The magic of the cup hits Thetford

Yesterday and today was the fourth round of the FA Cup, in fact Notts County and Man City Plc are playing on the TV in the background as I write this. So the media has been going on about the magic of the cup and several hundred other cliches, although looking at the attendances the general public hasn't been that enthralled by it. That said the way the TV has controlled the fixtures probably has something to do with it. I can't think that Huddersfield fans would have been happy about getting up at the crack of dawn to get to London even if they were taking on Arsenal or should I say 'the mighty Arsenal'; I really have been watching too much TV. I still can't stand Crawley though, so they haven't completely brainwashed me.

Anyway, it was a very different sort of cup game that I went to, but it had all of the elements of a classic cup tie. I travelled over the border into Norfolk for the Ridgeons Division 1 cup semifinal between Thetford Town and Long Melford. The first half was a very cagey affair with a lot of tempers being lost and both teams getting stuck in. The bad mood seemed to spill into the crowd too with several arguements between the rival fans breaking out. It did seem that the Melford fans had had a sense of humour bypass to be honest though. That said although I think it was a bit like six of one and half a dozen of the other I've noticed that the arguement of who was the dirtiest team of the first half has spilled over on to the Internet. Thetford's Bruno Tavares probably has the bruises to answer that one. Anyway, at half time it was 0-0 and it didn't look like anyone would be breaking the deadlock and with a train to catch and sub zero temperatures I wasn't really relishing the the game going to extra time and then penalties.

Luckily, that didn't happen. Like last time I went to Thetford a couple of weeks ago Thetford came out stronger in the second half and added the width that had been missing in the first half. In the first half Thetford striker Matt Blake had looked a bit out of sorts, but in the second half he put in a man of the match performance and got his just rewards by putting Thetford one up with a beautifully taken goal on 62 minutes. Melford weren't finished though and from the restart got into the Thetford half beat the defence and hit the post. Nevertheless, it was a bit of a flash in the pan and Thetford continued to dominate, but weren't able to add to their slender lead. 1-0 and Thetford are in one final with only King's Lynn stopping them from making it to the Norfolk Senior Cup final.

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