25/10/10…..Injury and inexperience contribute to Thame’s defeat

MATCH REPORT – League match 23/10/10 – Witney Town 5, Thame United 2.

Thame United were defeated 5-2 at Witney United on Saturday. Manager, Mark West was forced to field a weakened team due to injury and the non-availability of several first team regulars. Although the stand-in players gave it their best shot, many lacked experience of playing at this level, and Witney were marginally the better side, albeit the score flattered them.

Thame opened the scoring after 10 minutes when a long goal kick was collected by Mark Jones who beat his man and ran at goal before squaring the ball to Aaron Rogers whose shot went in off the goalpost. Witney equalised 2 minutes later when Wright found the space to hit a well-placed shot from the edge of the area, in off the far goalpost. The home side?s second goal came 10 minutes later when the ball was played through to McKeon whose shot was parried by Thame keeper Milan Barisic, but the ball fell into the path of Colwell, who finished from close range.

Five minutes into the second half, the home side scored a goal which even had the Thame fans applauding. Following a long clearance, the ball was played to Lewis in space on the right who hit a spectacular 35-yard thunderbolt pass Barisic into the top left corner. It was 4-1 five minutes later when McKeon was given the space to run at goal before squaring to Wright who hit another well-placed shot pass Barisic. Thame heads did not drop and they fought hard to reduce the deficit. Stuart Braun was unlucky when his strong shot brought of a good point-blank save from the home keeper. Braun skillfully scored the visitor?s second goal in the 65th minute when he met an Aaron Rogers corner with a glancing, lobbed header over the keeper and in off the far post. The final goal came with 10 minutes to play when Allmond, near the right by-line, hit a hard shot from an impossibly acute angle which somehow went in. In the dying minutes, Thame forced three corners, but it was Witney who took the points.

Thame United: Barisic, Mitchell, Way (Hunt), N Rhodes, Brown (Rantle), Cowan, McDonald, Braun, Jones, Rogers, Newell (Clarke).

PHOTO: Manager, Mark West