FA Vase - 2nd Round: Thetford Town 1-1 Lymore Gardens (Lymore Gardens win 4-3 on penalties)

8th November 2025

Thetford Town vs Lymore Gardens @ The Lomax Spiral Systems Stadium - Thetford

FA Vase Second Round (Step 5 vs Step 6)

15:00 KO

£8 entry

Attendance - 210

Half-time score: Thetford Town 1-1 Lymore Gardens

Goals:

Lymore Gardens: OG - 37'

Thetford Town: Diggens - 44'

Final Score: Thetford Town 1-1 Lymore Gardens (Lymore Gardens win 4-3 on penalties)

With the birth and arrival of my new son I have missed the last three Thetford Town games, but was keeping close tabs from a distance. The first game saw Thetford get knocked out of the Challenge Cup away at Harleston Town conceding a late goal to lose 3-2. They then went on to beat high-flying Soham Town Rangers 1-0 in the league in what was a fabulous victory, before travelling away to Mulbarton Wanderers where they suffered a 3-0 loss to arguably the favourites for the title. Following this game Mulbarton defeated Wroxham 3-1 away from home in the Norfolk Senior Cup, and with Wroxham in 3rd place in the league above, and fielding what looked to be a full-strength side, it makes the Thetford performance look respectable, especially when you consider the three goals came from a mistake and two 25-yard worldies! But today saw Thetford bid to keep their only cup run going, as they welcomed London-based Lymore Gardens to Norfolk. This is a team playing in the Thurlow Nunn D1 South, in 2nd at the start of the day but could go top if they win their games in hand, so despite being in the tier below they would certainly be a tough opponent, with some high scoring players in Dylan Roberts with 11 for the season and Wisley Baltazar with 10 so far. However, with the growing support and backing from the loyal Thetford Town fans, hopefully together we could secure the victory and make it into the 3rd round of the FA Vase for the 2nd year in a row.

Today's matchday programme had the recently returned midfield commander Elliot Smith on the front-cover, great to see him back for another season.

It was another mild afternoon in Norfolk and another big crowd for this much anticipated FA Vase game. It was great to see the visitors were able to bring a decent number of fans with them from London, and they brought the atmosphere with chants and horns throughout the game. Before long the teams were out, Thetford Town in claret and blue, with Lymore Gardens with a light grey kit. The two teams lined up around the centre circle where a 2 minutes silence was impeccably observed by all on this poignant remembrance weekend.

KEY MOMENTS

TT = Thetford Town

LG = Lymore Gardens

20' - TT - Elliot Smith with the ball in the box and he arrows in a strike towards the bottom left corner, Nayar is down well to make the diving save, but he pushes the ball into the path of King and he slots home, the crowd goes wild until they notice the linesmans flag was up, presumably for King, disappointing for the home fans as they were so close to the opener.

30' - TT - A neat 1-2 in the box between Diggens and Jaydyn Lott sees the latter through on goal from the right albeit under a great deal of pressure from James Smith, he manages to shoot, his effort at the near-post, but Nayar is equal to it to make the save and collect the ball.

37' - LG - GOAL (0-1) - Lymore's first corner of the game, it is cleared, but Lymore are able to recycle the ball, from just outside the right-hand side of the box Roberts whips in a cross/shot and it cruelly glances off the head of Grove (I think) and into the net, the deflection leaving Sutton with no chance.

44' - TT - GOAL (1-1) - Excellent response from Thetford Town, Buttle attacks down the left and crosses a brilliant ball into the box, King in the middle rises but cannot connect, but the ball drops to Diggens and he slams the ball into the net from 8yrds out, great finish from the striker.

54' - TT - Buttle causing issues down the left again, he squares the ball into the box to find Elliot Smith in the middle, he is unable to turn and shoot so lays the ball back to Olpin who lines up a strike from just outside the box, it is cleanly struck but flies just wide of the top right corner, so close!

Both teams battled hard throughout the 2nd half but neither could create any guilt-edged chances, the defences on-top and the play scrappy at times. Thetford had the better play, however Lymore looked sharp on the counter, but nobody could break the deadlock and the game went straight into the lottery of the penalty shootout.

PENALTIES

TT - SAVE (0-0) - Wells to the bottom left but keeper Nayar down well to save!

LG - GOAL (0-1) - Roberts into the right, sending Sutton the wrong way.

TT - GOAL (1-1) - Smith also sends the keeper the wrong way with his effort.

LG - GOAL (1-2) - Ndiaye with a long run up, his low strike evading Sutton.

TT - GOAL (2-2) - Harvey Lott's effort squeezes in despite Nayar guessing the right way

LG - GOAL (2-3) - Baltazar neatly tucks the ball into the left-hand side.

TT - SAVE (2-3) - Jake Mann's effort to the top left kept out by a leaping Nayar!

LG - SAVE (2-3) - Kitondo a bit too cocky and straight at Sutton for the save.

TT - GOAL (3-3) - Buttle with a short run slots the ball into the bottom left.

LG - GOAL (3-4) - Emphatic winner from Graham as he blasts the ball into the roof of the net, what a way to win the tie!

A very even games with chances few and far between was settled by the dreaded penalty shootout. I thought Thetford edged the game creating the better chances, but Lymore were solid at the back and looked dangerous on the counter, the scrambling Thetford Town defence clinging on at times. Once into the shootout Lymore took the better penalties and won the game to advance into the 3rd round, I hope they get a good draw and wish them all the best. During the game I thought Elliot Smith and Jeorgy Batch both had a solid game in the middle and Buttle had a lot of luck down the left wing this afternoon. It was concerning seeing both Dylan Grove and Jaydyn Lott going off injured, hopefully nothing too serious. We caught a glimpse of Billy Batch at the end of the game too and he looked bright, hopefully the sign of good things to come. The standout performers for Lymore Gardens were their back-line of Ndiaye, Todoshchuk and Smith, they snuffed out a lot of promising attacks, and keeper Sidhant Nayar was the undoubted hero of the shootout with two excellent diving saves to send his team through. This loss now sees Thetford Town out of every cup competition, which is clearly a massive disappointment for the club, but with only the league left hopefully the players are able to put full focus onto this and begin moving up the table, with Ely City due to visit next week for another huge game, UP THE TOWN!!!

Line-Ups:

THETFORD TOWN: Harry Sutton, Adam Laker, Dylan Grove, Josh Wells, Jaydyn Lott, Elliot Smith (C), Callum Olpin, Jeorgy Batch, George Diggens, Jordan Buttle, Cameron King. SUBS: Sam Bond, Ryan Haylett, Jake Mann, Harvey Lott, Billy Batch.

LYMORE GARDENS: Sidhant Nayar, Maksim Todoshchuk, Papa Ndiaye, Zidane Bolessa, Yinka Akinlabi, James Smith, Ryo Brown (C), Malik Donaldson, Munnir Saad, Tyrique Peters, Dylan Roberts. SUBS: John-Jay Mooney, Wisley Baltazar, Callum Fisher, Andre Graham, Gravlyn Kitondo.