Norfolk Senior Cup - 3rd Round: Great Yarmouth Town 2-1 Thetford Town

3rd October 2026

Great Yarmouth Town vs Thetford Town @ The Wellesley Stadium

Norfolk Senior Cup - Round 3 (both teams Step 5)

15:00 KO

£8 entry

Attendance - 237

Half-time score: Great Yarmouth Town 2-0 Thetford Town

Goals:

Great Yarmouth Town: Barnes - 1', 31'

Thetford Town: Olpin - 88'

Final Score: Great Yarmouth Town 2-1 Thetford Town

Thetford Town began their Norfolk Senior Cup campaign this afternoon, with the TNL Premier teams all joining in the 3rd round, where they have been drawn away at Great Yarmouth Town, making this the only all TNL Prem tie of the round. This is a bit unfortunate for both sides as part of the fun of this cup is getting to play some of the TNL D1 and Anglian Combination sides. Nevertheless, the last game between these two teams was an absolute classic, a game that was 1-1 at half time, a crazy 8 goal 2nd half seeing Thetford Town win a staggering 6-4! With this defeat fresh in their memory they would surely be desperate to avenge this in front of their home fans. Therefore, a big task for Thetford Town to win this one, a defeat would see them knocked out of every cup competition.

It was a cool afternoon, with patches of much welcomed sun in spells. Both teams lined up in their home colours, Great Yarmouth Town in amber and black, with Thetford Town in claret and blue.

KEY MOMENTS

GYT = Great Yarmouth Town

TT = Thetford Town

1' - GYT - GOAL (1-0) - Awful start for Thetford as the hosts score within the first 60 seconds, I was still setting up so missed the goal, but it was buried in from close by Cameron Barnes from a set-piece.

17' - TT - Buttle sprints down the left and crosses in, the ball is partially cleared but drops to Diggens just inside the box, his snap strike is heading in but is tipped over the bar by the fingertips of Ling, close!

31' - GYT - GOAL (2-0) - Great Yarmouth with a free kick on the left, just outside the box, it is whipped into the far-post, Barnes is unmarked and stoops down, his bullet header almost bursting through the net, and the home crowd go wild.

35' - GYT - A hospital pass to Thetford Town captain Sam Bond, he loses the ball and Leo Spooner bursts into the box, he is 1-on-1 with Sutton, Sutton flies out at speed and Leo spoons the effort over the bar, big let off!

37' - TT - A sweeping Thetford attack, Grove plays the ball into Diggens in the middle of the box, a neat ball across from him finds Olpin open on the right, he drills in powerful, low strike, but it is blocked by the Yarmouth defence.

42' - TT - Henman-Mason with a deep cross into the box from the right, he finds Diggens at the far-post, the effort is fired towards goal across Ling but he manages to spring forwards and catch the ball.

54' - TT - Olpin steals the ball on the edge of the Yarmouth box, he slides in Diggens who plays it back to Olpin, he cuts left, then right, then left again before drilling in another powerful low daisy-cutter of a strike, but the outstretched leg of Ling denies him the goal.

58' - TT - A superb Buttle strike from 25yrds out on the left flank, the flailing Ling is beaten but the ball slams into the crossbar and out. The ball is recycled, Cooper crosses in from the right, Diggens leaps like a salmon but cannot direct his headed effort on target, two good chances from Thetford in quick succession.

84' - GYT - A ball is played forwards to a clearly offside Liam Jackson, the linesman is behind play and the call is not made, Jackson is now 1-on-1 with Sutton, but drags his shot so wide it doesn't even go out, I wonder if he knew he was badly offside and was waiting for the whistle?

88' - TT - GOAL (2-1) - A late reprieve for Thetford Town, Olpin with a stinging strike from 20yrds out, straight into the bottom left corner, what a hit, pure accuracy and a well-deserved goal for Callum.

With that result, Thetford Town are now out of every single cup competition at this early stage of the season. Conceding the goal in the first minute was the worst possible start and was made worse by conceding from yet another set-piece. In open play Thetford Town held Great Yarmouth Town back well and the hosts had very few opportunities, except the chance from the mistake at the back. Thetford made a good go of it in the 2nd half and had chances to score, but Yarmouth held firm until a stunning Olpin strike made Yarmouth sweat for the final 7 or so minutes, being more or less camped in their own half and box, but they weathered the bombardment well to seal a huge victory, I wish them well in the next round. Whilst it is immensely disappointing for Thetford Town as everyone loves a cup run, they can now put 100% effort and focus into the league, and with a squad facing several injuries and looking quite thin, having no cup distractions may be a good thing. Thetford Town now have 10 days of rest before they head to Harleston Town on a Tuesday night, hopefully also time for some of the injured players to come back into fitness as it will be a big game against very good opponent, hopefully TTFC can secure the win, UP THE TOWN!!!

Line-Ups:

GREAT YARMOUTH TOWN: Brandon Ling, Reegan Perry, Hayden Rutherford, Riley Wilson-Towns, Billy Wenn, Cameron Barnes, Louis Duffield, Kyle Ingram (C), Jake Spooner, Will George, Leo Spooner. SUBS: Liam Jackson, Alex Curran, Alex Meeken, Nick Bailey, Josh Denny.

THETFORD TOWN: Ollie Sutton, Kyran Cooper, Dylan Grove, Amouree Wellington, Sam Bond (C), Callum Olpin, Louis Henman-Mason, Ronnie Ward, Harvey Lott, George Diggens, Jordan Buttle. SUBS: Salvador de Noronha, Theo Piggott, Lawrence Blythe, Matt Morton, Ben Mills.