Hopes of a FA Vase upset were extinguished by Mildenhall on Saturday although for 20 minutes Thetford looked more than capable playing some good football.

Hopes of a FA Vase upset were extinguished by Mildenhall on Saturday although for 20 minutes Thetford looked more than capable playing some good football.

They created three good chances with Paul Mleceze delaying his shot from five yards and being tackled when a goal looked on the cards. Craig Skipp broke through also but instead of squaring the ball blasted it and another chance was gone, had Kwame Jones connected cleanly with a header Thetford could have been well on the way to causing a major upset.

Unfortunately the normally reliable Dave Richards scored an own goal and despite superb defending from Devlin, Haynes, Jackson and Richards, ex Cambridge United Tom Scully scored a second just before half time.

Thetford lost their normal passing game in the second half as Mildenhall pressurised every ball which was disappointing as this has become Town's trademark this season but it was good to see Ross Billham excelling throughout. The 18-year-old keeper rose to the occasion and pulled off a string of exceptional saves and again looks to be a very good signing for Thetford.

The back four of Lee Devlin, Ryan Haynes, Simon Jackson and Dave Richards were under constant pressure and coped admirably.

New signing Matt Howard had another good game along with Sam Bryant who worked his socks off so there were a lot of positives to come out of the game.

A club spokesman said: “It was nice to hear Mildenhall boss Dave Pinkowski, who said Thetford worked really hard and have the making of a good side. However we must realise that Rome was not built in a day! it's going to take time and much hard work but Thetford will get there.”

Thetford next face improved Godmanchester at Mundford Road and this must be their focus now until the end of the season if they are to aspire for a top 10 finish.

Kam Senior returns from suspension today so the only long term injuries the club have currently are Steve Crawshaw and Mark Kemp so it would be good to get a string of results together and a settled side.

The Reserves embarked on their hopes of a Carrow Road appearance in the Norfolk Junior Cup with an emphatic 8-1 demolition of Corpusty. Goals flowed at regular intervals from Jay Conway 4, Tom Cusack, Chris Collins-Reed, Henry Armes and Matthew Blake..

The U18's now top their league with an impressive 4-0 win over Ely City U!8's with 2 goals from Tymal Mills , and 1 a piece for Nor Eastwood, and Jordan Fisher. Man of the match was split between 16 year old Keeper Luke Wheeler and Christian Money. Everybody played well in a terrific team performance, at times their passing was exceptional and enjoyable to watch, with Sam Borrer and Willem Denmark coming back from injury and new signing Tom Wilson all to come in competition for places will be fierce.

Players are reminded for the last time that they need to find a sponsor for £50. Would be sponsors will be advertised on our website with a link to their own site, and appear in the programme weekly.