United Held at Newbury

United will however regard the outcome as 2 points lost rather than 1 point gained. It was a frustrating game as United had most of the ball and could have won comfortably if their finishing had been on target. Due to the unavailability of goalkeeper Lee Farrow, 17 year old Robbie Jacques, who is the youth team keeper, made his debut for Thame.

United controlled the first half, winning 7 corners to their host’s 1. In the first 15 minutes Niall Hodgkins, Taylor Collins, and Lynton Goss all shot at goal but all were wide. Ben Connelly had a good chance when the ball was fed to him from the right but his hurried shot was high. A few minutes later Collins did well to dribble around the home keeper, but his shot was cleared off the line by a defender. Jacques was not tested in the first half and annoyingly the game was goalless at half time.

Fifteen minutes after the restart Mark West brought James Faulkner, Louis Cordice and Luke Rickets off the bench to replace Hodgkins, Collins and Goss. Thame went ahead in the 67th minute when a Ricketts corner was met by some header bagatelle involving Ellis Hercules and Nik Rhodes whose efforts were blocked on the line but the ball finally fell to Ben Connelly who headed home from close range. Rickets played well on the left and his acute shot was narrowly wide after a strong run followed by pass to Faulkner who returned the ball into his path. In the final 15 minutes the home side started to get their act together and Jacques was forced to make a good save. The equaliser came with 6 minutes remaining from an in-swinging corner which was met with a slight touch by Jordan Farr. United pressed for the winner but the score line was even when the final whistle blew.

Thame United: Jacques, I Pykett, P Pykett, Hercules, Rhodes, Hayes, Connelly, Lynch, Taylor (Cordice), Hodgkins (Faulkner), Goss (Ricketts).