Thetford area notes

THETFORD BULLDOGS U10B won their first game of the season in a closely- contested game with Swaffham. The first quarter saw Bulldogs dominate with two goals from Samari Howard and a well- deserved first goal of the season for Alex Vasey. The second quarter was a much closer affair with both teams creating chances and eventually Swaffham got themselves a hard-earned goal, finally getting past Jacob and Jacob Chamberlain in defence. Oliver Remmington and Gibriel battled hard in midfield to create some good chances for Ryan and Alex up front but the strikers were finding it hard to beat the Swaffham goalkeeper. The third quarter saw no change to the score thanks to good defensive work and some solid goalkeeping from Lyle. The next goal was going to prove to be very important and fortunately Samari completed his hat-trick in the final quarter to give Bulldogs a 4-1 lead. Swaffham, however, would not give up and scored their second of the game with only a few minutes remaining. Final score 4-2 to Bulldogs. MoM: Jacob Chamberlain.

BULLDOGS U9 hosted Lakenheath in the league and continued their winning run. Bulldogs were without influential midfielder Daniel but a first-class midfield performance by Joseph, Jayden and Lewis saw Bulldogs win a good game against a talented Lakenheath team. Bulldogs started slowly and Lakenheath scored within seconds of the kick-off but then Bulldogs produced a seven-minute spell that won the match. Firstly Rhys found a yard in the box and fired in to level before a good run by Joseph played in Lewis who finished well. Bulldogs made it three minutes later when Rhys hammered in from the edge of the box. Bulldogs made it 4-1 soon after when Joseph hounded the defence into a mistake before finishing smartly. Bulldogs wasted a few more chances in the quarter but went in 4-1 up. Lakenheath came out stronger in the next quarter and caused Bulldogs problems, especially their number seven who is undoubtedly one of the best players in the league. Bulldogs held firm until Lakenheath won a penalty and finished it well. In the third quarter Lakenheath continued to pressure but it was Luke who broke and ran a powerful run into the box before scoring to make it 5-2 but Lakenheath scored again to make it 5-3. The quarter continued end to end but Bulldogs went in 5-3 up. In the last quarter Bulldogs dominated again with Lakenheath struggling with Keiron's strength up front. Bulldogs produced a superb goal to kill the match, Quinn won the ball, played it down the line and Lewis played Pedro in who capped another excellent performance by slotting home comfortably. John was then forced into a great save, flying across his goal but Bulldogs continued to pressure but couldn't score and it was Lakenheath who scored the final goal for 6-4. Bulldogs meet Indies next week in the cup and, unlike the first day of the season, have a full-strength squad and the match has all the makings of a classic between two of the league's best teams. MoM: Pedro.

MUNDFORD U11 entertained Moreton Hall in a friendly and struggled for the most part against a good side. Illness and unavailability meant the home side were a lot weaker than usual but still failed to really to produce the work-rate and passing of which they are capable. Although early on it was very even, Moreton Hall, with a strong wind at their back, gradually pinned Mundford back and deservedly scored. After an early flourish after the break, once again the away side had the better of things and increased their lead but Mundford did keep going although they found many attacks coming to a swift end through the linesman's flag. All in all, a below-par display from the boys - glad it was only a friendly. Mundford 0, Moreton Hall 2.

THETFORD TOWN U12 hosted Dereham Blues on a very blustery but dry day and came away 9-0 victors with by far their best performance to date. The game started end to end but Town soon broke Dereham's defence with some great work from Taylor, Nathan and Bart who crossed the ball into the path of Jack who gave the keeper no chance. Town picked up the pace and were soon rewarded when Taylor struck from 15 yards, first of many. Town started to lose momentum when Dereham had a couple of runs on goal but the defence of Charlie, Dominik, Luke, Andrew and Spencer in goal were not to be budged. With everything secure Town once again pushed forward and a blistering run from Daniel saw him pass the ball across goal for Bart to score. Town were not finished and a last run from Nathan through midfield ended with the ball in the net for 4-0. The second half started much the same, again with Dereham never giving up and battling hard for possession, but getting very little. It was Daniel's turn and he got two goals and Taylor following that with a further two to get his first hat-trick. Daniel hadn't finished and with the clock running down had one more shot which hit the crossbar for Tyrone Jackson to see home for his first for the team. Well done to all who played - great team effort. Thetford MoM:Andrew Connelly. Dereham MoM: Daniel Jursck.

