Thurlow Nunn Challenge Cup 3rd Round: Mildenhall Town 4-0 Thetford Town

8th November 2022

Mildenhall Town vs Thetford Town @ The Riverside Stadium - Mildenhall

Thurlow Nunn League Challenge Cup - First Round (both teams Step 5)

19:45 KO

£9 entry

Attendance - 125

Half-time score: Mildenhall Town 3-0 Thetford Town

Goals:

Mildenhall Town: Call - 6'

Mildenhall Town: Underwood - 19'

Mildenhall Town: Lee - 23'

Mildenhall Town: Twinn - 52'

Final Score: Mildenhall Town 4-0 Thetford Town

With Thetford Town currently top of the Thurlow Nunn Premier division, they would have to be going into the Thurlow Nunn League Challenge Cup competition as one of the favourites, however, the 3rd round draw was unkind with an away trip to Mildenhall Town. In recent history it has not been a happy hunting ground for Thetford, with a series of heavy losses, including a recent heavy 5-0 defeat in October, so today was certain to be a huge test for the team, especially as many of the first team players were benched or rested for this game.

It was a clear yet warm November evening, which made a nice change from the 4 days of torrential rain, with the pitch looking in great condition despite this. Both teams came out in their home colours, Mildenhall Town in amber and black and Thetford Town in claret and blue.

KEY MOMENTS

MT = Mildenhall Town

TT = Thetford Town

6' - MT - GOAL (1-0) - Thetford keeper Rodgers is put under pressure, and his pass goes straight to forward Tanner Call who collects the ball and calmly chips the ball over the keeper and into the net, a poor start for The Brecklanders.

15' - MT - Josh Lee makes a good run through from the left into the middle of the park, he jinks his way through and makes the room for a strike from outside the box, the effort is well hit but Rodgers was equal to it.

19' - MT - GOAL (2-0) - Player-manager Phil Weavers whips in a left-footed corner right into the danger zone where it is met by the head of Underwood and powered in for Mildenhall to go two-up early on in the game.

23' - MT - GOAL (3-0) - The tie is effectively killed off by a fortuitous goal when winger Josh Lee attacks down the right, he makes it into the box and cracks of a powerful shot, and with his effort rebounding off the back of defender Cantley, it sends Rodgers the wrong way, deflects into the upright, rolls along the line and eventually over it before the keeper can scramble back.

26' - TT - Club captain Sam Bond makes a marauding run through the middle of the park and hits a fantastic ball to set Visocanskis loose using the outside his boot, the ball tempts out keeper Pope, he challenges and the ball rolls out to the right flank where youngster Davies loops in a shot from a tight angle, but it is wide of the goal.

40' - MT - Twinn plays in Call on the right-hand side of the box, he steps in and hits a daisy cutter of a strike that looked to be heading into far corner, but keeper Rodgers gets out a leg to make the save.

52' - MT - GOAL (4-0) - Shortly after the break, Mildenhall are attacking the Thetford box, and the ball finds Twinn on the edge of the box, he hits an instinctive strike and it flies off his boot and into the goal, beating Rodgers at his near post. There looked to be no way back for Thetford now.

64' - MT - Twinn attacks down the right, he cuts in and beats his man and looks to feed Call who had made a good run, but Rodgers is out quick and is just about able to intercept the pass.

84' - MT - Josh Lee is out through from the left flank, his shot is well saved by Rodgers, but the ball falls to a Mildenhall player, he strikes towards the open goal, but his effort is cleared off the line by experienced defender Cusack who was on as a substitute.

87' - MT - A cross in from Josh Lee from the right flank is met by substitute striker Lombardo, but his glanced effort is flashed wide of the post.

Mildenhall is certainly not a good destination for Thetford as they fall to yet another heavy defeat. However, not too much should be read into it as a weakened side was fielded, and Mildenhall are an impressive team when they get motoring, with a potent frontline of Call and Twinn. I was particularly impressed with Josh Lee, he was a constant threat all game, and always seemed to make something happen down the wing. From Thetford's perspective, errors certainly did not help, but it was a good workout for some of the players who don't typically start, against high calibre opposition, and they never gave up, Santi Davies in particular ran his socks off, eventually succumbing to cramp late in the 2nd half. Thetford need to quickly sweep this one under the carpet and refocus for a big away game on Saturday against Ely City, a team that blow hot and cold. I'm not yet sure if I will be there, hopefully am, but nevertheless I hope the players who got a rest today come back strong to put in a big performance, UP THE TOWN!!!

Line-Ups:

MILDENHALL TOWN: Josh Pope, Phil Weavers, Darryl Coakley, Luke Butcher (C), Adam Capel, Josh Lee, Alex Steed, Toby Salmon, Tanner Call, Casey Underwood, Kieran Twinn. SUBS: Aaron Hamer, Tatum Cartner, Jamie Dicker, Tyler Lombardo, Martin Hill.

THETFORD TOWN: Macauley Rodgers, Sam Cantley, Matt Morton, Sam Bond (C), Adam Laker, Jake Mann, Elliot Smith, Jordan Lake, Artur Visocanskis, Ryan Fuller, Santi Davies. SUBS: Andrew Cusack, Emmanuel Machaya, George Diggens, Dan Gilchrist, Tom Smith.