Saturday 22nd October FA Vase Dereham Town Away Score 3-0

Town brought off the shock of the round by beating Dereham Town 3-0 in the FA Vase 1st Round Proper. Town started well and went close in the early minutes with efforts from Joseph and Bolton going wide. Town playing some neat football caught Dereham time and time again and all they could do was impede town players which would cost them dearly in the second half. Most of the first half play was kept between the penalty areas with neither team having a real strike on target. O’Donnell in the town midfield kept everybody ticking and town finished the half well.

H/T 0-0

Town continued to pressure the Dereham defence and Dereham were reduced to 10 men when a tackle on Tavares was the players second yellow. Town took advantage of this and deservedly took the lead on 56 minutes when a good run by Bailey saw his

Ball to Dixon returned and he calmly slotted the ball past the advancing keeper. Dereham were then reduced to 9 players when a second yellow saw another player dismissed. Dereham had a little spell when a series of free kicks gave them hope but the town defence and Fancett in the town goal had little problem with their efforts. Town increased their lead on 85 minutes when Blake broke from defence and his ball found Cusack whose first time cross was met by the head of Dixon who made no mistake. Town completed the scoring on full time when Dixon slotted home his second of the game. An excellent effort by town who fully deserved the win.

F/T 3-0

Team  Fancett. Morphew. Howard. Carter. Bailey. Joseph (Blake). Bolton (Rocha). O’Donnell. Tavares (Davies). Dixon. Cusack.

 

Saturday 1st October Stowmarket Town Score 5-1 Att 70

Town secured their straight 8th league win with a 5-1 victory over Stowmarket Town defeat. In the opening twenty five minutes Stow kept Thetford quiet as neither keeper was tested though the referee did credit Fancett with tipping over Will Brown's early strike. Then the home side built up momentum leading to the first goal. Bugg stopped Tavares scoring direct from a corner and the keeper's legs denied a close range Bailey effort but there was little Bugg could do with the accuracy of TAVARES cross shot as it entered the net via the far post. Stow's injury hoodoo struck again soon after with Proctor hobbling off however Stowmarket equalised on the stroke of half time when Brown released DRUMMOND who having seen his initial shot rebound off Fancett only to strike him on the chest and loop into the net.

H/T 1-1

The second half saw an early effort from O’Donnell but on 60 minutes town took the lead when Joseph’s cross evaded Bugg and HOWARD climbed highest to head in. Dixon could have quickly added a third before O'Donnell's long pass found CARTER and with the away supporters awaiting the offside flag the left back found the far corner. It went from bad to worse; an accurate pass from Morphew caught the Stow back line napping allowing Dixon to break clear. Nathan Birch in attempting to play the ball instead in advertantly took Dixon's trailing leg leaving the referee with little option but to produce a red card. TAVARES added his own punishment blasting the ball beyond the wall and through Bugg. To emphasis the difference in the sides' Thetford introduced striker Matt Blake into the action and he proceeded to run a beleaguered defence ragged. O'Donnell struck the crossbar from another free kick and on eighty nine minutes BLAKE ran past tired defenders before slotting the ball through the legs of Bugg to complete a good afternoon’s work.

F/T 5-1

Team Fancett, Morphew, Howard, Carter, Joseph (Bond), Bolton, O’Donnell, Cusack (Mann), Tavares (Blake), Dixon.

 

Saturday 24th September Ipswich Wanderers FA Vase Score 2-5 Att 56

Town travelled to Ipswich Wanderers in the FA Vase and looked dangerous from the start with a Tavares effort after 12minutes well saved by the home keeper. Town took the lead on 17 minutes when an Ipswich forward headed the ball towards his defence which was picked up by Dixon who scored past the advancing keeper. Town should have increased their lead on 20 minutes when good work from Dixon saw the keeper save well from a Mann effort. Town were in control with Cusack, O’Donnell and Bolton dominating midfield. Ipswich were given a lifeline on 26 minutes when they were awarded a penalty which was converted. However town were still in control with Tavares going close and O’Donnell hitting the post just before the break.