Thame United Bow Out Of Cup Report By Bob Dixon

THAME United bowed out of the Oxfordshire Senior Cup in style on Wednesday evening, March 29, in an entertaining, fast paced match.
They played with 10 men for most of the game but fought for every ball and gave the Southern Premier outfit plenty to think about.

Banbury had the better of the opening exchanges and in the 10th minute, Paul Searl was forced make a good save from Banbury star Andy Baird. It was Baird who opened the scoring ten minutes later when he met a good cross from the left with a strong, well placed header. Thame fought back and were looking dangerous when a long clearance from a Banbury defender fell into the path of Baird. He beat centre back Dave Tregurtha, but was tripped by Robbie Eason as he bore down on goal. Referee Farries judged that Eason was the last man and dismissed him from the pitch.
Down to 10 men and losing is not a good position to be in, and it would have been easy for Thame heads to drop. In reality they equalised when, three minutes before half time, a Darren Moore corner was headed down to Nik Rhodes who finished clinically from 10 yards.

Banbury re-took the lead in the 58th minute when a defensive mix up between Dave Hocking and Tregurtha allowed Stuart Bridges to unleash a powerful shot from the edge of the box. Thame countered and changed formation to play with three men up front. There then followed a good spell of end-to-end football with Ben Connelly looking particularly impressive for Thame. Banbury finally sealed the match with seven minutes remaining when the tallented Baird made a good run on the right before squaring the ball to substitute Matty Gooderick who fired home from 8 yards.

Despite the result, this was an outstanding performance from Thame?s young squad who showed grit and determination throughout.
Final score: Banbury United 3, Thame United 1
Venue: Court Farm Place (Oxford City?s Ground)

Thame United: Searl, Hocking (Lane), N. Rhodes, Eason (Capt.) Tregurtha, Raja, Fisher, A. Rhodes, Moore, Morgan (Way), Connelly.

Thame United visit Sutton Coldfield next Saturday 1st April. They then entertain Bromsgrove Rovers, at Buckingham Road Stadium, on Tuesday 4th April. Please note that this game kicks off at 8.00pm.