Flackwell Heath 4 - 0 Thame United

Thame United headed to Flackwell Heath in the Pitching In Southern League Central Division One Central on a chilly Tuesday night. The hosts were on a run of six defeats and were rooted to the foot of the table, while Thame were also on a run of three defeats, having lost at home to Leverstock Green on Saturday in a below-par performance. The hosts were going through a rebuilding phase, with a new management team and several new players coming into the squad. Manager Ben Williams made a couple of changes to the starting line-up, with Ethan Lack, Callum Hall and Ed Daffern coming into the starting eleven. Roger James and Hayden Beadle dropped to the bench, while Aydin Ulas was missing after picking up a knock on Saturday. With Thame getting the game underway, what transpired over the next 90 minutes was far from expected. Flackwell had the first shot on goal in the opening couple of minutes, which was easily saved by goalkeeper Callan. Thame had a real chance to take the lead in the fifth minute. A cross from the right was met by Jack Tutton on the left-hand side. He played the ball back into the box, but Ed Daffern could not connect properly and the ball looped up and hit the left-hand post with the goalkeeper beaten.

That was about as good as it got for Thame. As the half went on, the home side began to dominate play. They were first to the ball in midfield and were not troubled by Thame’s long-ball approach, which was easily cut out by the Flackwell centre-backs.

It was no surprise when the hosts took the lead in the 20th minute. A clearance from the home goalkeeper was headed up into the air by the Thame defence and was picked up in the centre of the field. The ball was played into No. 9 Lindell Stewart on the edge of the Thame area. He took the ball, cut back onto his right foot on the left-hand side of the six-yard box and fired into the goal. The visitors struggled to do anything other than soak up pressure as Flackwell pegged them back and created several opportunities to double their lead. That finally happened right on the stroke of half-time. Thame gave the ball away with a cross-field pass, which was picked up by the hosts’ right winger. He drove forward, laid the ball off and a pass was played through the Thame defence for Stewart to run on to. He took the ball to the left of the goal before firing it back across the keeper to make it 2-0.

Things could have got even worse, as the home side were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the six-yard box when the referee adjudged a Thame player to have played a back-pass that goalkeeper Callan picked up. It looked to be a harsh decision.

The half ended with Flackwell good value for their lead, with Thame limited to just one shot. The second half started with Thame making three changes. Captain Mark Riddick, Josh Stranks and Ed Daffern were replaced by Roger James, Hayden Beadle and Curtis Brown. The visitors started strongly, with efforts from Jack Tutton and Ethan Lack both saved by the hosts’ goalkeeper. Those were his first actions of the game. However, Thame’s vulnerability in defence was exposed again in the 52nd minute. The ball was played out to the right wing and laid inside to No. 7 Davies on the edge of the area. He played a ball between the left-back and centre-back for Stewart to run on to and fire into the net from the right-hand edge of the six-yard box, for his hat trick, slightly against the run of play.

The hosts took control of the game once again, and it looked like a question of how many they could score. The fourth goal came in the 70th minute. Flackwell won the ball in midfield and forced it out to the left, where a cross was delivered for Sonny Cooper to tap into an empty net. As the half drew to a close, the visitors did their best to create a chance, but the home side were comfortable and saw the game out while keeping a clean sheet. Flackwell played nothing like a team rooted to the bottom of the table. They were the better side, outfought and outbattled a Thame team that looked very much out of sorts and nothing like the side that had shown such good early-season form.

Attendance 137

Team
1. James Callan
2. Callum Hall
3. Josh Stranks (Curtis Brown 45 minutes)
4. Finn Murray
5. Ethan Lack
6. Mark Riddick (C) (Ed Daffern 45 minutes)
7. Greg Hackett
8. Jack Tutton
9. Ed Daffern (Ethan Lack 45 minutes)
10.Dan West
11.Harry Alexander (Charlie Bacon 67 minutes)

Substitutes
12.Hayden Beadle
14.Charlie Bacon
15.Roger James
16.Curtis Brown