Thame United were back in action in the Pitching In Southern League Central Division One, as they travelled to Hertfordshire to take on league leaders Berkhampsted, Manager Ben Williams kept the same squad that featured against Leighton Town in the last game, but made two changes to the starting eleven, Curtis Brown and Oscar Lucey replacing Harry Alexander and Greg Hackett who dropped to the bench.

The match got underway with the Homeside straight on the front foot putting the visitors under pressure from the off, winning the midfield battle and pushing Thame back, deep into their own half and struggling to get out. Berkhampsted direct running at the midfield and defence was causing all sorts of problems, which the visitors were finding it difficult to cope with.

The game could have changed on 13 minutes, when the Berkhamsted Number 3 went into a tackle with Curtis Brown, with both feet off of the ground and making to contact with the ball, it was a very poor challenge whihc the referee had no hesitation in producing the red card and send the No 3 off. It looked like Thame would get the upper hand but the 10 men of Berkhampsted didn't let it effect them and continued to dominate play, with Thame looking vulnerable every time the home side were on the ball.

It didn't take long for the home side to open the scoring, Thame lost the ball in the centre of midfield, the ball was played out to the right hand side and a relatively easy cross was headed home by an unmarked number 9. A few minutes later it was two, this time from the left hand side all two easy for the home sides ten men to pick the ball up and fire in a shot which took a slight deflection as it hit the back of the net.

With ten men the home side were dominating possession and were cutting through the Thame midfield and defence at will, with keeper Crowther making some good saves to keep the score at 2 - 0. The first half ended with Berkhampsted leading 2 - 0 and were good value for it, but it could have been so much more, with the visitors only managing one shot on target in the first half, comfortably saved by the Berkhamsted keeper.

Second half got under way with Thame making three changes from the start, Leo Galpin, Jack Tutton and Curtis Brown replaced by Harry Alexander, Hayden Beadle, and Greg Hackett. The game was becoming very fractious with some strong tackles flying in and the referee brandishing yellow cards to both teams. Thame were getting more of the ball with the home side sitting deep and playing on the counter attack, but were still having the better chances with keeper Crowther being called into action to make a number of good saves.

Thame were having more possession as they pushed forward but weren’t creating anything and were guilty of all two often giving the ball away and allowing the home side to counter breaking quickly and were creating the better chances. And although winning and number of free kicks in dangerous positions and corners the final ball wasn’t good enough and time and time agains the Berkhampsted defence easily won the ball. The referee added seven minutes of extra time at the end of the second half, the home side were comfortable and continued to look the more dangerous of the two sides. The game ended with a well deserved victory and a game to forget for the visitors with a well below performance to end the year on.

Starting Eleven
1.Matty Crowther
2.Josh Stranks
3.Leo Galpin (Harry Alexander 45 minutes)
4.Mark Riddick (C)
5.Fin Murray
6.Jack Tutton (Hayden Beadle 45 minutes)
7.Curtis Brown (Greg Hackett 45 minutes)
8.Brayden Daniel
9.Jefferson Louis (Tom McElroy 53 minutes)
10.Dan West
11.Oscar Lucey

Substitutes
12.Harry Alexander
14.Tom McElroy
15.Hayden Beadle
16.Greg Hacket
17.Archie Davis