17/12/12…..Thame Utd beat a shrunken Shrivenham

LEAGUE Game – 15/12/12 – Thame United 4, Shrivenham 0 – MATCH REPORT – Contributed by Bob Dixon: The Shrivenham team that Thame United defeated 4-0, at the ASM Stadium on Saturday was a shadow of the other Shrivenham sides they have met in recent years.

Shrivenham now are bottom of the league, so Thame?s convincing win was not unexpected. To make things worse the visitors’ goalkeeper was injured in the pre-match warm up and, having conceded three goals in the first half, was replaced by an outfield player at half time. Most of the game was played in heavy driving rain, making both the ball and the pitch slippery.

Thame controlled the game from the kick off. With seven minutes played, during which the ball had rarely left the visitors’ half, Connor Hayes hit an inspired diagonal ball to Ben Gray who headed the ball home confidently from 10-Yards. It was 2-0 in the eleventh minute when Luke Ricketts took United?s fifth corner and Ellis Hercules met it with an unstoppable far post header. Thame was being given too much space, but although Niall Hodgkins, Matt Willett, Gray and Ricketts all went close, the visitors held out until the 38th minute when United increased their lead with an opportunist goal. The ball fell to a defender just outside the penalty area but just as he was about to clear it, Gray closed him down and the ball hit Gray before rebounding into the net.

The visitors played better after the break and, on 54 minutes, Thame keeper, Lee Farrow, was forced to make his first save of the match. Although more threatening, Shrivenham never really looked like scoring. As United pressed, Matt Hall was unlucky to see his long, free kick hit the crossbar. It was however Hall who, in the 62nd minute, scored Thame?s fourth with a strong 20-yard shot. With the result in no doubt, Mark West was able to bring on all three substitutes. The remainder of the game was an anticlimax with few chances at either end.

Thame United: Farrow, Willett, Hall, Hercules, Meredith, Hayes, Connelly, West (Jewell), Hodgkins (Johnston), Gray, Ricketts (Way).

Thame meet Ardley United at the ASM Stadium on Tuesday, December 18, in the Oxfordshire Senior Cup. Their next home game is on Boxing Day when Wantage are the visitors.