Anglian Combination D1: Thetford Rovers 4-3 Dersingham Rovers

30th August 2025

Thetford Rovers vs Dersingham Rovers @ Euston Park, nr. Thetford

Anglian Combination Division One (Step 8)

14:15 KO

Free entry

Attendance - approx. 40

Half-time score: Thetford Rovers 2-1 Dersingham Rovers

Goals:

Thetford Rovers: Husak - 6'

Dersingham Rovers: Curson - 16'

Thetford Rovers: Vickers - 22'

Thetford Rovers: Husak - 47'

Dersingham Rovers: Curson - 78'

Dersingham Rovers: Schmuda - 82'

Thetford Rovers: Sillet - 89'

Final Score: Thetford Rovers 4-3 Dersingham Rovers

Being tied up with family duties until 13:30, I decided to make the short hop down the road to watch Thetford Rovers host Dersingham Rovers. This was set-up to be a great game, pitting 2nd against 3rd and two unbeaten sides at this early point of the season, the battle of the undefeated Rovers you could say. The recent Mundford-Thetford Rovers game was full of drama and goals, so I was hoping for more of the same.

It was a sunny yet blowy afternoon, and the pitch at Euston Park looked a bit sun-dried despite the recent downpours. Before long the teams were lining up to face each other, the hosts Thetford Rovers in red shirts with black shorts, with the visitors in yellow shirts with black shorts.

KEY MOMENTS

TR = Thetford Rovers

DR = Dersingham Rovers

6' - TR - GOAL (1-0) - Candu with a blistering pace down the left, he skips past the defender and whips the ball into the near-post to find Husak and he drills his headed effort into the top left corner, excellent early goal from the home team!

11' - TR - Swift attack from Thetford Rovers coming from a throw-in, the ball is worked quickly through the midfield, McDonald then shuffles it into Husak and his effort from just inside the box is well stopped by Cross, pushing the ball round the post for a corner.

12' - TR - From the following corner, Hutt whips the ball into the middle, Greg Ostrowski is on the end but his bullet header is straight at Cross, either side of him and it would have been a certain goal.

16' - DR - GOAL (1-1) - A loose ball at the back is pounced on by Dersingham 9, he shifts though on goal but Tomasz Ostrowski is out quick to close the space and he makes the save, from the rebound another shot flies in, it is blocked, then another shot flies in and Ostrowski makes a second save, the ball is recycled and captain Curson cuts in from the left, skips a challenge and buries that ball into the bottom left, looked like Thetford Rovers were going to get away with that error until the fourth strike.

22' - TR - GOAL (2-1) - Thetford Rovers quickly get back into the lead, Hutt with a diagonal ball to find Vickers on the right, the defender gets a touch on the ball as it flies through, but the contact is minimal and sees Vickers bearing down on goal and he superbly slots the ball into the bottom right corner.

39' - DR - The No.4 with a cross from the right, it is mishit but looks like it may drop in, Tomasz Ostrowski jumps to make sure but the ball flies over his hand, crashes into the bar and out. Despite the keeper not getting a touch on the ball a corner is awarded, but nothing comes of it.

47' - TR - GOAL (3-1) - A blistering start to the 2nd half from the hosts to stretch their lead. A ball is pumped forwards, Hutt with a deft flick sets Husak through, he drives into the box and shoots, a defender tries to block but the ball deflects off him and the ball nestles into the net.

58' - TR - A ball through the middle is deflected into the path of Husak, he turns and strikes, but keeper Cross makes a fine close-range save, not sure he knew much about that one, but his outstretched hand blocks the strike, that's why you make yourself big!

67' - TR - Greg Ostrowski bursts forward and finds substitute Strutton-Allsop on the right, he crosses the ball in and it finds Greg who continued his run, he hits a side-footed volley on the jump, but it is pulled just wide of the upright!

