Mulbarton Wanderers 1 v 2 Dereham Town

Saturday 14th October 2023, Kick-off 11.00
Eastern Counties League Premier Division l
Mulberry Park, Mulbarton
Admission: £8.00
Programme: Online only
Attendance: 168

After my work trip up north this week, coming back on Thursday evening, my instinct was to try and find a local-ish game today. Unfortunately, nothing was really tempting, and I did want to make the most of there being no train strikes today. Greater Anglia are currently doing a promotion offering return tickets from London to Norwich for £20, and so on Friday evening I settled on this interesting looking relatively local Derby between two clubs who have made good starts to the season.

After arriving at Norwich train station, I then caught a bus for the half hour journey southwards to the small village of Mulbarton, with the bus stopping virtually outside of the ground. Arriving rather early, I whiled away some time in the comfortable and spacious clubhouse located outside of the ground, and where a couple of Woodforde’s Brewery real ales were available. Entrance to the ground itself is in one corner, with admission fees paid at a wooden hut. Facilities are quite basic here, with quite a long stand straddling the half way line with two rows of seating, with a row of standing along the rear, complete with railing to lean on. Between the entrance and the stand is a wooden tea hut offering a fair range of hot and cold refreshments, along with some club merchandise. There is just hard standing behind both ends, and the remaining length does not have any hard standing, and it is seemingly not intended for spectators to access this side, but lots of people simply walked through the temporary fencing seeming to block access (although not signed as out of bounds).

A match report can be viewed by clicking here, also copied and pasted below from the Dereham Town website.

Magpies Soar At Mulberry Park

Written by Rene Kendal

In the 5th minute, a sliced clearance by Dereham Keeper Tom Coombe gave the ball to Mulbarton’s Ashley Jarvis. However, Sam Watts slid in to clear the danger. Both Dereham players were injured in the process.

The Magpies' defender then came close at the other end as he headed Brad Spooner’s deep free kick wide.

Mulbarton won a free kick in an advanced position. Tom Baird chipped to the far post where Peter Lambert laid the ball back to Jarvis who blazed off target.

Jordan Buttle won a corner on the left, which was cleared, and the home side broke quickly. Jarvis was left in yards of space and hit a powerful drive that was too close to Coombe, who turned it aside with strong hands.

Dereham missed a chance minutes later when Buttle received the ball unmarked 14 yards out but delayed a fraction too long and a defender blocked his shot.

Visiting captain Chris Skipper made a good block from Emmanuel Machaya on the edge of the box, before Lambert headed wide in the 29th minute.

Jamie North delivered another deep centre that Wright struggled to get to and Skipper headed across goal to Sam Watts who headed home from close range to give the Magpies the lead in the 32nd minute.

Dereham nearly caught the home side on the break, with North’s fierce drive just clearing the bar following good work from Spooner.

In the 42nd minute, the Magpies won a free kick 35 yards out. North chipped the ball towards Rhys Logan who could not glance a header home and the loose ball just eluded him. Dereham enjoyed a half-time lead.

Jarvis missed a great chance for the home side soon after the break when he failed to head home a deep free kick from point-blank range.

Baird was lucky to stay on the pitch for a poor tackle on Gee in the 56th minute.

In the 63rd minute, Gee was adjudged to have pushed substitute Ben Thompson in the box to concede a penalty. Tom Coombe threw himself to his left to make a great save from Jarvis’s spot kick, before bouncing back up to push the following volley on to the crossbar.

Logan won the ball in midfield before progressing and finding Buttle on the left, who beat two men and passing into the box from a tight situation. The loose ball fell back to Rhys Logan, who fired home to extend Dereham’s lead in the 73rd minute.

The Magpies created another excellent chance with Logan passing left to Charlie Clarke who picked out Spooner who forced keeper Wright into a great save.

Mulbarton pulled a goal back when Ashley Jarvis took a touch and fired home into the bottom corner from the edge of the box in the 78th minute. 

Play remained competitive at both ends, with Dereham defending robustly.  The Magpies held out for the ten minutes of added time to gain three excellent away points.