Thetford Town: 1) Ian Fancett 2) Daniel Morphew 3) Ben Wake © 4) Luke Bailey 5) Martin Carter 6) Tom Cusack 7) Liam Bolton 8) Stephen Harley 9) Valta Rocha (Matt Barker 80) 10) Tom Dew (David Reyland 80) 11) Aaron Piggott (Alan Goodwin74)
No unused subs

Wivenhoe Town : 1) Richie Robins) Marley Spindler 3) Liam Dadds 4) Ben Lampon 5) Ryan Brown 12) Lewis Blanchett 7) Mike Schofield 8)Reece Keating (Bryan Turner 71) 9) Luke Rogers (Tom Cutts 46) 10) Markel Greenidge (Marcus Spindler 71) 11) Ray Catchpole
No unused subs.

Well I never! It was truly a game of two halves at the Recreation Ground in Thetford as Wivenhoe failed to make hardly any impression in the first 45 minutes of this game but dominated the second half and eventually earned a deserved point. Commentators often speak of teams ‘not being at the races’ when they fail to impress, well in this case Wivenhoe may well have been at the races in the first half because they certainly weren’t at the football.
Newly promoted Thetford started with the enthusiasm to be expected of a team stepping up a division and earned a corner within the first ten seconds. Their first shot came from Harley after two minutes and a minute later Ben Lampon did well to clear a dangerous cross from Rocha. Five minutes after that Harley threatened again as he stepped inside Ryan Brown before hitting a firm shot which Richie Robins had to parry before gathering at the second attempt.
Wivenhoe hardly got into the Thetford half in the early stages although on thirteen minutes, after Reece Keating was fouled by Harley Markel Greenidge sent in a looping header from the resultant free-kick. Luke Rogers won Wivenhoe’s first corner on 18 minutes but within sixty seconds the Dragons had a lucky escape as Piggott got into the box on the left and from a good position sent a shot past the far post. Richie Robins spilled a shot on twenty four minutes which he gathered at the second attempt, but two minutes later he did really well to save at the feet of Bolton who had been put clean through.
Just before the half hour a rare Wivenhoe attack saw Luke Rogers make a good run and dribble on the left before sending over a deep cross to the far post; Mike Schofield had to stretch for the ball and only succeeded in sending an uncontrolled shot high and wide. A similar move three minutes later had Markel Greenidge crossing the ball from the left before Mike got a head to the ball but the Dragons were outnumbered in the box and Thetford cleared their lines.
Wivenhoe were fortunate to be on level terms with a third of the game gone but that all changed on thirty three minutes when Rocha sent over a cross to the back of the box. Richie Robins misjudged the cross, coming a long way out of his goal but not reaching the ball; Piggott had the simple task of heading into the empty, unguarded net.
The goal seemed to shock some of the Wivenhoe players and the end of the half saw a slight improvement. Good work on the left by Ryan Brown two minutes after the goal produced a pass to Mike Schofield who hit a dipping shot that didn’t dip quite enough not to go over the bar. Six minutes before the break a deep cross from the by-line by Markel Greenidge found Ray Catchpole who played in Luke Rogers and his shot went the wrong side of the near post. Two minutes later Luke had a close range effort saved following the Dragons best move so far as Mike Schofield found Markel Greenidge with an angled ball over the top of the defence; Markel then then spread the ball wide to Reece Keating and his pull-back from the by-line reached Luke. The last action of the half saw Reece fire a free-kick over the bar after he had been fouled on the right hand edge of the box.
Wivenhoe had been poor in the first half, they rarely strung more than a couple of passes together and simply didn’t work hard enough for each other; they looked like they were playing for a goalless draw. The second half therefore was a revelation as they began to attack Thetford in numbers and roles were reversed.
Wivenhoe won the first corner of the half on forty-eight minutes and had their first shot two minutes later when Ray Catchpole ran in from the left and aimed for the near post, but it was an easy stop for Fancett in the Thetford goal. On the hour Markel Greenidge was held back by Wakes but Lewis Blanchett sent the free-kick past the post.
Thetford were being restricted to breakaways, but some of these were dangerous and on sixty four minutes Ben Lampon saved the day when Rocha got round Richie Robins, but Ben was able to flick the ball up for recovering Richie to catch. Two minutes later however, the Dragons came close to an equaliser when a free-kick from near the half way line by Liam Dadds sailed through the box to the far post where Markel Greenidge couldn’t quite get the necessary touch to steer the ball past Fancett. With around twenty minutes to go both Liam Dadds and Ray Catchpole tried their luck with shots from about twenty yards but both were straight at Fancett.
As the game entered the last ten minutes Bryan Turner hit a firm shot which Fancett could not hold, but there were no Dragons players on hand to take advantage; at the other end Richie Robins also parried a shot from Harley and although Barker collected the rebound he shot badly wide from a good position. With three minutes to go Lewis Blanchett crossed from the left and Marcus Spindler went up the challenge Fancett who could only push the ball up against the cross bar. The ball came down to Ray Catchpole but he was unable to force it over the line.
Despite coming close to scoring and dominating the second half it looked as if the Dragons were going to begin the season with a defeat and this prospect was confirmed a minute from time as Reyland was put through on goal; Richie Robins came out to him but he collapsed to the ground over Richie’s outstretched arm and the referee awarded a penalty. Stephen Harley stepped up to take the spot kick and placed the ball to Richie’s left, but the shot was not strong and Richie was able to scramble across and shovel it away. As great as it was that Richie saved the penalty there was also some satisfaction that Harley had missed because whilst he did have a good game he was not averse to committing niggly fouls and was a bit of a misery; one wonders what it would take for him to embrace the words of his namesake and make him smile
The penalty miss was a let off but it still looked odds on that Wivenhoe would lose as on the second minute of added time Marley Spindler desperately shot over the bar from twenty-five yards. A minute later however the Dragons earned a corner as Fancett was put under pressure at his near post. Lewis Blanchett took the corner kick, which was fumbled at the near post and cleared, but only as far as Ben Lampon who crossed the ball to Ray Catchpole at the far side of the six yard box; Ray then hooked a shot across and into the far corner of the goal to equalise for Wivenhoe. Woo Hoo! The crowd went wild or muttered under their breath according to whom they supported. The Wivenhoe dugout went insane as Kevin Brown and Paul Turner hugged each other manfully and Paulene Brooks joyously banged her knuckles on the roof.
The Dragons’ performance in the second half had been excellent and despite the escape of the penalty miss they deserved the result. Kevin Brown admitted to using swear words in his half time team talk and whilst swearing so often gets a bad press it seems to have worked in this case. Better teams than Thetford would probably have had the game wrapped up by half time because Wivenhoe started so poorly, but Thetford were nevertheless solid and competitive. The Dragons must now work out how to play for ninety minutes and not just forty five.