Thurlow Nunn Premier: Thetford Town 2-0 Ely City

29th September 2026

Thetford Town vs Ely City @ The Lomax Spiral Systems Stadium - Thetford

Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (Step 5)

19:45 KO

£9 entry

Attendance - 261

Half-time score: Thetford Town 1-0 Ely City

Goals:

Thetford Town: Diggens - 33'

Thetford Town: Henman-Mason - 74'

Final Score: Thetford Town 2-0 Ely City

Following Thetford Town’s big away win at Walsham-le-Willows over the weekend they topped the table before kick-off, but faced tough opponents in Ely City as they battle to maintain this position. Over the past two seasons, it is Ely City who have come out on top winning both games last season and both games the year before, with 3 of the games finishing 2-1. All games have been close hard fought games, and looking at Ely City’s results so far this season I have no reason to believe that it will be any different tonight, with an impressive 4-1 away win at Stowmarket the standout result. With Thetford Town full of confidence, and with the fans behind them at home, could they break their losing streak against Ely?

Another very pleasant evening in Norfolk, bit cooler with a bit of mist in the air, causing my phone camera to struggle focusing, but otherwise excellent playing conditions on the well manicured pitch. Before long the teams were out, with Thetford Town in claret & blue and Ely City sporting their away blue kits.

KEY MOMENTS

TT = Thetford Town

EC = Ely City

4' - TT - Diggens is slipped through but is dispossessed, but the ball only travels as far as Ward who comes steaming in and blasts in a well-hit shot from the edge of the box, but Newton is equal to it to make the save.

28' - EC - An Ely corner ball is swung in, it evades everyone and bounces up, Brannan looks in at the far-post, but the ball bounces over his head and the ball flies out for a goal-kick.

33' - TT - GOAL (1-0) - Buttle crosses in from the left, the ball is deflected and loops up, Harvey Lott heads the ball on and it drops to Diggens who smashes it into the inside of the side-netting, and the hosts take a deserved lead.

48' - TT - Thetford pressurising the Ely box after a set-piece, ball breaks for Henman-Mason on the edge of the box, his powerful driven effort ia well blocked by Hornibrook, an important stop and it looked like it was heading in.

52' - TT - Olpin with a beautiful free-kick, floated into the danger, club captain Bond looks to be on the end of it but he is millimetres away from connecting, gutting!

63' - TT - Grove with a neat ball over the top, Diggens in and just as he is about to strike from the centre-spot he is brought down by the trailing defender, it looked a clear penalty to me but the referee is unmoved. Not sure why Diggens would go down in that scenario just as he's about to shoot, but there you go.

64' - TT - Wells with a foray down the right, he crosses a brilliant ball into Buttle at the far-post, but he cannot keep his side-footed volleyed effort down.

72' - EC - Ely manage to break through the stubborn Thetford defence, substitute Sutcliffe has the ball on the edge of the box and curls in a low effort, Sutton is beaten but the ball crashes into the post and out, and in a scrappy fashion Thetford eventually clear their lines, heart-stopping moments!

74' - TT - GOAL (2-0) - Thetford finally put some space between themselves and Ely, Buttle again working hard down the left flank, he gets to the by-line and crosses in, Newton flaps at the ball and it drops to Henman-Mason, and seeing the covering defenders he chips the ball over the recovering Newton and the defenders to nestle the ball neatly into the net, sublime finish and just rewards for all their attacking play.

76' - TT - Grove goes on on his blistering runs forward from deep, showing outrageous skill at pace he rounds two defenders before laying the ball across to Henman-Mason whose shot at the far-post is blocked by some impressive last ditch defending.

77' - TT - Henman-Mason to Diggens, he sprints forwards and unleashes from the edge of the box, but too close to Newton for a fairly routine save.

78' - TT - Thetford with their foot firmly on the pedal, Grove causing all kinds of issues down the left, he squares in and the panicking Ely defence almost turn the ball into their own net, corner ball.

87' - TT - Diggens on the edge of the box, he uses his strength to hold-up the ball, turns and powers in a strong effort, but Newton saves. Moments later, Ward with a deft ball over the top, Diggens is 1-on-1 and bearing down on goal, he opts to shoot to the right but Newton gets an outstretched leg on the ball to make a brilliant save.

91' - TT - Substitute de Noronha attacks the left-flank, he cuts the ball back to Harvey Lott in the middle who immediately flicks it out to the right for Piggott, he fires in but the effort is deflected wide for a corner.

Another brilliant win for Thetford Town, they had Ely City pegged back for large passages of the game and I must say that Ely were lucky to have only conceded 2 goals, it could have easily been double! I have written a lot about Thetford's blistering attacking force of late, and it was on full display again today, those lads look hungry for goals! It was great to see the substitutes Piggott and de Noronha slot right in and keep the threat coming late into the game, and I also enjoyed seeing Henman-Mason in a more advanced role, his finish for the second goal was top-draw. Ely City had very few chances and this is down to Thetford's high work rate and aggressive yet accurate defending to a man, Ward and Cooper with some particularly enjoyable firm challenges, brilliant to see. Let's remind ourselves that we are down quite a few players, Cameron King, Dylan Kirk and Jaydyn Lott, as well as Elliot Smith, which makes such a performance against a team we have struggled with the past two season even more impressive. For Ely City, Townshend looked the most threatening player, but Wells and Bond done a great job to shackle him. The win keeps Thetford Town at the top of the table, but attention turns to the Norfolk Senior Cup this coming weekend as they make a trip to the coast to take on Great Yarmouth Town, if it is anything like the recent game it will be a trip worth taking, especially as the weather also looks half-decent, see as many of you there as possible, UP THE TOWN!!!

Line-Ups:

THETFORD TOWN: Ollie Sutton, Kyran Cooper, Sam Bond (C), Josh Wells, Dylan Grove, Ronnie Ward, Callum Olpin, Harvey Lott, Louis Henman-Mason, Jordan Buttle, George Diggens. SUBS: Theo Piggott, Amouree Wellington, Danny White, Salvador de Noronha, Ben Mills.

ELY CITY: Ben Newton, Joe Tarpey, Harrison Donnelly, Jake Hornibrook, Dominic Hunt, Joe Brannan, Tom Rigby, Alex Brown, Jack Friend (C), Sam Townshend, Fin Logan. SUBS: Charlie Sutcliffe, David Jabaru, Charlie Root, Kaius-Antonio Genovese