This was the second match of the campaign for Thetford, another away day and a really difficult game against Wroxham, arguably the best team in the division last season. I for one was surprised that only one team was promoted from this league (Stowmarket Town), with either Wroxham or Norwich United making strong cases for promotion over the past two seasons. The Wroxham team is littered with famous names associated with Norwich City greats, Ollie Sutton in goal, son of Chris Sutton, Tom Huckerby in defence, son of Darren Huckerby, Simon Lappin on the bench and Adam Drury as Assisstant Manager. But, most famously of all has to be Grant Holt, although he was not playing tonight, he was warming up with the team, slapping balls into the goal and the Wroxham 'ultras', The Blue Wave! Certainly a team with some fine pedigree.

This game was my first time at Trafford Park, and the journey was a lot easier than I had anticipated, the Broadland Highway making a huge improvement since I was last up this way. The pitch looked fantastic and there was a good range of facilities and a decent number of sheltered stands dotted about the ground. The Blue Wave were present and making a good amount of noise for this level of football, was great to experience. There were also huge mosquitos, the size of moths, flying about, must be a Broads speciality! I now have more than the programme as a souvenir from the game.

Before I go into the game, programme below, printed by Wensum Print:

When the game kicked off, each team probed with no clear cut chances until the 5th minute, with Thetford Town having the first good chance of note. Jake Mann crossed a purposeful ball into the box that just grazed the head of Fuller and wide, with stronger contact this could have been the opener. Unfortunately (from a TAB FB perspective), that accolade fell to Wroxham who were awarded a penalty in the 8th minute, Miles attacked the box from the left wing and looked ready to take a shot when Cusack, running hard to intercept, slid in and was deemed to have taken out the player, the referee making no hesitation to point to the spot. Blonde haired striker Joe Taylor stepped up and slotted home.

Wroxham worked hard to build on their lead, another good chance coming in the 13th minute when after some tidy interplay in the midfield, Miles threaded the ball through to Spooner in a central position, just outside the box, but he fired his stinging shot straight at Gammon. At this point, Thetford were still in the game, and had an excellent chance of their own in the 27th minute. Junior (Varela), taking the ball on the right flank, ran at Wroxham and chipped a sublime ball over the defence to the onrushing Benny (Felgueiras) who ran the ball into the box and fired his shot into the near side-netting, narrowly wide.

Despite Thetford's good work, Wroxham continued press, and in the 30th minute, in a similar fashion to Junior, King chipped a ball through to Curtis who's first shot was well saved by Gammon, only for the rebound to fall kindly for him. Curtis did not need a second invitation and slotted home, 2-0 to Wroxham.

Wroxham continued to dominate the game, in the 39th minute, King put a ball over for J. Taylor to chase down the right wing, he outpaced the Thetford defender and fired a low strike at the goal, only inches wide of the far post. This was just a sighter, J. Taylor did not miss his next chance. Three minutes into stoppage time, Thetford lost the ball on the half-way line, and two quick passes later, the ball was presented to J. Taylor through on goal, who hit it low and hard first time to find the net. Bad timing for Thetford to concede just before the break.

After the break, Thetford made two changes, with L. Bailey and Smith on for Fuller and Clarke. It was not sure if this was tactical or due to injury, Fuller took a knock to the nose in the 1st half, causing some quite serious bleeding, and Clarke was seen stretching out a few times shortly before half-time. Nevertheless, Smith made an immediate impact, running down the left to whip in a ball that found its way through to R. Bailey on the other side, who put the ball back in to Benny, but his tame shot did not trouble Sutton

Despite the bright start for Thetford, Wroxham looked threatening, and in the 48th minute, Black sent a ball down the right-wing that Curtis picked up, he ran through on goal and his cross/shot was intercepted by Gammon, only to fall perfectly for Spooner who's first time shot hit the onion bag. And just like that, it was 4-0 to Wroxham and seemingly no way back for Thetford. Wroxham kept attacking, hungry for more goals, and came close in the 50th minute, Skipper putting through J. Taylor only for him to shoot just wide. Sadly, to add insult to injury, Wroxham got their 5th goal courtesy of an unlucky L. Bailey own goal. Wroxham again attacked at pace, hitting a fast, low ball into the box that was unluckily turned in. Had Luke missed the ball, waiting behind him was the Wroxham striker ready to pounce. The attacking prowess, speed and positioning of Wroxham was a true masterclass, some very frightening stuff to have to defend.

