Loddon Utd 0 – 2 Thetford Rovers Sat 28th March 2026 2.15pm ko
Loddon: Matt Ayre; Jamie Whiteman, Bailey Hill, Jack Tipple, Rob Andersen;
Elliott Hannant (c), Jacob Short, Nick Bailey; Ben Ashby, Dexter Lee, Alex Kounnas.
Subs: Harvey Johnson, Tom Green, Matthew Webster
Manager: Jake Sharpe, Asst. Managers: Paul Reader, Andrew Zagdan.
Lino: Ian Tink (cheers Ian)

Jack Trowbridge was a late injury call off, so Max donned the keepers’… gloves, as they were the only bit of Jacks kit which he could get on. That said, Max put in a decent performance in the sticks and could do no more to keep out the two goals which defeated us.
After just 3 minutes, Rovers put a free kick into our box, Max caught the ball above his head and was shoved into the net ball ‘n’ all. (Not seen that since Kenny Colman played up front just after the war – it counted as a goal then). Max duly took note of his number when the offender walked away!
We started well. Tipps met a Jamie free kick and good work from Kounnas and Rob won us a corner. Shorty won the first header and Nick was penalised…well, probably for standing on a white line! Bailey tackled well to stop Rovers progress. Could El maybe learn something from him?..just saying. A near post corner was cleared back to El who this time crossed deep where Rob was unable to convert. Thetford broke quickly but the electric pace of Bailey’s covering was superb. Thetford managed to clear Kounnas’ cross just as Nick attacked it. Max made a save at the other end when we allowed a free header to meet a cross.
25 minutes in and the wind and rain picked up and shelter was sought by yours truly. The Crossway Terrace stand is not the greatest viewpoint! Rovers took control of the game and showed us why they are second in the league…but still we saw Dex slice wide, Nick drive a shot from the edge of the box, Shorty have a shot blocked and get hurt and Kounnas force a good save as we kept them out until the last minute of the half. Rob and their no17 had a ‘spat’ and both went down clutching various parts of their anatomy; and guess what? Their bloke made up a better story than Rob…obvs, so they got the free kick. The ball swung in deep to the far post where a free forward headed the ball down to Max’s right post and although he got a hand to it, he couldn’t keep it out. Deservedly, if luckily, Rovers went ahead 0 – 1 HT
5 mins into the second half we almost conceded a second. A neat shot came off the inside of a post and Max had to stretch to claim the ball. Jamie covered a through ball to get it back to Max. Shorty, suffering with that first half knock, was replaced by Webbo. A lovely 7 or 8 pass move ended with Jamie on our right who just couldn’t keep the ball in play. A similar move on the left ended when Ben was thwarted by his full back, but he worked hard to get back to defend.
On 53mins Rovers attacked down their left, cut inside Rob. The cross was deflected onto Bailey and the ball fell kindly to Rovers’ young sub who beat Max easily from close in. 0 – 2
……….We played well in this second half and there was luck attached to both goals. Every 50/50 ball, free kick and throw seemed to fall their way and to be fair to Rovers they ‘managed’ the game well. I feel we deserved a draw but certainly didn’t do enough to deserve anything more.
Credit to Max for his performance but even in defeat Bailey Hill was the star man showing pace and grace under pressure and he gets the Starkings & Watson’s MoM and a free pint at the Jub Social. (yep, he is 18)
Thanks to Ian Tink for running the line and our Match sponsor: Dermot Cronin. JC