On a wet afternoon Thame United travelled to Hertfordshire to take on Enfield FC in the Southern League Central Division One. Enfield who now ground share with Hertford Town FC and consequently moved from the Isthmian league last season to the Southern League this season, have started the season well, picking up four points from their opening two fixtures.

After last weeks 5 - 0 victory over Beaconsfield in the FA Cup, the manager had some tough calls to make on the starting line up, there was one change to the team with Craig Alcock replacing Ollie Hogg who moved to the bench. There was a place on the bench for new signing Brayden Daniels after completing a season long loan from Oxford City, with Tom McElroy dropping out of the squad.

Thame kicked the game off kicking playing from left to right on the Hertford 3G pitch which was in good condition considering the amount of rain that was falling. There was an early stoppage on 4 minutes after the Enfield right full back went down after a challenged with Fabian Garcia, unfortunately it looked like he had suffered concussion and was immediately subbed off. The first chance of the game fell on 11 minutes when Garcia broke on the left, into the box but the shot was just wide of the post. Thame were having plenty of possession in the Enfield half without creating much to trouble the home teams keeper. On 26 minutes Harry Alexander with a shot but easily saved, then Garcia who was causing a lot of problems on the left flank beat the defender drove into the box, but instead of shooting passed the ball across the box, only to find a Enfield defender. As the half drew to a close Enfield were starting to get a foot hold in the game and were looking dangerous and were causing the Thame fullbacks some problems. After 4 minutes of added time the half ended with the scores goalless, not a great watch for the neutral so far.

Enfield kicked off the second half and were immediately on the front foot putting Thame under pressure, and the visitors were struggling to get out of their half, with mistakes creeping in and misplaced passes easily being picked off by the home team. Thames press had gone missing and Enfield had a lot of time on the ball to pick out their next pass. Thame made their first change of the afternoon on 53 minutes, with Craig Alcock replaced by Bryan Daniels making his debut and slotting into the right hand side with Alexander taking up a more central position. On 62 minute Alexander wins a free kick deep in the Enfield half but his shot is over the bar. Garcia was replaced by Craig Brown on 66 minutes a straight swap on the left hand side. All the pressure was coming from the home side with Thame forced to some last ditch defending and keeper Crowther being kept busy with a couple of neat saves.

The home side were on top, with the Thame goal leading a charmed life, and were forced to play on the counter attack. On 73 minutes on a rare attack Mark Riddicks’ shot was well saved by the Enfield keeper managing to get low down to his right to tip the ball passed the post. Against the run of play on 77 minutes Thame were in front, Brayden Daniels picked up the ball on the right drove into the box and his pass across the face of the goal deflects off the keeper which took it passed the Enfield defenders and rolled across the 6 yard box where Alexander was unmarked to knock the ball into the empty net from a couple of yards out. There was a hint of offside and the Enfield players were not happy with the decision but the goal stood. Jefferson Louis replaced Reece Cameron who had had a tough battle with the home teams centre backs all afternoon and goalscorer Alexander was replace by Alfie Tucker.

Thame regained their composure and were now in control of the game and should have made it safe with a couple of minutes left, Curtis Brown broke on the left but his shot was well saved by the Enfield keeper with the ball rebounding back out and another shot was again saved, the referee added 6 minutes of addition time at the end, but Thame comfortably saw out the final few minutes to secure this second away win on the bounce. A scrappy match with the visitors battling and showing great character to take the 3 points when not at their best and move on to 6 points from 3 games.

Next up we welcome Kidlington Bank Holiday Monday with Kidlington visiting the ASM stadium for a 3pm kick off

Goal Scorer
Harry Alexander 77 minutes

Todays Team

1.Matthew Crowther
2.Josh Stranks
3.Oscar Lucy
4.Leo Galpin
5.Fin Murray
6.Mark Riddick (Captain)
7.Fabian Garcia (Brayden Daniels 53 minutes)
8.Jack Tutton
9.Reece Cameron (Jefferson Louis 80 minutes)
10.Craig Alcock (Brayden Daniels 53 minutes)
11.Harry Alexander (Alfie Tucker 83 minutes)

Substitutes

12.Jefferson Louis
14.Craig Brown
15.Ollie Hogg
16.Brayden Daniels
17.Alfie Tucker