November 26, 2022
The lure of watching France vs Denmark in the World Cup on TV today was easily outweighed by the attraction of some local Southern League football !
The Bedfordshire market town of Biggleswade, population just over 20,000, must hold some kind of record in being the smallest town to host three football sides at Step 5 or higher, with FC and Town at Step 4 in the Southern League Division One Central, and United in the higher echelons of Step 5 Spartan South Midlands League. All three are averaging crowds around 130, which is higher than Thame’s average of 97. The only other town I can think of with a comparable number of clubs at this level is Eastbourne ( Borough, United and Town ), which has a population of nearly 100,000 !
Today’s visitors to the ASM Stadium were Biggleswade FC. Last week at Didcot their programme simply referred to a side in the results and fixtures page as Biggles, and it took me a while to realise this was Biggleswade FC rather than WE Johns’ First World War air ace ! I wasn’t expecting anyone called Ginger or Alge on the pitch today……..
Biggleswade FC are having a good season so far, sitting in 2nd position going into today game, with a 10-5-3 record, and they beat Thame 2-0 at home back in September thanks to two goals from Tom Coles. Their three defeats have been an opening day 0-1 loss at Berkhamsted, who currently head the division, 0-1 at fourth placed Didcot, and an unexpected 0-2 home reverse to lowly Highworth Town at the start of November. However, FC have won all four matches since that loss to Highworth.
Last season both fixtures between these two sides were away wins, with FC winning 3-1 at Thame in August, whereas The Red Kites won the return 3-0 in November 2021.
Biggleswade FC were only established in 2016, from Biggleswade Town’s successful under 18 side, joining the Spartan South Midlands league. They initially played at Biggleswade Town’s ground, winning two promotions in three seasons to go up to the Southern League. However, they now currently ground share at Bedford Town. Last season they finished 9th, one place behind Thame.
FC’s leading goal scorers this season are midfielder Alex Marsh, with 8 goals this season, and over 90 in his career for the club, whilst fellow midfielder Tom Coles also has 8 this season and nearly 60 in his time with the club.
Since these diaries covered Thame’s 2-0 home win over Barton Rovers, they continued to move away from the bottom the table, with a 4-1 home win over Harlow Town and a 2-2 draw at Didcot. A disappointing 0-3 loss at Kempston Rovers followed, but a 1-1 home draw in mid-week at home to Cirencester, saw them in 16th position in the table.
The journey from Biggleswade to Thame is just under 50 miles, and should normally take around 75 minutes down the A418. Around 30 or so visiting supporters helped swell today’s attendance.
The temperature at the 15.00 kick-off time was around 11° and cloudy, with showers forecast for later in the afternoon.
Thame today had an interesting variation on the half-time 50/50 raffle. For £1 you got a numbered tennis ball, with the winner being the person who could throw the tennis ball closest to a pole inserted on the half-way spot. Being used to throwing cricket balls my attempts were pathetic !
Biggleswade were wearing green shirts with white sleeves, plus green shorts and socks. Thame were in their usual red and black striped shirts.
After an even start the visitors started to apply some pressure, forcing two corners in the 7th minute, and soon won another from a free-kick after Thame’s Dan West headed clear. The first serious effort on goal came in the 14th minute. Thame gave away possession in their own half, and Wheeler- Bailey advanced on goal, but his low shot took a deflection to go a foot or so wide, with the diving keeper beaten.
With the light drizzle starting to fall, Thame had their first attack in the 17th minute but after being put found in space on the left hand side, Tutton won a corner for the home side. The resulting delivery caused havoc in the visitors’ defence and after some desperate scrambling in the 6 yard box, and at least three attempts to shoot, Biggleswade were eventually able to clear.
Biggleswade were soon back on the attack and a cute pass from Angol put Lawrence Marsh free, but his shot was deflected by a sliding defender for a corner. Angol then showed good trickery to make space for himself, but his fierce shot was directed straight at the Thame keeper, who made a comfortable save.
When Thame next ventured into the Biggleswade area, keeper Green confidently claimed a corner kick. With 29 minutes played, Pearce sent a dangerous looking free-kick towards the back post where Carnell headed back across goal. It fell to full-back Finlay Murray to finish past Green from a few yards out, but unfortunately for the home side the linesman’s flag was raised for off-side and the goal was chalked off.
