Following the 2-1 win over Kirkley and Pakefield, Thetford Town moved up to 14th in the Thurlow Nunn Premier Division, putting them on level points with Haverhill Rovers who they play on Saturday.

Town started brightly and were awarded a corner within the first five minutes. Sam Bond took it short, passing to Bruno Tavares, whose cross into the box found Elliot Smith and he headed the ball into the net.

The Brecklanders had all the play, Bond’s great defending cut out any chances Kirkley had.

However, it took until the 40th minute for Town to score again, when a strike from Ryan Pearson rebounded off the post for Smith to bring the ball down on his chest and knock it past the keeper to make it 2-0 at half time.

The second half was the same as the first, with Thetford having all the play. Sam Bryant was playing extremely well on the wing, with Shane Leech and Simon Cuddy working hard in the middle of the pitch. Scott Cruickshank made a brilliant acrobatic save towards the end of full time. It took until time added on for the opposition to score, when Ashley Thompson brought down a player in the box, and Kirkley netted the resulting penalty. Thetford (33) have now passed their points tally for last season (30) and still have 10 games left to play.

Thetford Reserves host Necton tonight (7.30pm kick-off).

Town under-16s are playing Rocklands Youth at home on Sunday. It’s a 2pm kick-off for their John Savage Norfolk Cup semi-final.