Thurlow Nunn Premier: Dereham Town 5-1 Thetford Town

20th September 2025

Dereham Town vs Thetford Town @ Aldiss Park - Dereham

Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)

15:00 KO

£8 entry

Attendance - 182

Half-time score: Dereham Town 3-1 Thetford Town

Goals:

Thetford Town: Ebanks-Blake - 11'

Dereham Town: Clarke - 13'

Dereham Town: Fenn - 17'

Dereham Town: Clarke - 36'

Dereham Town: Hawkins - 66', 77'(P)

Final Score: Dereham Town 5-1 Thetford Town

This afternoon saw Thetford Town travel up the A1075 for the second Breckland Derby in this still young season, a strange quirk of the fixtures. Thetford Town come into this game with a 3 game winning streak, extending this to 4 would be the aim to maintain their position at the top of the table, but Dereham Town were not going to make it easy. The last three games between these teams have been tight, with a 0-0 draw a few weeks back, and last season seeing a 2-2 draw and a narrow 1-0 win for Thetford Town at Aldiss Park, so it was set-up for a competitive game in front of a decent crowd.

On the way into the ground matchday programmes were not available, it was said that some could be on their way but I forget to go back and check, so no programme picture today.

Despite the warnings of rain the game was largely dry save a few specks of rain, and there were even periods of sunshine throughout the game. Cameron King was due to start for Thetford Town, but picked up a knock in the warm-up ruling him out for the game, and seeing George Diggens taking his place in the starting 11. Out onto the pitch, Dereham Town lined up in black and white stripes, with Thetford Town in their claret & blue kits.

KEY MOMENTS

DT = Dereham Town

TT = Thetford Town

11' - TT - GOAL (0-1) - Thetford with the opener despite Dereham starting the brighter, Buttle with a good run down the left, he cuts inside and threads the ball into the box, it is blocked and drops back down to him on the edge of the box, he volleys in, Burwood makes the save but Ebanks-Blake is alert on the right-hand side and drills the loose ball into the net, great finish.

13' - DT - GOAL (1-1) - Immediate response from Dereham, Hawkins with a stinging strike from the edge of the box, Sutton is down well to turn it round the post for a corner. From this corner the ball is whipped into the far-post, captain Sam Watts with a powerful downward header, it is stopped by Sutton but Clarke sweeps in rebound from close range.

15' - TT - Diggens is released down the right, he gets in-front of Toby Oliver and looks to be through on goal, but at this moment he is hit with an elbow to the face and goes down on the edge of the box, but the referee is unmoved and nothing is given.

17' - DT - GOAL (2-1) - With Thetford still fuming over the elbow decision, Dereham strike with a second goal. From a throw-in the ball finds Hawkins on the edge of the box, he strikes a powerful low strike curling into the far-side, Sutton dives a gets a fingertip on the ball but the ball is pushed straight into the path of the unmarked Fenn flying in from the left and he powers the ball in, to complete a 6 minute turnaround for the hosts.

32' - DT - A long diagonal ball is hit across to the far-post, nobody tracks the run of Derbyshire and he hits a volley at the near-side, but Sutton is on-hand to make the close-range stop.

36' - DT - GOAL (3-1) - Disaster for Thetford, Dereham break, Spooner crosses the ball into Clarke and he nets his second goal, firing-in across Sutton and into the far-corner.

42' - TT - Mann rides two challenges and has a pop from 25yrds, the effort is well-struck but flies narrowly wide.

65' - DT - Ball crossed into Clarke from the right, he shows good strength to fend off the challenges and turns and strikes inside the box, the ball is heading into the bottom right corner but Sutton is down well to make a fantastic save.

66' - DT - GOAL (4-1) - Derbyshire with a tenacious run, he evades challenges and gets into the box from the right , he squares it to Hawkins, it takes a deflection on the way through but the ball still finds him and he slots the ball in from inside the box, and surely there is no way back for Thetford from this.

77' - DT - PENALTY & GOAL (5-1) - Substitute Ellis with a pacey run down the left, he cuts into the box and gets ahead of the covering Josh Wells, Wells slides in and takes Ellis out, with the referee immediately pointing to the spot. Hawkings steps up and sends Sutton the wrong way to make it 5 for the hosts.

94' - TT - In the death Thetford receive a rare corner, substitute Glover whips the ball into the near-post, fellow substitute Reynolds is sprinting in but the effort comes off his back and flies just over.

Well my prediction of a close game was way off the mark, as Thetford Town left Aldiss Park with their tails firmly between their legs, and there are no arguments with the result. Thetford's opening goal was arguably against the run of play, with Dereham the more physical sharper team in the opening, and throughout the game. They exposed a weak point in the Thetford Town formation, with all first-half goals coming from the far-side. Dereham Town looked a transformed side since the game a month ago, the strike force of Clarke and Hawkins were sharp and physical, backed up by excellent midfield performances of Spooner, Derbyshire and Fenn, with Dylan Derbyshire impressing me in particular. There was no lack of effort from Thetford Town, they tried desperately to get back into the game, but the Dereham backline prevented them from creating many chances. All-in-all a poor performance from the boys in claret and blue lacking a bit of spark and urgency, but they have a week to sort things out before they host a much fancied Fakenham Town, hopefully lessons are learned from today and we have something to cheer next Saturday, UTT!!!

Line-Ups:

DEREHAM TOWN: Warren Burwood, Harry Pitcher, Jamie North, Jesse Fenn, Sam Watts (C), Toby Oliver, Dylan Derbyshire, Mac Gee, Ryan Hawkins, Brad Spooner, Charlie Clarke. SUBS: Myron Abodunde, Mike Ellis, Luke Middleton, Charlie Palmer, Jacob Duffy.

THETFORD TOWN: Harry Sutton, Sam Bond (C), Jake Mann, Jordan Buttle, Josh Wells, Jaydyn Lott, Dylan Grove, Harvey Lott, Antwan Ebanks-Blake, Callum Olpin, George Diggens. SUBS: Adam Laker, Jeorgy Batch, Marley Reynolds, Charles Glover.