Biggleswade continued to dominate possession but Thame’s rearguard stood firm, and the home side finished the half strongly. First, Pearce fed West, but the Red Kites’ captain’s effort was sliced horribly wide, and then Pearce made a threatening run to the edge of the Biggleswade area but shot a few feet over. Hackett then made a great from half-way past a couple of would-be tacklers only to be crowded out in the act of shooting.
The best chance of the half though fell to the visitors in the 45th minute. Good combination play involving Dreyer, Hunt and Alex March put Dreyer clear but his low shot from just inside the area produced a great finger-tipped save from keeper Hill.
The referee somehow found 5 minutes of added time, possibly having been watching the World Cup, in which Thame’s Pearce showed good skill to beat his marker only to spoil it by shooting onto the ring-road, after which Biggleswade’s Alex Marsh shot straight at the keeper from around 20 yards.
At the interval the match was still scoreless. The visitors had enjoyed more of the possession and at times had played some very pleasant football, but their chances were few and far between, and Thame had enjoyed some good moments of their own.
Thame started the second half well and after a surging run, Jack Tutton went to ground in the penalty area, but the referee waved play on. However, the opening goal finally arrived in the 51st minute as a corner from Pearce found Jefferson Louis at the back post, and the much-travelled veteran striker headed home from close range.
Biggleswade hit back almost immediately, Coles attempted an optimistic long-range effort, but it ricocheted kindly to Alex Marsh, who had a relatively simple task to slide the ball past the Thame keeper for the equalizer in the 53rd minute.
The next two chances fell to the home side. A chip over the square back-line was chased by Hackett and although he managed to keep the ball in play, his effort from a tight angle was easily saved. Hackett then went on a tremendous run from his own half down the left to then cut-back inside, but his rasping shot went a foot or so wide of the post.
The visitors were then inspired to their best spell of the match. A gorgeous cross from Lawrence Marsh on the right was somehow put wide by Wheeler-Bailey from 6 yards, after which a great through ball by Dreyer was just a fraction too long for Angol to latch onto. Although Thame’s Tutton had a long range stinger tipped over the bar by Green, Biggleswade’s play was impressive with intelligent movement off the ball as Jack Dreyer pulled the strings in midfield and Alex Marsh looked dangerous every time he was on the ball.
A foul from Coles on West led to a mass flare-up, with Coles perhaps being fortunate not to see a second yellow card, but it was no surprise when Biggleswade took the lead in the 77th minute. Coles spread the ball wide for full-back Hunt to go marauding down the wing, and his excellent cross was neatly headed home by Lawrence Marsh.
Thame seemed deflated and their substitutions didn’t appear to have any impact on the pattern of play. The visitors nearly added a third when Wheeler-Bailey made a great run to the by-line but his pull-back went in the direction of no-one in particular. At the clock entered the red zone there was another flare-up, this time after Thame conceded a free-kick and it looked like Biggleswade would be able to wind down the clock.
With possibly their last attack, Mepham went down the right wing only to be scythed down by Fisher. Pearce sent the free-kick into the heart of the penalty area, where Louis out-jumped the defence to head into the corner of the goal for the equalizer.
Thame had effectively played their “Get out of Jail free” card to snatch a point. Louis had been a passenger for most of the game, but with two headers would probably be a contender for Thame’s man of the match !
The match ended with a moment of slight farce as two Thame players tackled each other and were awarded a free-kick for a foul. Biggleswade’s Dreyer ran on after the whistle and placed the ball into the net, and was rewarded with a yellow card for his efforts, much to the annoyance of the visiting supporters.
The final result was perhaps harsh on Biggleswade, who looked a very good footballing side, with several lively players going forward. However, there isn’t much big in Biggleswade FC and their lack of height at set-pieces was exposed today. This result left them still in second place, and they look a decent bet for at least a play-off position. The point from today took Thame up another place to 15th to continued their resurgence, and again showed they can get results against the better sides in the division.
Online Programme : https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/files.pitchero.com/clubs/13461/uTxRrRvPR4O0RZHVAq4k_Biggleswade%2026%2011%2022.pdf
Thame United : Hill – Thorne, Massingham, Carnell, Murray – Tutton ( Gardner ), West, Hackett ( McEwan ), Khan ( Mepham ) – Pearce, Louis
Biggleswade FC : Green – Hunt, Newton, Wedd, Oteng ( Fisher ) – Wheeler-Bailey, Coles ( Simpson ), Dreyer A. Marsh - L. Marsh, Angol ( Oswick )
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WHZJEgSSb4
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