13/09/10…..Tenacity pays off for Thame United

FA CUP First Qualifying Round match – 11/09/10 – Thatcham Town 0, Thame United 1 – MATCH REPORT by Bob Dixon.

THE tenacious character of the Thame United squad was again demonstrated at Zamaretto (Southern) League club, Thatcham Town, on Saturday when the underdogs progressed to the second qualifying round of the FA cup by defeating their hosts 0-1.

For long periods of the game United had the upper hand and although in the latter stages Thatcham laid siege to the Thame goal, United were the better side on the day.

The game saw the return of striker, Alex Stuart, but Thame were without influential midfielder, Adam Rhodes. The opening exchanges were fairly even but it was not long before the visitors started to create chances. In the 17th minute, Stuart was unlucky when he met a Luke Ricketts corner with a powerful header which just cleared the crossbar. Thame were playing attractive flowing football, they had the majority of ball possession, and a goal looked inevitable. It came in the 23rd minute when United were awarded a free kick near the half way line on the right. The Nick Rhodes kick found Stuart who, despite having his shirt pulled, collected the ball, juggled it, turned and side footed it pass the home keeper from about sixyards – a quite superb individual goal involving determination and some nifty footwork.

A few minutes later, Aaron Rogers was unlucky not to increase the lead when his strong shot was deflected wide. Thame keeper, Paul Searle, was called into action just before half time when he came out and bravely claimed the ball from the feet of a striker advancing on goal.

The home side came out fired up for the second half and immediately brought on two substitutes. Two minutes after the restart, one of them, Carl Self, hit a well-placed shot to the top right hand corner of the Thame goal forcing a quite brilliant save from Searle. Thame countered and Rogers just failed to contact a Ben Connelly cross with a diving header. After this Connelly, whose tricky runs were causing the home defence problems, was strongly marked by two defenders.

For a while, ball possession was 50/50 with good chances at both ends. The home side hit the Thame post and Steve Newell cleared the ball off the Thame goal line, whilst at the other end, a Stuart Braun header cleared the bar and a Stuart Barr shot was just wide. As the minutes ticked by Thatcham mounted a series of attacks and with five minutes to play, Self should have equalised when faced with an open goal, but thankfully his hurried shot was high. The final minutes were frantic but Thame defended well and the ball was in their opponent’s half when the final whistle blew.

The next round is scheduled for Saturday 25th September.

Thame United: Searle, Barr, Newell, N Rhodes, Saulsbury, El-Kassir (Stallwood), Connelly, Braun, Stewart (Jones), Rogers (Hoskin) Ricketts.

PHOTO: Alex Stewart who scored the Thame goal at Thatcham.