Six in a row for Thame United

THAME United ground-out their third consecutive 2-1 victory at Shrivenham on Saturday,November 8, to extend their winning run in the Uhlsport Hellenic League Premier Division to six matches.

On a pitch that was sodden, United played up the pronounced slope in the first half and were, for the opening exchanges, on the back foot as the home side pressed. Indeed, they created one of their best chances on three minutes, only for the ball to be skewed wide from in front of goal. The first chance for United came on ten minutes when good interplay between the returning Marcus Mealing and Dan West saw an effort from the latter well saved by Clark in the home goal, before a goalmouth scramble ensued. Five minutes later a Mealing header from a Matt Hall cross was well saved by Clark.

The opening goal arrived on 26 minutes when a Luke Ricketts effort went wide for a corner, which Dan Jones floated in from the left, only for West to be pushed to the ground. Referee, Neil Evans, had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and West brushed himself off to hit a powerful spot kick giving the keeper no chance. For the remainder of the half there was little goal mouth action until the last kick of the half when United failed to clear their lines and Robertson finished for the home side.

United came out the stronger of the two teams in the second half and, following a couple of chances, what turned out to be the winning goal arrived on 51 minutes. West was fouled on the edge of the penalty area, with Dan Jones hitting the free kick low, only to see his effort come back off the post. Fortunately for United a number of players had followed the ball in to the area and Luke Ricketts was the first to react to finish from close range.

The remainder of the game followed a similar pattern to the first half, with few goal scoring opportunities for either side. That was until the last few minutes of the game when Cockerill was twice called in to action, pulling off good saves in both instance.

The win consolidates United’s fifth place league position before the Oxfordshire Senior Cup match next weekend against North Leigh United.

United: Cockerill, Evans, Hall, Hercules, Burrows (Hodgkins), Lynch, Jones, Morris, West, Mealing, Ricketts