11/01/13…..Late kick-off win for Thame Utd

BLUEFIN Sports Supplementary Cup – 08/01/13 – Thame United 4, Reading Town 0 – Thame united secured a place in the next round of the League Supplementary Cup at the ASM Stadium on Tuesday evening when they defeated Reading Town 4-0. Due to traffic delays the match kicked off almost 20 minutes late, and the visitors were forced to field a weakened team for the first half, as four of their players did not arrive until half time.

United controlled the game from the start by immediately putting pressure on the visitor?s goal with Thame keeper Lee Farrow mainly a spectator. The home side went ahead in the 26th minute from their 5th corner. Mitchell Meredith met the ball and headed it down towards goal where Niall Hodgkins managed to get a touch and scramble it over the line. The second came 10 minutes later and was a beauty. During a rare Reading attack the ball was cleared and found Ben Gray near the half way line who ran at goal on the right before squaring the ball to Hodgkins who finished confidently from 15-yards.

With a strengthened Reading team the second half was closer, and they were unlucky 10 minutes after the restart when a long shot grazed the Thame goalpost. The game ebbed and flowed and United brought on all 3 substitutes including Alex Stewart who has been injured for several months. With five minutes remaining James Way came on and immediately made an impact by making a run on the right wing and crossing to Luke Ricketts who, due to a Stewart dummy, was in enough space to hit a well-placed 15-yard shot to claim United?s third goal. The final goal came with a minute of normal time remaining. Again the ball was crossed from the right, this time by Meredith, and found Stewart at the edge of the box, who celebrated his return by hitting a hard shot pass the keeper.

Thame United: Farrow, Meredith, Hall, Hercules, Rhodes, Jewell, Connelly (Barr), West, Hodgkins (Way), Gray (Stewart), Ricketts.

Both the first team and reserves are without a fixture next Saturday 12th. The next home game in on Saturday 19th January when Thame again meet Reading Town, this time in a league fixture.

SOURCE: Contributed