Controversial officiating sees Thame go out of the FA Vase

FA VASE SECOND QUALIFYING ROUND REPLAY – Tuesday, September 22, 2009; Thame United 0, Halstead Town 1
(aet; 0-0 after 90 minutes)

JUST as it looked as though only penalties would separate two evenly matched sides in this replay, the lack of intervention from the match officials in a series of controversial incidents ten minutes from the end of extra time ultimately cost United a place in the next round of the FA Vase.

First, the referee failed to spot an obvious foul on keeper Lee Orkney from a Halstead corner, awarding the visitors a second corner, before the same player was bundled to the ground as the ball came over from the resulting corner and was scrambled over the line by a Halstead attacker for the winning goal.

The preceding 110 minutes had been an even, tense game not assisted by the late arrival of the visitors from Essex that had resulted in a 45 minutes delay to the kick off. United were quickest out of the blocks, regularly ?turning? the visitors back four with balls down the channel for wingers Luke Ricketts and Stuart Barr to chase with success. The nearest United came to scoring in the opening period was after five minutes when Barr, seeing the keeper off his line, hit an opportunistic effort from 40 yards that the back-pedalling keeper was fortunate to push on to the crossbar and away for a corner.

Whilst United continued to press, Halstead gradually began to impose themselves on the game and, although Orkney in the Thame goal was rarely troubled, the visitors created a number of half chances. That said, the next clearest chance came to Thame when Luke Ricketts went on a powerful run from his own half, crossing to the near post for Mark Jones to glance his header just wide of the near post. Barr then had a further opportunity, volleying just over the bar from 20 yards.

The second half saw Halstead in the ascendancy, pushing the Thame defence deeper in to their own half but without creating any real chances. Like the first game on Saturday, it was no surprise that the match went in to extra time and after an uneventful first period, Thame realised luck was not going to be with them when they hit the woodwork for a second time in the 108th minute. Striker Aaron Rogers hit a powerful left foot volley from the edge of the box that the visiting keeper managed to push on to the post and away for a corner. Two minutes later and it was game over for Thame in the most controversial of circumstances.

Thame United: Orkney, Cowan, Wakelin (Meredith), Hocking, N.Rhodes, El-Kassir, A.Rhodes, Barr (G.Way), Jones, Rogers, Ricketts (Connelly)

Photo: Thame goalkeeper, Lee Orkney