Thame Manager Goes On As Sub

League Match Report: Thame United 2, North Leigh 4 – Saturday, January 20 – Contributed
BEFORE this game, North Leigh were currently second in the league (now top) having only lost one game this season. Thame United, on the other hand were (and stay) second from bottom. On league form therefore the home side should have been trounced on Saturday. Thame was defeated, but played well and with 30 minutes gone were in the lead. By half time the match was evenly poised and could have gone either way.

This game saw the return of Mark West as manager after an eighteen month absence. Mark named himself as substitute and half was through the second half was forced to come on after an injury to wing-back Adrian Smith.
North Leigh went ahead in their first attack of the match when after three minutes midfielder Karl Dodds hit a speculative shot which took Thame?s new goalkeeper Lee Farrow by surprise. Thame came back and created some good chances. They were rewarded with an equalizer in the 21st minute when a corner was headed down to central defender Marc Bell who fired home from 10 yards off the underside of the crossbar. Four minutes later Thame took another corner and a North Leigh defender was judged to have met the incoming ball with his hand. After consulting his linesman the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Nathan Jack hit a strong spot kick and Thame were in the lead. North Leigh?s second goal, scored on 40 minutes was bizarre. Left winger Simon Futcher hit a long high cross but the strong gusting wind caught the ball, deceiving Farrow, and it was blown into the Thame goal off of the far post. The teams went in for half time with the score 2-2 which was a fair reflection of the first half play.

North Leigh dominated the early part of second half and Thame was forced back into their own half for long periods. Just when it looked as if they had weathered the storm, Dodds hit a strong shot from 25 yards which Farrow did well to get a hand to, but the ball fell to Chris Allen who finished well from eight yards. Thame fought back but with 15 minutes to play a cross from the right found Futcher in space and he hit a 20 yard thunderbolt giving Farrow no chance.

Thame United: Farrow, Smith (West), Watkins, Kitson, Bell, Graves, Connelly, Cowan (Weaver), Jack, Reading, Moore.