Following defeats in the last week for both sides this was one of the big games of the weekend in the division in which Thame United (5th) would travel 70 miles up the motorway to play Bromsgrove Sporting (2nd). Bromsgrove were undefeated at home going into this game and have two of the best forwards in the division in Cowley and Gregory.

*** STARTING LINE-UPS ***
Bromsgrove Sporting FC – Brown, Spink, McGrath, Hayward, Taylor, Morris, Dowd, Quaynor, Cowley, Gregory and Westwood
Subs Used – Hall and Mayuba

Thame United FC - Hill (GK), Mepham, Lynn, Essex, Jewell, Tutton, Martin, Sturgess (C), Goss, West and Peake-Pijnen
Subs used – Tack, Murray and Ashworth

*** FIRST HALF ***
HT Score - BROMSGROVE 3 – 0 THAME
There was a real sense of atmosphere before kick off and there was surge of large numbers of fans coming through the turnstiles. Literally straight from kick off Bromsgrove were awarded the first corner, which found Taylor unmarked who narrowly headed the ball wide. It did not take long for the first goal whereby Jewell misjudged jumping for a header which lead to a shot on goal which was brilliantly saved by Hill but rebounded to Gregory for a tap in. There was a continuation of relentless pressure and attacking runs by Bromsgrove. This had Thame trying to contain play and drop players back in their own half. On 7 minutes Bromsgrove had another corner which somehow managed to drop to Cowley’s feet inside the six yard box for a simple pass into the net. Bromsgrove were spreading the ball wide to both Dowd and Westwood who looked threatening every time they had the ball, often needing Mepham and Lynn to block crosses or to make a tackle. Thame’s Goss was working extremely hard trying to get his side into the match pressing all over the field and when possibly trying to attack the right wing with runs of his own. Then from a goal kick by Brown the ball found it’s way to Cowley who dummied Hill and shot the ball to his left to make it 3-0 on 22 minutes. One of Thame’s best moments was when Lynn stepped out of 2 tackles at left back and dribbled the ball forward and was able to make a pass behind the defence which lead to a Thame corner. At the end of the half possession became more even with the pace of play slowing down. Bromsgrove dominated in the air and won the 50-50s for most of the first half. Due to excellent defending by the two centre backs of Taylor and Morris it was a difficult task for Thame’s West to create many chances of his own.

*** SECOND HALF ***
FT Score - BROMSGROVE 5 – 0 THAME
Following the break Thame started the brighter with captain Ben Sturgess leading by example and winning countless tackles in order to get the ball forward. The first chance in the half again fell to Bromsgrove’s Gregory, when a long ball in his direction was volleyed at Hill. There was more disappointing news for Thame when injury forced Mepham to be substituted by Tack.
Thame’s Goss produced multiple excellent set pieces in the second half. One of which was a corner which found Jewell’s feet at the back post and narrowly missed the post. The combination of Sturgess and Tutton was proving crucial to Thame’s battle in midfield. Due to the pressure of Thame playing at a higher tempo Bromsgrove were losing possession and misplacing passes all over the field. It was a surprise that Thame’s first shot on goal was actually from a goal kick by Hill which had to be tipped over the bar by Brown on 60 minutes. Thame followed this up by a cross from the left by Lynn which somehow bounced over the fullback’s head and Goss fired a half volley onto the top of the net which had Brown beaten.

In Thame’s search of a goal this lead to a break down the left which was crossed along the ground towards the running Gregory who passed the pass the ball into the net to make it 4-0 to Bromsgrove. Thame still continued to attack with multiple runs by Goss which needed sometimes multiple players to tackle or block him off the ball. Thame produced a further attack on goal when West shielded a ball for Goss to shoot towards goal which had to be saved by a diving Brown. The final goal of the game came in the 90th minute when Cowley dribbled right of Hill and then came back towards the left and fired the shot onto the crossbar and in.

Following the result Bromsgrove end the week in 2nd position and Richard Gregory leads the chase for the golden boot on 21 league goals. Despite the defeat Thame remain in 5th position and 3 points clear of Berkhamsted due to other teams not securing victories this Saturday.

*** MAN OF THE MATCH ***
As awarded by Bromsgrove - #3 McGrath
He produced a solid display at full back both defensively and going forward.

*** KEY STATS ***
Shots on target - Bromsgrove 12 – 2 Thame
Corners - Bromsgrove 2 - 6 Thame
Yellow Cards - Bromsgrove 0 – 0 Thame
Red Cards - Bromsgrove 0 – 0 Thame
Penalties - Bromsgrove 0 – 0 Thame