Walsham-le-Willows 4, Thetford Reserves 2THETFORD Reserves faced a difficult league match away to Walsham-Le-Willows FC and knew it would be a tough test against a decent footballing team.

Walsham-le-Willows 4,

Thetford Reserves 2

THETFORD Reserves knew it would be a tough test against a decent footballing team, without some key players.

The home side started brightly and looked very dangerous early on when going forward, however the visitors' defence were showing great commitment by throwing themselves in front of the ball to keep out the buoyant home attacks.

Town goalkeeper Matt Terry looked commanding, solid and assured by coming out well and collecting a couple of crosses as well as making a smart low save.

The home side broke the deadlock on 20 minutes when a Walsham player converted from close range.

The young Town side didn't let this affect them though and were level five minutes later when a fine team move, starting from goalkeeper Matt Terry, saw them string together eight passes before Fabio Almeida confidently stroked the ball home past the Walsham keeper from inside the box.

Thetford registered long-range efforts from Michael Jordan and Lawrence Breen although they were comfortably dealt with by the keeper.

They took the lead on 35 minutes when a stunning 25-yard strike from James Dean found the back of the net.

A long ball from the back exposed Thetford, and although the home striker still had a lot to do he showed quick feet and scored with an exquisite shot.

The second half was a completely different story with Walsham playing the much better football and Thetford struggling to find any fluency.

Terry produced another couple of very good saves but was helpless to prevent Walsham from taking the lead in the 65th minute when the home striker had time and space to fire home a low shot.

The home side killed the game off late on when they extended their lead on 80 minutes with another close-range finish.

Despite the defeat Thetford actually played some very good football, especially in the first half and maybe half-time came too soon for them as they never got into their stride for the second half and failed in producing the same quality of football.

Rhys Parish got the nod for man-of-the-match for a gritty performance in central midfield. Special mention also to keeper Matt Terry for an impressive display.

Thetford despite this latest defeat can take a lot of positives from the match, especially the first half.

The previous match saw Thetford Reserves gain three precious points with a hard-fought win at Whitton with a good

all-round team display.

Good work from Rhys Parish and Matt Catchpole saw the ball eventually fall at the feet of Arron Joseph, who had the simple task of slotting home from six yards.

Soon it was 2-0 when the impressive Jack Denniss delivered a pin-point ball into the penalty area for Rhys Parish to powerfully head home. The home side reduced the arrears but Thetford got another when the hard-working Tom Old placed a superb shot from the edge of the box.

Old then scored an outrageous goal from 25 yards when he struck a fantastic lob over the keeper.