Thame United tackles Kidlington in the Challenge Cup preliminaries

Challenge Cup Preliminary Round – 27th Sept 09 – Thame Uninted 1, v Kidlington 5 – Match report;

WITH half an eye on the fixture this coming Saturday against league leaders Wokingham and Emmbrook, United fielded a changed side for this Challenge Cup match at Premier Division Kidlington. Whilst the result was a fair reflection of the play, the scoreline somewhat flattered Kidlington as they scored two goals in the last ten minutes as United were looking to get back in to the game.

Kidlington opened the scoring in the 18th minute a minute after Thame should have taken the lead when Nik Rhodes was unable to force the ball home from three yards following a near post flick. As it was, Kidlington went straight down the other end and, with some fortunate officiating for the home side that saw an off-side missed and a corner wrongly awarded from which striker Jimmy Deabill headed past Paul Searl in the Thame goal. Three minutes before half time Kidlington stretched their lead when a free kick from the right was delivered low in to the box, with Weedon the quickest to react, placing the ball beyond Searl.

Three minutes after half time and it was game over as Leggett again placed a header wide of Searl. United then put together their best period of football and were rewarded in the 68th minute when Ben Connelly ran on to a through ball and, with the keeper coming out at speed, somehow managed to divert the ball to Aaron Rogers who slotted in to an empty net, whilst Connelly felt the full force of the keepers challenge. Five minutes later and United could have had a second as Stuart Barr delivered a pin-point cross from the left on to the head of Lawrence El-Kassir who could only divert the ball wide from three yards. This turned out to be the last opportunity for Thame, as Kidlington hit them with two late goals to make the scoreline more comfortable than it was.

United will be looking for a big crowd on Saturday (October 3, 2009) as they entertain league leaders Wokingham and Emmbrook (3:00pm kick off at AFC Wallingford). This will be United?s first league game for five weeks, and they remain the only club in the Hellenic League with a 100% record. Already Thame have played five games fewer than most of the league, with Wokingham sitting 10 points clear of Thame at the top of the table.
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