Thurlow Nunn Premier: Harleston Town 3-4 Thetford Town

24th January 2026

Harleston Town vs Thetford Town @ Wilderness Lane - Harleston

Thurlow Nunn Premier (Step 5)

15:00 KO

£8 entry

Attendance - TBA

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

Goals:

Thetford Town: King - 13'

Thetford Town: Ebanks-Blake - 15', 16', 69'

Harleston Town: Hawkins - 76'

Harleston Town: Page - 86'

Harleston Town: Cox - 88'

Final Score: Harleston Town 3-4 Thetford Town

Today saw Thetford Town make the trip east to face Harleston Town, in their 3rd match up of the season. Win one win a piece so far, it was set to be a tight game, but Thetford Town would be keen to avenge their defeat back in late-October which saw them dumped out of the Challenge Cup, a disappointing result as Thetford were looking to beat their semi-final achievement last season in this competition. Between the sticks for Harleston is Harry Sutton, who was the Thetford No.1 earlier this season, he done well but moved to join his brother when Elliot Pride was signed, but I was looking forward to seeing him again, although hoping he didn't do too well of course.

I picked up a programme on the way in, classic Barnes Print for £1, great quality.

It was a sunny dry and mild afternoon getting chilly as the sun set, but the game was almost called off due to the recent rain. The pitch was inspected at 9:30 and the signal was the game was on, then this wasn't the case and another inspection occurred at 11:00 but eventually it was decided that the game was on. Whilst the pitch was on the heavy side, it was absolutely fine, would have been wrong to have called it off. Before long the teams were lining up, Harleston Town in their black and white stripes with yellow accents, and Thetford Town in their first choice claret and blue.

KEY MOMENTS

HA = Harleston Town

TT = Thetford Town

9' - TT - Ebanks-Blake manages to beat Sutton to the ball on the left-hand edge of the box, he crosses in but the captain, Shane Cox, manages to clear the ball just in front of the waiting Thetford forward.

13' - TT - GOAL (0-1) - Buttle wins a high ball on the left, and is able to sprint onto it, scything through the middle, he gets to the edge of the box and is about to shoot but is wiped out. King steps up to take the free-kick and curls a peach of a strike into the top right corner, the flailing Sutton unable to get to the ball.

15' - TT - GOAL (0-2) - Ebanks-Blake intercepts a loose ball and finds himself 1-on-1 with Sutton, sprinting in from the right-flank he calmly sweeps the ball across Sutton and into the far-side of the net, clinical finish.

16' - TT - GOAL (0-3) - Thetford with a swift attack down the right through Grove, he crosses the ball into the near-post to pick out Ebanks-Blake who immediately blasts it in at the near-post, another fine finish from the Thetford Town striker.

35' - TT - A brilliant ball forwards from King using the outside of his boot, it swerves across and Buttle latches onto the end of it, he is bearing down on Sutton, 1-on-1, he tries to stroke the ball beyond the ex-Thetford Town keeper but Sutton gets a boot on the ball, it spins up into the air and Buttle tries to win it back but is unable to fire the ball in under immense pressure.

35' - HA - Harleston go up the end and from the left-side Stone flashes a low cross goal effort wide of the far-post.

44' - HA - A Durham corner is curling into the goal, but Ruddy gets his fingertips on it to push it over the bar for another corner.

56' - TT - Grove bursts through the middle and in through on goal, his effort is saved and Ebanks-Blake is on hand to follow-up, between him and Grove they fire off several shots and eventually Ebanks-Blake buries it, but offside is given and the effort is chalked off.

57' - HA - Durham with a free-kick 25yrds out on the right side, his effort is sweetly struck and is flying in, but Ruddy is able to tip the effort over the bar for a corner.

69' - TT - GOAL (0-4) - Ebanks-Blake secures his hat-trick, Wells with a brilliant run along the left-flank, he cuts inside and onwards into the box, under-pressure from the onrushing Sutton he unselfishly squares the ball to Ebanks-Blake who slots it into the open net to put Thetford 4-0 to the good!!

74' - HA - Ball crossed in from the right to pick-out Turner at the far-post, but his off-balance effort is straight at Ruddy for the save.

76' - HA - GOAL (1-4) - A Durham corner is whipped into the mixer, Hawkins is on hand with a glancing close-range headed effort into the net, could a late comeback be on?

78' - HA - Jaggard with a blistering turn of pace off the right flank and skips into the box, he is through on goal but flashes his effort harmlessly wide beyond the far-post.

82' - HA - From a long-throw in the ball drops kindly to a Harleston player but the effort is palmed out for a corner.

86' - HA - GOAL (2-4) - Page has the ball in the middle and is allowed to run forwards, before unleashing a blistering strike from 20yrds out, the ball swerving in the air and beyond Ruddy to burst the back of the net, a brilliant individual goal and still time to pull two more goals back!

88' - HA - GOAL (3-4) - Wow, could they really turn around the 4-goal deficit? A ball crossed in from the right is smashed in from close range by the captain Shane Cox!!

90' - HA - Harleston exploiting the right-flank again, a cross from Jaggard skips across the box, but somehow evades everyone, Thetford clinging on.

92' - HA - Harleston pressuring the Thetford box, the ball drops to Hawkins, he turns and shoots, but drags his effort just wide!

Never has an away victory felt like a loss, from 4-0 and cruising with 20mins to play, including stoppage time, to holding onto the lead for dear life, with Harleston absolutely battering Thetford with wave-after-wave of attacks. Up until the end it was a brilliant Thetford Town performance, but they completely crumbled after the first Harleston goal, and I still don't know how they held on. Credit to the Harleston players for not giving up, the subs all seemed to make a big impact as the game drew on, and they took their goals well, the effort from Page was spectacular. On the bright side, an away victory for Thetford Town which keeps them in the play-offs, but they need to see out games better to stay in this position, there is a hungry chasing pack just below them. It was also be amiss to not acknowledge the brilliant hat-trick from Ebanks-Blake, he is growing stronger in every game and is beginning to look the real deal, great performance today from him, and I also thought Buttle was a real handful, the Harleston defence were relieved when he came off. Next weekend sees Thetford Town travel to Fakenham Town, not a happy hunting ground of late, but with the Fakenham form faltering, this could be a better opportunity than any to beat them, UP THE TOWN!!!

Line-Ups:

HARLESTON TOWN: Harry Sutton, Aston Jaggard, Alfie Bell, Shane Cox (C), Oli Ebbage, Brandon Pickess, Nathan Page, Josh Durham, Ryan Hawkins, Nathan Stone, Spencer Cawcutt. SUBS: Archie Gilmore, Rob Turner, Edward Tyas, Tom Huckerby.

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