both teams, resulting in some long scrappy periods of play that was not helped by the referee or conditions, but on balance, a draw was a fair result, despite the circumstances around the equaliser. Whitton has not been a happy hunting ground for Thetford in recent history, so that will certainly be a well-valued point, although I am sure the team will be hurting that they did not take all three home. Whitton looked to be a good side and I do not know how they got hammered last week, they battled hard, looked solid and broke quickly. Overall, Thetford should be pleased with the valuable point, the unbeaten run continues and they will look to go again at home to March Town United, a team who score a lot of goals, but also ship them in equal measure. Unfortunately, I need to set off for a wedding party, so will be missing the game (but I will be able to get to the earlier kick-off game between Watton United and Brandon Town, hopefully...), but I will be checking progress on Twitter, UP THE TOWN!!
Line-Ups:
WHITTON UNITED: Jack Spurling, Lloyd Clarke, Tom Warren, Harry Wales, Dan Davis, Josh Hubert, Ollie Dunlop, Josh Lucraft, Asa Milliard, Tom Bradlaugh, Ethan Clarke (C). SUBS: Kyle Ferguson, Darcy De'Ath, Kev Inglis, Owen Betts, Cory Gittens.
THETFORD TOWN: Macauley Rodgers, Sam Bond (C), Artur Visocanskis, Matt Morton, Connor Balment, Elliot Smith, Joao Varela, Marley Delgado, Ryan Fuller, Bernardo Felgueiras, Michael Campbell. SUBS: Johnny Conroy.
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