FA Vase - 2nd Qualification Round: St Neots Town 1-0 Thetford Town

12th September 2026

St Neots Town vs Thetford Town @ Rowley Park - St. Neots

FA Vase - Second Qualification Round (both teams Step 5)

15:00 KO

£10 entry

Attendance - 204

Half-time score: St Neots Town 0-0 Thetford Town

Goal:

St Neots Town: Muyembe - 53'

Final Score: St Neots Town 1-0 Thetford Town

This Saturday saw Thetford Town travel to St Neots Town in the FA Vase, for a carbon-copy of the game 3 years ago, with both at St Neots and both in the 2nd Qualification Round. In that game Thetford Town dominated the play but were unable to score before losing to the hosts in a penalty shoot-out. Five Thetford Town players who played in that fixture are still with the club, namely club captain Sam Bond, Dylan Grove, Cameron King, Callum Olpin and George Diggens. Since that game St Neots Town have been promoted back to Step 4 then relegated back down, but are having a strong start to the season, currently 4th place in the UCL Premier Division South, and having knocked out Thurlow Nunn Premier table toppers Stowmarket Town in the FA Cup, so The Brecklanders had to be at their best this afternoon!

The ground was very similar to how it looked 3 years ago, it is one of the best non-league set-ups in the area for sure, and the pitch looked verdant green and near-perfect, well done to the groundsmen. Only negative was the lack of a printed matchday programme.

Before long the teams were lining up, with St Neots Town in sky blue and Thetford Town in their away mint green, did seem a bit of a colour clash, I think claret & blue would have been better. Before kick-off there was a minutes silence to honour the passing of a young lad in the local community, always terrible to hear such news and the silence was observed impeccably by all. It was a sunny afternoon to start but got greyer and windier as the game progressed, getting quite blustery at times.

KEY MOMENTS

SNT = St Neots Town

TT = Thetford Town

3' - SNT - Muyembe with the ball on the left-wing, he shows great skill to get past the defender, he slips Baulk through who drills in a powerful strike, but Wells gets across to make an important block to prevent an early opener for the hosts.

12' - SNT - A corner ball hit low to the near-side, it is flicked in and effort comes in forcing either a great reaction save or a fine block, there were too many bodies to see what exactly which from where I was standing, but the ultimately the ball was stopped and cleared by Thetford.

19' - SNT - The ball is whipped into the box, Henderson is on the end of it and his headed effort flies just wide of the post.

25' - SNT - All St Neots so far and they craft another good chance, Muyembe in a central position, he sees the run of Furlong and slides him in, through on goal and with the target wide open he skews his shot badly wide, to the relief of the travelling Thetford Town fans.

26' - TT - Thetford with their first dangerous attack, Harvey Lott breaks through the middle and finds Diggens who takes the ball forwards to the edge of the box, he spots Kirk in a better position on the right-flank and pushes the ball out to him, a stinging strike comes in at the near-post but keeper Heath pushes it around the post for a corner.

27' - TT - Thetford break through King, with some rare space he has a crack from 25yrds out, his effort is tipped over the bar by the fingertips of Heath, almost a wonder goal from Kingy!

33' - SNT - Kirk goes off with a strain and the St Neots pressure continues to build again. From a goal kick the ball is nodded down to Muyembe who is goal side of the defender, he fires in, I am expecting the net to ripple but somehow Ollie Sutton gets an outstretched leg on the ball, a phenomenal save from the Thetford No.1.

41' - SNT - An attack down the right find Barnes on the penalty spot, he turns and shoots but Ollie Sutton has closed down the space rapidly and is able to make another fine stop. Thetford Town clinging on here.

47' - SNT - After the break the game continues with the hosts on-top, a loose goal-kick drops to Furlong who tries to lob Ollie Sutton, but there is too much on the effort and it flies harmlessly over the crossbar.

48' - SNT - Furlong again, some sublime skill on the right, he skins the Thetford defence and squares into Muyembe, he first touch is poor but he manages to collect the loose ball, turns and shoots but the Thetford defence blocks the dangerous effort.

52' - TT - King with another trademark break forwards, from just inside the box he cuts the ball back to Diggens, he fires in a daisy-cutter of a strike, keeper Heath is rooted and it look like it is squeezing into the bottom left corner, but the ball rolls agonisingly past the wrong side of the post!

53' - SNT - GOAL (1-0) - A poor clearance from Wells drops straight to a St Neots player, the ball is immediately shuffled out to Furlong on the right, he gets half-a-yard on the defence and crosses the ball in, Muyembe is the receiver, he takes a touch to control the ball before firing it into the roof of the net from close range, no stopping that one, and the hosts go deservedly into the lead.

66' - SNT - A swift attack down the left , the ball is cut back to Barnes on the edge of the box, he shoots but the effort is narrowly wide of the post

77' - SNT - Burgess with a huge throw into the box, Ollie Sutton gets a feint touch on it but it drops to Henderson who drives in an effort at the near-post, but Sutton is equal to it and the ball is deflected off him for a corner.

89' - SNT - The ball is chipped into the box, Barnes is on the end of it, he has space, rises high and guides his header towards goal, but he in still unable to beat Sutton who makes another great save.

There can be no arguments with that result, St Neots Town were the better team on the day and they would have won by more if it were not for the heroics from Ollie Sutton between the sticks, or a lot of last ditch challenges from Sam Bond who put his body on the line to snuff out a whole host of possible counter-attacks and breaks. The performance overall seemed flat this afternoon, St Neots won the majority of the second balls and contests and just had more about them, which is a shame to see after Thetford's incredible performance last Saturday. St Neots had two very eye-catching attackers in Furlong and Muyembe, both showing their silky skills throughout. Muyembe was particularly impressive, not only was he a threat in attack but he also tracked back well, he seemed to be almost everywhere at times, so it was fitting that the winner came from him, the trigger being a lax error at the back. Thetford only really seemed to come to life in the 3 minutes of stoppage time at the end, but it was too little too late. All that is left to say is that I wish St Neots Town all the best in the next round, I will be looking out for that one, and I hope that Thetford Town can put this performance to bed quickly as they host a resurgent Great Yarmouth Town on Tuesday in the league, UP THE TOWN!!!

Line-Ups:

ST NEOTS TOWN: Ben Heath, Jake Kerins, Lewis Burgess, Robbie Parker (C), Harvey Henderson, Will Grocott, Connor Furlong, Joe Sutton, Connor Barnes, Magloire Muyembe, Danny Baulk. SUBS: James Stainsby, Scott Joseph, Dammy Nickels, Max McKenna-Mannall, Rio Nyke-Birt.

THETFORD TOWN: Ollie Sutton, Kyran Cooper, Dylan Grove, Josh Wells, Sam Bond (C), Ronnie Ward, Cameron King, Harvey Lott, Dylan Kirk, Jordan Buttle, George Diggens. SUBS: Ben Mills, Amouree Wellington, Lawrence Blythe, Theo Piggott, Rhion Davison.