Thame United, ended their Southern League central division one season with an away trip to play off chasing Waltham Abbey, who had already secured a top 5 finish and todays result would determine who they would play in the semi final. Manager Ben Williams welcomed back James Towell who replaced Pierce McNamara in the starting line up and Jayden Carbon who had recovered from injury to take up his place on the bench, Louis Fountain also came into the team replacing Dani Lucas who moved to the bench.

The game got underway with Waltham Abbey on the front foot and starting strongly and like in so many matches this season Thame made a slow start which saw them go behind after just 3 minutes, a cross from the right hand side was met unopposed in the six yard box and the ball headed into an empty net, a sloppy goal to concede. It got worse 4 minutes later when a long ball over the top should have been an easy clearance for the Thame defence but the ball was headed back towards keeper Davies but with little pace and the Waltham Abbey striker raced onto the ball and diverted the ball passed the advancing Davis, 2 - 0 after 7 minutes and not going to plan. The home side were on top and threatening especially in the wide area where both wingers had pace and both full backs were under pressure, but it was against the run of play that the visitors got themselves back into the game, a seamlessly harmless ball over the top from keeper Davis saw homes side defence stand still and Harry Alexander ran onto the ball, took it into the box and cooly finished past the keeper.

All of a sudden it was a different game, the home side looked nervous and the visitors had a foothold in the game and were putting Waltham Abbey under some pressure. But small margins change games and Thames afternoon was about to go from bad to worse. On 32 minutes a speculative long ball over the top saw a race to the 18 yard box between a Thame defender and Waltham Abbey Striker, with keeper Davis racing out of the box getting a hand on the ball to take it away from the attacking player. But much to the visitors dismay Davis was about two yards outside the area. And after consulting the assistant referee, the referee showed the Thame keeper a straight red card. With no keeper on the bench centre back Fin Murray went in goal with Lous Fountain being sacrificed. From the resulting free kick a shot over the wall beat Murray and the home side had their third. But Thame battled on, down to 10 men they switched to a 4, 4 1 formation, and managed to hold out to half time with the score 3 - 1.

The second half got under way with Jayden Carbon replacing Ethan Lack, with nothing to loose Thame started brightly and were the better team despite being a man down. The home side were creating little up from and Murray in goal had little to do in terms of shot stopping. The Thame front four were starting to cause Waltham a few problems and creating chances, with Carbon firing just wide from just inside the box. Lucas replaced Goueth who looked bright and continued to but the home sides defence under pressure. Thame got their reward for the second half efforts on 83 minutes, Waltham gave a way a free kick just out side the box. Jefferson Louis touched the ball to Harry Alexander who took a touch and refilled a shot into the top corner, the keeper had no chance, 3 - 2. Thame continued to push forward for the remaining minutes but couldn't get the equaliser their second half performance deserved and the game ended with the home side securing an away playoff game against Dunstable, while Thame finished second from bottom. We now await to see what will happen in terms of next season.

Mean while there is one more game to play, this Thursday 2 May we take on Kidlington in the Oxfordshire Senior cup final at Banbury, kick off 19.45, adults £7, children under 16 £1.

Goals

Harry Alexander 24 & 83 minutes

Line Up
Archie Davis
James Towell
Oscar Lucey
Ethan Lack (Jayden Carbon 45 minutes)
Romeo Ebonda
Mark Riddick
Louis Fountain (finn Murray 32 minutes)
Ryan Knight
Jefferson Louis
Eitel Goueth (Dani Lucas 80 minutes)
Harry Alexander

Substitutes
Pierce McNamara
Dani Lucas
Ollie Hogg
Jayden Carbon
Fin Murray