Thurlow Nunn Premier: Lakenheath 0-4 Thetford Town

10th March 2026

Lakenheath vs Thetford Town @ The Nest - Lakenheath

Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)

19:45 KO

£8 entry (included a complementary programme)

Attendance - 106

Half-time score: Lakenheath 0-1 Thetford Town

Goals:

Thetford Town: Diggens - 36', 62', 74'

Thetford Town: Benyu - 90'

Final Score: Lakenheath 0-4 Thetford Town

Following a run of three disappointing results, Thetford Town's bid for the play-offs is looking on the ropes, but there was a big chance to turn their fortunes around as they travelled the short distance into Suffolk to face Lakenheath. This game was originally scheduled to have been played on the Saturday just gone, but Lakenheath had gone all the way to the semi-finals in the Challenge Cup, missing out on the final having been beaten comprehensively by Basildon Town. This game was re-arranged for tonight, with the Walsham-le-Willows game pulled forwards from the Bank Holiday weekend to take it's place. Despite the excellent cup run Lakenheath were having a challenging season, languishing near the bottom of the table, but as we know following our loss to Cornard United, nothing can be taken for granted, but a win was a must to keep the promotion dream alive.

The matchday programme was from Barnes Print, and quite a thick one, not bad for a complementary programme!

It was a dry and relatively mild evening with a bit of a gusty wind in the background. In front of a strong away Thetford Town contingent, the teams lined up ready for the game, both teams in their home colours, Lakenheath in green and Thetford Town in claret & blue.

KEY MOMENTS

LH = Lakenheath

TT = Thetford Town

23' - TT - A high ball in the box drops down to Diggens and he goes for the spectacular volley but fails to connect with the ball, it rolls out to the edge of the box and Olpin fires in, but he drags his effort wide.

36' - TT - GOAL (0-1) - Excellent work from Grove down the right, he squares the ball into the box to find Diggens who smashes the ball into the net off the bar, giving the keeper no chance, advantage Town!

40' - LH - RED CARD - A late challenge with studs up from Lakenheath captain and he receives his marching orders, to leave the home side not just a goal down, but also a man-down.

43' - TT - A deft ball from Diggens to slip Grove through on goal, his effort is well saved by Watts and on the follow-up Diggens blasts wide with his cross goal effort, so close to the 2nd!

45'+1' - TT - A long ball pumped forwards, Diggens has the offside trap beaten and runs onto the ball, on the bounce and at the edge of the area, he shoots, but Watts is out like a flash to make the close range save, some good goalkeeping keeping Lakenheath in this game.

53' - LH - 10-man Lakenheath with the first decent chance of the second half, Lawal on the left turns sharply to wrong-foot two Thetford defenders, he drives into the middle and lets rip from the edge of the box, the scrambling Pride able to make the stop with boot, a foot either side and it looked a likely equaliser for the hosts.

62' - TT - GOAL (0-2) - Thetford finally make good with their man advantage. A probing run from Buttle takes him to the edge of the box, he is about to fire in a strike when he is bundled over, but the ball runs out to Diggens who wraps his foot around the ball to see his first time effort curl across goal and into the net, an incredible finish! Also some great refereeing to allow the play to continue, for a moment I thought he had blown for the foul!

73' - TT - Substitute Harvey Lott is put through on-goal down the right, he cuts in and hits a daisy cutter of a strike across goal, Watts is beaten but the ball rolls millimetres wide of the post, so close!

74' - TT - GOAL (0-3) - Diggens with his hattrick, ball played across the box from the left, and Diggens finding space blasts in from close range, fine strikers finish, a confidence boosting hatty at a crucial point in the season.

86' - LH - From a Lakenheath corner there is a scramble at the far-post, Passley pokes in an effort, but Pride is on-hand to stop the ball on the line, great effort to maintain the clean sheet.

88' - LH - SIN BIN - Defender Sanders to miss the end to the game having been sent to the sin bin for dissent. Lakenheath to end the game with only 9 men on the field. A game to forget for the hosts.

90' - TT - GOAL (0-4) - Thetford press home their 2-man advantage, with substitute Benyu getting on the scoreboard. Laker with a searching run down the left, he squares into Benyu who fires in from close-range, another fine finish from the boys in claret and blue, to add the coat of gloss to this fine away win!

Great performance from Thetford Town this evening, and what a way to end the goal-drought, a fine hat-trick from Diggens as he led from the front. Lakenheath were lively out-of-the-blocks, but Thetford were patient and kept probing until Grove and Diggens linked up to open up the scoring. The red card to Yallop certainly made the game easier for Thetford Town, but it can be hard to maintain focus and performance in this situation, and whilst Lakenheath certainly had their moments to come back into the game, Pride held firm at the back and Thetford put the game to bed with three second half goals, including one from substitute Kushinga Benyu which was great to see. The makeshift centre-back paring of Haylett and Smith worked well today, and I thought Laker had a great performance down the left, solid defensive work coupled with probing attacks down the flank and some neat balls into the box. The win sees Thetford Town hop back into the play-off places, and with Ely City losing, Thetford are now only one point behind them having played the same number of games. It certainly is not over yet and with the lads now fired up and backed by the loyal TTFC fans, hopefully they take this into Saturday's game to get another results as we host an unpredictable Stowmarket Town, the first of a double-header, UP THE TOWN!!!

Line-Ups:

LAKENHEATH: Finley Watts, Carlos Edwards, Ryan Sanders, Ryan Yallop (C), Dean Grogan, Charlie Collard, Isaac Lewis, Gabriel Muffett, Tafari Passley, Dexter Driscoll, Tobiloba Lawal. SUBS: Ross Bailey, Jordan Patrick, Will Thorp, Liam Wales, Olly Hollands.

THETFORD TOWN: Elliot Pride, Billy Batch, Elliot Smith (C), Ryan Haylett, Dylan Grove, Jeorgy Batch, Adam Laker, Callum Olpin, George Diggens, Jordan Buttle, Jake Mann. SUBS: Harvey Lott, Sam Bond, Theo Piggott, Kushinga Benyu, Jaquan Allen.