Thurlow Nunn Premier: Haverhill Rovers 1-2 Thetford Town

21st January 2023

Haverhill Rovers vs Thetford Town @ The New Croft - Haverhill

Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)

15:00 KO

£7 entry

Attendance - 145

Half-time score: Haverhill Rovers 0-0 Thetford Town

Goals:

Haverhill Rovers: Bell - 77'

Thetford Town: Gilchrist - 79'

Thetford Town: E. Smith - 91'

Leigh Simons recorded the highlights, see below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_AdDRI6fnQ&feature=youtu.be

Final Score: Haverhill Rovers 1-2 Thetford Town

I've been looking forward to this game all season, with family in Haverhill we met up with them to enjoy the match together. On paper, what may have been viewed as a foregone conclusion with Thetford Town at the top of the table, and Haverhill Rovers rock bottom, recent form suggested Haverhill Rovers are improving, with an impressive new signing in a goalkeeper from the Colchester United set-up, so this was not going to be easy by any stretch. Add to the mix, a lot of uncertainty around the game going ahead, this all added to the feeling of a huge potential banana skin, and a big test for the Thetford squad indeed.

Upon getting to The New Croft, it had the most confusing parking arrangements I've seen in this league, suggesting that £2 needed to be paid on an app or else receive a £100 parking fine, but when speaking to the volunteer on the turnstile it became apparent that scanning a QR code gave free car parking. I grabbed a pint and positioned myself next to the pitch, and I quickly found out that there was a frozen part of the pitch next to one of the goals and there were discussions that the game may be cancelled last minute. Luckily, being a good footballing facility, the game continued but on the adjacent 3G pitch where Haverhill Borough in the league below play, so we headed over there.

On the way, I picked up a match day programme, another classic Barnes Print one.

Running 15 minutes late due to pitch swap, eventually Haverhill Rovers came out in their home red colours and Thetford Town in their away sky blue strip, to a calm yet chilly winters afternoon.

KEY MOMENTS

HR = Haverhill Rovers

TT = Thetford Town

6' - HR - Weaver fights for the ball, wins it, lays it off to Hayes and he shoots from the edge of the area, the ball just flying over the bar.

13' - HR - Captain Weaver is put through on goal, 1-on-1, keeper Tom Smith comes quickly, Weaver tries to round him but it unable too, eventually shooting towards goal, but Tom was closely shadowing and makes a great stop to deny Haverhill the lead.

27' - TT - Diggens is put through on goal down the right wing, he charges into the box and fires in a strike at the near-post, forcing a good save from Tedaldi.

28' - TT - From the corner, the ball finds Laker on the edge of the box and he whips it in, it finds Elliot Smith coming in, he gets a slight connection on the ball, it is creeping in but keeper Tedaldi manages to get to it before it crosses the line.

58' - TT - Fuller heads on a free-kick, it is collected by Laker down the left wing, he takes the ball past the defender and whips in a cross, it looked to be heading into the top right corner of the goal but is just wide of the mark.

62' - TT - Some fantastic work from King in the middle of the park allows him to find Laker bursting down the left wing, from the edge of the area he powers in a daisy-cutter of a strike across the face of goal and it goes narrowly wide of the upright.

65' - HR - Substitute Scarborough releases Bello down the left wing, he cuts into the box and lashes a strike across the face of goal, going narrowly wide.

77' - HR - GOAL (1-0) - A swift attack down the right wing sees captain Weaver play in winger Bell, he continues his run and blasts in a powerful strike at the near post to beat Tom Smith and give Haverhill Rovers an unexpected lead.

79' - TT - GOAL (1-1) - Thetford reply immediately, a strike from nowhere from Gilchrist on the edge of the box flies across goal, Tedaldi dives and makes contact but the ball goes underneath him and into the inside of the side-netting, a fantastic response from Thetford.

82' - TT - King works his magic on the edge of the Haverhill box, and makes the room for a strike, his effort going narrowly wide after a deflection, to give Thetford Town a corner.

90' - HR - A mis-hit cross is heading into the far side of the goal, but Tom Smith gets down well to bat the ball away.

91' - TT - GOAL (1-2) - Substitute Cusack hit a deft ball into the box, Elliot Smith reading this makes a brilliant run into the box, the ball bounces in front of him, Tedaldi rushes out to collect but Elliot gets there first to lift the ball over the keeper and into the net, a brilliant goal to seal the 3-points for Thetford.

What a comeback from Thetford Town, they came up against a resurgent Haverhill Rovers side who put everything into that game and looked a good compact unit, in stark contrast to what their league position suggested. It is certainly an evolving squad and they really made the league leaders work extremely hard for those 3-points and will feel disappointed to have failed to get anything out of that game. In a tight and grueling game, it is perhaps no surprise that Elliot Smith had a fantastic performance in the middle of the park and he capped it off with a superb goal. The win takes Thetford Town 14-points clear, albeit having played 2 games more than their rivals, however it is certainly a healthy position, and the battling nature of the squad prevented them from gifting points to their opposition. It took a lot of mental fortitude against a back drop of frozen pitches, the game nearly being called off and having to move to a 3G surface having expected to play on grass to pull off the win today, a win they should be incredibly proud of. Next up is another potentially tricky game against Anglian Combination opposition in Blofield United in the Norfolk Cup game on Tuesday, certainly an interesting one! UP THE TOWN!!!

Line-Ups:

HAVERHILL ROVERS: Jaime Tedaldi, Oli Bell, Alex O'Leary, Ollie Emsden, Lewis Soraf, Luke Wilson, Samson Bello, Charlie Davies, Paul Hayes, Ryan Swallow, Ryan Weaver (C). SUBS: Harvey Farmer, Nathan Scarborough, Lewis Nial, Andrew Conroy.

THETFORD TOWN: Tom Smith, Ryan Fuller, Matt Morton, Sam Bond (C), Adam Laker, Jake Mann, Cameron King, Elliot Smith, Dan Gilchrist, George Diggens, Emmanuel Machaya. SUBS: Nathan Clarke, Artur Visocanskis, Andrew Cusack, Connor Balment, Jordan Lake.