Thame United were in Pitching In Southern League Central Division One action when they travelled to a very cold Flackwell Heath for the first competitive match between the two sides at step 4. Manager Ben Williams welcomed back Fin Murray from injury, but was still without Leo Galpin through injury and the suspended Mark Riddick. Dan West filled the gap at centre back and Tom McElroy returned to the squad on the bench.

Thame started brightly and had two great chances early on, firstly Curtis Brown on the right side beat the defender but his shot from out side the box, hit the far post and rebounded to safety, then a few minutes later an almost identical attack saw Curtis Brown drive to the touch line and cross to an unmarked Braydon Daniel, but his shot from inside the six yard box was well saved. Flackwell started to take control of the match from that point and looked dangerous especially attacking from the wide areas. They took the lead on 18 minutes, the ball was worked out to the right and the cross found their number 8 unmarked on the six yard box to divert the ball into the far corner. It was two ten minutes later when a corner was not cleared and Flackwell worked the ball out to the right where the number 9 was unmarked and had a free shot which beat keeper Crowther, two poor goals defensively to concede and give the home side the upper hand. Thame were really struggling to get into the game with the home side looking the more dangerous, both teams were getting frustrated with the amount of strong tackles going unpunished. The half ended with Flackwell taking a deserved 2 - 0 lead into the break.

The second half got underway, with much the same pattern as the first half, Thame struggling to create and Flackwell looking dangerous every time they went forward. One noticeable difference this half was there seemed to be less tolerance with tackles in the first half virtually every tackle was waived on with few fouls given, all of a sudden every slight touch a foul was given with players becoming increasingly frustrated. Thame made there first change on 55 minutes with Tom McElroy replacing Brayden Daniel. Then on 66 minutes a nasty tackle form the Flackwell number 10 was punished with a straight red card after the referee consulted his assistant referee, from that point every tackle was being challenged with the the referee struggling to control the players constantly surrounding him. Jefferson Louis and Rocko Tamplin replaced Curtis Brown and Greg Hackett, but the footballing action was pretty muted with neither teams creating too much. Thames best chance of the second half came from a shot from the edge of the box from Harry Alexander which just clipped the outside of the post while at the other end Flackwell had a one on one but the ball was blazed over.

That was about the some of the second half action, a stop start second half, whihc the conditions didnt help, but in fairness a deserved victory for the home side, with Thame really struggling to find their form. Next up is a home clash on Saturday against another top six side when Aylesbury United visit the ASM Stadium

Starting Eleven
1.Matty Crowther
2.Josh Stranks
3.Oscar Lucey
4.Jack Tutton
5.Fin Murray
6.Ollie Hogg (C)
7.Greg Hackett (Rocko Tamplin 81 minutes)
8.Curtis Brown (Jefferson Louis 66 minutes)
9.Brayden Daniel (Tom McElroy 55 minutes)
10.Dan West
11.Harry Alexander

Substitutes
12.Tom McElroy
13. Archie Davies
14.Jefferson Louis
15.Rocko Tamplin