73' - TR - Thetford pushing hard for the 4th, a short corner is taken and Hutt whips the ball into the near-post, captain McGeeney is on the end of it and his headed effort has Cross beaten but smashes into the bar and out.

74' - TR - Another Thetford corner, whipped into the far-post, captain McGeeney hits a first time strike, but it is deflected wide by a defender, the home team unlucky to have not stretched their lead even further.

78' - DR - GOAL (3-2) - Thetford Rovers are made to rue their missed chances as Dersingham pull one back. Captain Curson with the ball at the by-line, some slick skills see him bypass the defender, he drives towards goal and slots the ball in from a very narrow angle, fantastic individual goal to spark a revival for the visitors.

82' - DR - GOAL (3-3) - Dersingham draw level, Curson's corner headed in at the far-post by Schmuda, the visitors now in the ascendancy with time for a winner!

85' - DR - RED CARD - Thetford break through Harry Hutt and the No.7 wraps his arms around him to check his run, a clear yellow. For some reason he picks up the ball and will not release it, a clear second yellow. This initiates a scuffle, and in the aftermath it is the Dersingham No.14 who receives the red card, can only think it was a case of mistaken identity as the No.7 receives nothing. In any case, a couple of moments of madness from the No.7 to take the wind out of the visitors sails.

89' - TR - GOAL (4-3) - Thetford Rovers capitalise being a man-up, Hutt crosses the ball in from the right, the balls falls to centre-back Sillet in the middle of the box, he turns and shoots and the ball rolls into the net, great work from the hosts to regain their lead.

93' - DR - 10-man Dersingham with a big chance in stoppage time, a ball is crossed in and is flicked on by an attacker, it drops to the No.4 who powers in a cross-goal strike, but Ostrowski makes a fine diving save to ensure that all 3-points stay in Thetford this afternoon.

What a crazy finale to that game, the Anglian Combination delivering drama in bucket loads yet again! For the majority of the game Thetford Rovers were the better team, more aggressive in their play and creating more chances with their pacey and skilful attackers. They went into half-time deservedly 2-1 up and after the 3rd went in it was all Thetford Rovers, they peppered the Dersingham box and somehow were unable to get a 3-goal lead. Fair play to Dersingham Rovers however, they made Thetford pay for failing to score the 4th, incredible skill from the captain to trigger a comeback, and after the equaliser went in it was all one-way traffic until a lack of discipline saw them throw it away through the red card, enabling Thetford Rovers to capitalise on this to secure the win. This stretches their unbeaten run to 4 games in the league, with 10 points from a possible 12, moving them up to 2nd behind a Holt United team with their perfect start still intact. Looking at Dersingham Rovers, they seemed to struggle with the Thetford Rovers attacking line, but their 3 main attackers looked a dangerous threat, particularly their captain Curson. I thought Thetford Rovers were impressive across the field, the back-line and midfield snuffing out most attacks early, and the skill and pace of Husak, Vickers, Hutt, Candu, Hunter and Twomey putting the Dersingham defence on the back-foot for large parts of the game. A good squad is building at Thetford Rovers, they seem resilient and able to come back from tough situations seen in this game and away at Mundford, long may the unbeaten run continue, UP THE ROVERS!!

Line-Ups:

THETFORD ROVERS: Tomasz Ostrowski, Constantin Candu, Grzegorz Ostrowski, James Sillet, Liam Levy Twomey, Tom McDonald, Harvey McGeeney (C), Yaroslav Husak, Robbie Hunter, Taylor Vickers, Harry Hutt. SUBS: Regan Strutton-Allsop, Kehan Whitby, Yurii Dmytruk.

DERSINGHAM ROVERS: Kevin Cross, Josh Youngs, Albie Howe, Connor Daniels, Kieran Nurse, Shane Akers, Daniel Williams, Sam Lammiman, Conor McQuaid, Lewis Curson (C), Isaac Linford, Gino Livoti, Dane Schmuda, Kurtis Calaby.