Fakenham Town v Great Yarmouth Town. Tuesday 21st November 2023. Report by Martin Baxter.
On a damp early winters evening Yarmouth made the trip across to the west of Norfolk to face Fakenham Town in the 2nd round of the Norfolk Senior cup.
It was the perfect opportunity for them to test themselves against higher league opposition with the Ghosts sitting in 9th position in the Thurlow Nunn premier league.
Lane, Fenn, Cantwell and Jacobs who was returning from a long term injury all came into the side and Duffield started up front after his 5 goal haul last time out at Leiston.
Right from kick off the home side made their intentions clear when Keeley tested keeper Lane with a fierce drive from 15 yards out that the young keeper did well to stop and less than a minute later Lane again pulled off a very good save from close range, this time from Fakenham club legend Jake Watts.
The Bloaters after being under siege for the opening 10 minutes then created a couple of their own half chances, with Duffield on both occasions being way off target with his efforts, when in promising positions.
The ghosts continued to push for the opening goal and they were looking every bit the premier league outfit with their excellent passing and movement and in the 22nd minute Watts turned his defender inside out on the edge of the box and then hit a shot just inches wide of the left hand post and it looked only a matter of time before their first goal of the night would arrive and they came even closer in the 32nd minute when man of the match Lane made a superb double save in quick succession, firstly from Frostick and then from Watts.
However Lane’s luck finally run out in the 30th minute when Watts went clean through and clinically placed his shot past lane and into the net to make it 1-0 to the home side.
It should really have been 2-0 on 42 minutes when following a corner and a desperate scramble in the 6 yard box Fakenham hit the bar twice, before the ball was finally cleared by Adams in the heart of the Bloaters defence.
The half-time whistle was then blown and the locals sitting around me were scratching their heads wondering how they were only 1- 0 up when they should really have been out of sight and as good as in the hat for the next round.
Half Time: Fakenham Town 1 Great Yarmouth Town 0.
The 2nd period started slowly with Fakenham not playing with quite the same intensity as in the first 45 minutes and with Yarmouth still unable to create a real clear cut opportunity, with the hard working makeshift number 9 Duffileld looking isolated up front on his own and it is clear that the one piece missing in the jigsaw of this Bloaters side is a natural number 9.
In the 57th minute Frostick hit a volley from 10 yards out that was once again well saved by Lane and in the 59th minute Yarmouth gave the ball away in midfield and were almost punished when the ball reached Guyton, who’s effort was blocked by a defender for a corner and The Ghosts continued to press for the 2nd goal, however to their credit the Yarmouth defenders were doing well keeping them at bay.
It took until the 61st minute when the Bloaters finally got their opportunity to get back into this game when following a mistake in midfield from a Fakenham player, Duffield was allowed space to run through on goal, however his fierce drive from 7 yards out was superbly saved by keeper Pearson.
Perry, Thompson and French all came off the bench for the last 10 minutes to inject some fresh legs into the battle.
It almost paid off deep into injury time when Yarmouth thought they had taken this cup tie to penalties, when they somehow scrambled the ball into the net following a long ball played into the box , however the effort was disallowed for offside.
Full Time: Fakenham Town 1 Great Yarmouth 0.
GYTFC: Lane, Halliday, Jacobs, Barber, Adams, Barnes, Fenn, Cantwell, Duffield, Sanders, Belmar. Subs: Perry, Thompson, Wilson-Towns, French, Ling.
Man of the match: Rueben Lane.
