Heacham beat Downham in festive clash

Heacham 3 Downham Town 1Heacham ended 2024 with a morale-boosting victory against neighbours Downham Town to dent the play-off aspirations of Dale Stokes’ side.Goals from Toby Hilliard, Colby Wood and Josh Williams put the Magpies three goals in front before Eoin McQuaid replied for the visitors who dropped out of the top five of the Thurlow Nunn Premier Division standings as a result of the defeat.Downham Town enjoyed more of the ball but were unable to take their chances when they came, whereas Heacham were clinical in front of goal and were in no mood to relinquish their advantage once they got their noses in front.The game saw Heacham’s George Hutton, Matty Franks and Jack Prentice come up against their former club and the home side’s extra desire over the 90 minutes proved pivotal in a scrappy derby affair.The visitors missed a golden opportunity to take the lead in the opening few minutes after Magpies goalkeeper Aaron Watson was caught outside his box and the ball was squared to McQuaid who crashed his effort against the crossbar.Heacham took full advantage of the miss to take the lead with their first attack of the match. Good work down the left from Wood resulted in him crossing for Hilliard to score from 10 yards out. An immediate response almost saw Downham Town equalise but Dylan Edge’s effort was brilliantly cleared off the line by Shane Akers.Both goalkeepers made important saves in the next few minutes.Tom Coombe denied Heacham and Hilliard a second goal as he saved well down to his left following another quick breakaway down the left. At the other end, Downham’s Gelson DeRocha found himself one-on-one with home shotstopper Watson, who narrowed the angle before saving well with an outstretched arm.Downham camped themselves in the Heacham half for the opening ten minutes of the second period and the turning point of the game arrived when Watson found himself at full stretch to thwart Downham’s McQuaid from the edge of the box. Within three minutes the home side had doubled their lead in spectacular style.Luke Reed squandered possession down the left and Wood sprinted towards the edge of the Downham box before unleashing a first-time effort past Coombe. The goal deflated the visitors for the next few minutes and two soon became three when a quick counter-attack down the right ended with substitute Josh Williams stabbing home to make it 3-0 – much to the delight of the 244 crowd in attendance.A hard-working Heacham outfit fought for their lives to try to keep a clean sheet but their defence was finally breached 14 minutes from time as McQuaid pulled a goal back for the visitors with his third good chance of the match.The Magpies end 2024 sitting 13th in the league standings with 26 points from 24 games and Paul Hunt’s side have only lost twice in their last seven outings.Downham, meanwhile, have faltered with just one win in their last seven and will need to rediscover their form and scoring touch with games against play-off-chasing sides Brantham Athletic, Thetford Town and Mulbarton Wanderers on the horizon. Heacham: Watson, Suckling, Akers, Robinson, Anderson, Hutton, Davies, Franks, Prentice, Hilliard, Wood. Subs: Goult, Willmot, Pightling, Williams, Forde.Downham Town: Coombe, Miller, Reed, Watts-Sturrock, Smith, M. Castellan, Edge, N. Castellan, Lewis, McQuaid, De Rocha. Subs: Hobbs, Jamba, Delgardo, White, Sivakumar.Reaction to follow.