Magpies boss rues missed opportunities

Heacham manager Paul Hunt felt his side did enough to deserve to earn at least a point from their home clash against a strong Thetford Town side.The Magpies were undone by a Kieran Money strike in the second half after Toby Hilliard had cancelled out George Diggens’ opener going into the break.The game was a brilliant spectacle for the Thurlow Nunn Premier Division and the 175 fans in attendance.Speaking after the 2-1 home defeat, Hunt said: “If you look at the opportunities we’ve had across the game and the amount of times we’ve been in their box in good positions we should have come away with a point.”Even at the start of the second-half the ball is bouncing around in the six-yard box and you’re just waiting for someone to put it in but we’re just not being clinical enough when we get in the good positions.”Today, second-half, I thought we played much better than the first half. We got a lot tighter, got closer and had a lot more possession in the second half.”It’s a travesty that one little mistake from the corner where we just haven’t got out quick enough has cost us. I thought we matched them on the pitch today it was just fine margins in the end. “We’re still not at full strength, but we’re getting some players back and they’re we’re a lot better shape and in a lot better place than the first two or three games where you know we had a lot of players away and we just we weren’t competing as we wanted to.” The home side had their chances in an end-to-end first half which saw both goalkeepers at their best between the posts.Ryan Dickerson pulled off some excellent stops to thwart the Magpies early on while Aaron Watson was equally adept with several fine saves at the opposite end of the pitch.Jack Prentice saw his header kept out by the goalkeeper down to his left while Josh Williams was also denied by the visiting custodian. A Matty Prudence free-kick was also tipped over the woodwork by Dickerson, who also came close to saving Hilliard’s penalty for Heacham’s equaliser six minutes before the break.There was no shortage of chances at the other end after George Diggens had fired the Brecklanders ahead after seven minutes. Watson denied Diggens a certain second goal and also pulled off brilliant stops to thwart both Callum Olpin and Diggens again with an outstretched leg with his performance earning him the home man-of-the-match accolade.Joe Jackson volleyed wide for the hosts at the start of the second half before a brief spell of visiting pressure was rewarded when Money fired Thefford back in front in the 64th minute. Perhaps the pick of Dickerson’s stops came in the final few minutes as Heacham substitute Tyler Reeve’s effort was saved by the feet of the visiting shotstopper and deflected behind for a corner.Heacham could easily have been awarded a second penalty near the end after visiting goalkeeper Dickerson appeared to make contact with George Hutton.”It looked like it, but I can’t say because I was so far away,” said Hunt.”I know for a fact if George had gone into their goalkeeper like that then it would have been a free kick. “It looked as though George got his toe to the ball, won the ball and the keeper has just come out and cleaned him out.”Next up for Heacham is the small matter of a home local derby against Fakenham on Tuesday night.The Magpies found themselves on the wrong end of a 4-3 scoreline when the teams met at the end of July and Hunt said: “It was an end-to-end game at Fakenham.”There were a couple of penalties in there and then in the second half, I thought we were superb against them. “We created a lot of opportunities and were so close to getting something from the game in the last 10 or 15 minutes.”I’m looking forward to a good game and hopefully there will be a big crowd here for the visit of another very good club.”Heacham: Aaron Watson, Shane Akers, Colby Wood (Andy Willmott), Jordan Goult, Ben Dear, Josh Williams (Conall Forde), Matthew Prudence, Tommy Hunt, Jack Prentice (George Hutton), Toby Hilliard (Tyler Reeve), Joe Jackson.