BRANDON LASSES U11 lost to visitors Horsford Youth U11 2-1. Lasses failed to make the same start as they had in previous games. They were caught napping when Horsford played the ball straight through the middle and scored in the first five minutes. The rest of the first half saw an evenly matched battle between the Lasses and Horsford midfield until Horsford broke through and scored their second goal just before the half-time whistle. Lasses started the second half much brighter and were soon making chances, Millie Bales and Jess Whybrow both having chances soon after the start. Ruby Robertson and Lucy Page were both outstanding at the back, making some excellent decisions, Katie Page and Freya Heyward also played their part during the game. The midfield of Leah Zawiasa, Georgia Dargan and Suzy Duggan were doing their job of holding off Horsford and trying to put the Lasses through on goal. Their determination paid off and five minutes from the end Lucy Page found the net with an excellent shot from just outside the box. Lasses kept the pressure in the last few minutes with three corners but Horsford managed to hang on. PoM: Ruby Robertson.

HARLING COLTS U12 beat visitors Jex Rangers 5-0. Harling maintained their 100 percent start to the season with a good win over Jex. Callum Olpin opened the scoring from a clever pass from Sam Smith before Daniel Mobbs' well-struck free-kick doubled the lead. Smith's well- struck shot from the edge of the box extended the Harling lead before half-time. After the break Jack Rodwell's cheeky back-heeled volley hit a post with Smith crashing home the rebound before Mobbs added the fifth from Luke Holland's chipped pass. Thomas Dunning made a tremendous tackle to ensure Harling kept a clean sheet. MoM: Rory Olpin for an all-action performance.

WEETING got a fine win over Thetford Bulldogs 8-2 - whom they have never beaten before - to maintain their 100pc record. An early chance for the home team was foiled by an excellent save by

C Sheppard. A few minutes later the visitors went in front with a fine flick-on by Peeling for R Hunter in to take it round the keeper to score. The second quarter saw the home team have their best spell when they piled on the pressure and were rewarded with a level score in this quarter, the away defence held firm and just before half-time a long clearance was picked up by J Peeling who fired home from just outside the box. The second half got under way with Weeting taking control of the game and took a 5-1 lead into the final quarter, with R Hunter scoring direct from a corner then M McCready scoring from close range and then R Jenkins scoring his first goal for Weeting after good work from McCready. In the final quarter J Peeling moved out to the right side of midfield and bagged himself a hat-trick and four for the game, the final goal did go to the home team. Weeting have now gone back to the top of the league with four wins at of four. MoM: R Hunter. PoD: N Ward.

THETFORD INDEPENDENTS U13 hosted Morton Hall in the league. The visitors, who struggled for a team, only turned up with nine men. Indies started off slow and took a while to get going but they did get the ball moving with Luke Jones making some nice passes out to the left and after some sustained pressure Charlie Reed broke the deadlock when his corner curled in over the keeper. Charlie then doubled his tally when he headed in after a great cross by Luke Chappell. Just before half-time Harry White got on the score sheet. The second half Indies improved in front of goal but were sloppy at the back. Charlie Reed then delivered another dangerous corner which Charlie Hutt got his head to and put it into the top corner. Indies then got too complacent and conceded to give Morton Hall a glimmer of hope but that was soon extinguished when Jordan Foster finished off the best move of the match with Shey, Chappers, Jordan and Charlie all involved. Ty Whitby then lobbed the keeper from 20 yards but the visitors kept going and got another goal back after a lapse in concentration from Indies. Harry White completed the scoring, when put through he confidently slotted his shot home. A good result for the lads, a 7-2 win.

BRANDON LADS U12 put in disappointing display to lose 3-1 at home to Bulldogs. Brandon from the start did not play well and Bulldogs took the lead with a fine strike from outside the 18-yard box. Brandon's best chance fell to Kyle Pearson and he finished well to bring the scores level. Bulldogs, in the second half, used the slope of the pitch and the wind to their advantage and a slick through-ball led to a goal. Brandon were awarded a penalty, but as the ball sailed well over the bar so did Brandon's chances of getting back into the game. Bulldogs sealed the win with the striker, Dan, getting a fine hat-trick.

BRANDON LADS U13 lost to well-organised visitors Thurston 4-0. Brandon lost the toss and played into the wind and although they were working hard it was Thurston who were on top and soon found the back of the net. The normally strong Brandon defence were being caught too often by the ball moving in the wind. Brandon never dropped their heads and kept battling with the impressive Muzza Burt winning the midfield battle, however with the elements on their side and Thurston playing well Brandon found themselves four goals down at the break with the best chance of the half falling to Harry Rampley who headed wide after great work by Jordan Kemp. Brandon started the second half well but just could not find the net. The second half was a much better performance by Brandon and a great battling performance by Daniel Baker. MoM: Muzza Burt.

THETFORD TOWN U15 crushed West Winch 19-0 to chalk up their biggest victory of the season so far. West Winch battled hard but failed to cope with wave after wave of Town attacks - an altogether mesmerizing display from the U15 side. Scorers were M Ferreira 9, L Mannion 2, M Stow 2, J Evans 2, J Nash 1, J Trowse 1, P Santos 1, H Figueiredo 1. MoM: C Holloway.