Thetford put on a brave face, and worked hard to restore some honour, and came close to a goal in the 60th minute. A ball in from R. Bailey found Joshua Mann open on goal, his shot beating the keeper but not the defender on the line, so close! Thetford stuck at it and were rewarded in the 62nd minute, Benny and Junior linking up beautifully down the left wing, with Junior laying off to Visocanskis who's powerful shot beat Sutton. A fine goal and a fine move indeed! In jest, The Blue Wave began singing 'We'd forgotten you were here'.

Thetford continued to work hard, and matched Wroxham for the next 20 minutes, other than a Wroxham attack in the 80th minute where Hill's low cross found Curtis who was denied by an excellent save from Gammon diving down low to his right. Shortly after this, in the 82nd minute, there was a concerning sight for Thetford fans, seeing Junior coming off injured, and to make matters worse, Thetford had no more substitutes so had to play the last 8 minutes + stoppage time with only 10 players. Wroxham took advantage of their extra man and added a thick coat of gloss to the score-line with a 6th and 7th goal courtesy of Forshaw and J. Taylor, who got his well deserved hattrick, his 3rd strike the pick of the bunch with a powerful 18 yard strike. The two Wroxham goals were however punctuated by Thetford's second goal, a long ball by Joshua Mann tempted Sutton out of his goal, but Smith beat him and passed the ball into the open net.

That was a really difficult night for Thetford Town, as was expected, however, it is good to get possibly the worst fixture of the season over and done with early. Wroxham were clearly the better side, playing at a decent Step 4 standard, a very well drilled and skilful outfit and a joy to watch. It is no secret that Wroxham are a well funded club, and the facilities and players pay testament to this, but they are nonetheless a really impressive footballing outfit and excellent hosts. The fans were excellent and I enjoyed experiencing the Blue Wave for my first time, lots of top-notch banter, my highlight of which was The Blue Wave shouting 'pork chop' everytime Gammon kicked the ball, and encouraging him to go up for corners and free-kicks. I would love to come back to Trafford Park one day, and I hope that they get promoted, based on that performance I cannot see how they will not.

Reflecting on Town, they should take heart in the fact they scored two goals and looked threatening at times. When Smith came on he looked very powerful and most importantly the team never gave up, I was proud of the lads. Sometimes you just face brilliant opposition, and this was certainly the case. I think Thetford missed Campbell, his pace has been a good outlet for them, and I am hoping that Junior is not seriously injured. Thetford need to draw a line under this, and focus on the big FA Cup tie on Saturday against Arlesey Town. I wish I could be there, but I have family commitments that day, and I am especially gutted as my uncle lives in Arlesey. I do however plan to be at Mundford Road for Thetford's first home game of the season against Walsham-le-Willows, another big local derby! We go again, UP THE TOWN!!

Line-Ups:

WROXHAM: Ollie Sutton (C), Wyatt Hill, Joe Keeley, Jordan King, Chris Skipper, Tom Huckerby, Ryan Miles, Harley Black, Joe Taylor, Ryan Curtis, Brad Spooner. SUBS: Colney Poynter, Simon Lappin, Shaun Taylor, Ray Urry, Jamie Forshaw.

THETFORD TOWN: Frank Gammon, Sam Bond (C), Andrew Cusack, Joshua Mann, Nathan Clarke, Jake Mann, Artur Visocanskis, Ross Bailey, Joao Varela, Bernardo Felgueiras, Ryan Fuller. SUBS: Elliot Smith, Maxwell Williams, Luke Bailey, Macauley Rodgers.

Thurlow Nunn Premier: Wroxham 7-2 Thetford Town

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