Thame United 1-1 Aylesbury United ( att : 203 ) – 2022/23 Southern League Division One Central

December 26, 2022

Thame United versus Aylesbury United is a traditional Boxing Day fixture, with two towns being less than 10 miles apart, albeit being in different counties. Indeed, given their closeness it is actually a match between ex-landlord vs ex-landlord ! 

 

When Thame were evicted from their Windmill Road ground in 2005 after a failure to pay HMRC, they initially ground-shared at Aylesbury United’s Buckingham Road ground. Ironically, a year later Aylesbury were evicted from their own stadium, forcing them to share with Leighton Town, whilst Thame had to make alternative arrangements and ended up playing in Wallingford.

In December 2010, the ASM Stadium was opened and Thame returned home. In 2015, the roles were reversed when Aylesbury became tenants in Thame for two seasons, but then they decided to move to Chesham United’s Meadow Stadium, where they continue to play.  

The two sides have had disappointing seasons to date, with both currently being in the bottom four. However, the withdrawal from the league of Harlow Town during the season means that there is now only one automatic relegation place.

Aylesbury started the season reasonably well, with a 3-3 draw at Harlow ( now expunged from the records ) and then home wins over Kidlington ( 2-0 ) and Barton Rovers ( 2-1 ), but just one win ( Highworth H 5-1 ) and two draws ( Hertford A 4-4 and Kidlington A 2-2 ) in the subsequent 15 league games meant they went into today’s game second from bottom, and still to recorded a win away from home. However, those two draws were their two most recent league matches, together with a 1-0 victory over Harlow which no longer counts. Indeed, the withdrawal of Harlow has cost Aylesbury four points.

Tom McElroy was the top scorer for The Ducks with 8 goals in 10 league appearances but is currently out injured, and as an indication of their challenges, only five of the squad that featured in their 2-0 win over Hertford covered by these diaries last March featured today. However, David Lynn was playing centre-back today, having joined the club in November after over 200 appearances for Thame, and predictably was subject to some good-natured boos during the match. 

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These diaries covered Thame’s 2-2 home draw with second placed Biggleswade FC, and the Red Kites followed that result with a 1-1 draw at third placed Ware. Added to the 2-2 draw at Didcot, Thame had drawn with three of the top four in their last four matches. With their 4-1 victory over Harlow now being deleted, their recent form would have looked even better with 10 point points from their last 7 games. Nevertheless, at the start of the game Thame looked more the team in form and the likely favourites, although the form book usually goes out of the window in local derbies !

The temperature at the 15.00 kick-off was around 5 degrees with sunny weather and barely a cloud in the sky. The forecast though was for the temperature to drop as it got dark so a scarf and a woolly hat were the order of the day !

The pitch looked in excellent condition, but after a lot of recent rain, in addition to having been frozen a week ago, it could cut-up as the game progressed. However, as it turned out, it remained in good condition throughout the match and was a credit to the groundsmen.

Thame started the match well but poor finishing first saw Massingham shoot weakly and wide from distance, repeated shortly afterwards by Louis after the veteran journeyman did well to spin past Lynn. A long ball out of defence was then left by Pearce for Hackett to run onto, but the attempted cross into the 6 yard box to Pearce was denied by an excellent sliding block by centre-back Jake Wood.

Aylesbury’s first meaningful foray occurred in the 10^th minute but after Lee Stobbs made progress down the right wing, his cross was blocked for a corner. The Ducks then won another corner in the 15^th minute when a dangerous run down the left by Sonny French was halted, and after the ball was swung into the 6 yard box, Lynn’s header produced a fine save from Thame keeper Knox. The loose ball was only cleared as far as Aylesbury left-back Jake Bewley, who sent a tremendous left-footed swerving 25 yard effort narrowly over the bar with the keeper beaten.

Thame then embarked on a period of dominance. First, Greg Hackett found space just inside the Aylesbury area but could only send his shot straight at keeper Hopwood who punched away. Bewley then had to be alert to cut out West’s intelligent short pass to prevent Mepham being clear on goal, and then Pearce’s close range effort was blocked by the keeper’s chest and from the rebound Jefferson Louis saw his attempt blocked. The subsequent corner found Louis beyond the far post, but his mis-kick trickled harmlessly wide. A minute later a long free-kick reached centre-back Massingham 6 yards out beyond the back post, but again his mis-kick failed to trouble the Aylesbury defence.

On an occasional counter-attack, no Aylesbury attacker was on hand to meet right-back Harry Jones’ dangerous delivery across the face of the Thame goal.

The first yellow card of the game was shown in the 26^th minute when Jack Moriarty left Pearce in a heap near half-way, and although the referee played an advantage which amounted to nothing, when the ball went out of play he didn’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to identify Moriarty as the villain !

As Thame continued to press, right-back Lewis Thorne was prominent on several occasions on the overlap. First, his pass reached Greg Hackett who controlled well but could only shoot a few feet wide from 15 yards, and then another pass reached Dan West, who saw his 25 yard effort hit the referee in arguably the best piece of defensive work in the game to-date. A drop-ball was awarded, which subsequently came to nothing.

The last 5 minutes of the half were end-to-end, as Aylesbury’s Shaquille Ishmael flashed a shot from the left-hand side of the area narrowly wide, after which Bewley made a good sliding interception to prevent Thame’s Pearce being clear on goal. Hackett then had a shot from the edge of the area comfortably held by keeper Hopwood before the final piece of action in the first half saw the portly Aylesbury centre-forward Tyriq Hunte, who looked to have indulged in a few mince-pies too many, and perhaps appropriately for an Aylesbury player waddled around like a duck, send a low shot arrowing to the bottom corner, only for corner Knox to dive and push around the post. Knox confidently claimed the subsequent corner.

With the game scoreless at the interval, Thame would probably have felt they deserved to have been ahead given the share of possession they had enjoyed and the openings they had created, but poor finishing had let them down. On their few counter-attacks, Aylesbury had shown they possessed a threat that shouldn’t be ignored.

Perhaps with the half-way refreshments taking its toll, the 30 or so Aylesbury fans behind the goal started the second half in good voice, although there wasn’t too much happening on the pitch to give them something to shout about as both sides were guilty of giving away possession.

Thame fashioned the first opportunity of the second period, as a nice move featuring Pearce and Jefferson put Hackett through, but Hopwood came off his line to bravely save, but in any case, the linesman’s flag was raised for offside. In the 52^nd minute, a Thame corner reached Massingham at the back post, and when the centre-back looked like he should score, he meekly pushed his effort wide.

It was now Aylesbury’s turn to have a good spell in the game. Hunte was found in space on the left, and when the Thame keeper charged out of his area to close down the Ducks centre-forward he was able to block the attempted shot on goal with his chest. Thame’s reprieve was only temporary though, as a minute later a cross from the left was powerfully headed by full-back Harry Jones eight yards out, and after hitting a post, rolled across and over the line to nestle in the back of the net to give the visitors the lead in the 56^th minute.

Thame’s response was to make a double substitution, but they seemed to be all at sea as Hunte and Stobbs both had shots inside the area blocked and then Ishmael’s dangerous run into the left-hand side of the area needed his cross to be intercepted.

Against the run of play, Thame grabbed an equaliser. Pearce initiated the attack and put Hackett in space on the left, and the midfielder’s ball into the penalty area was dummied by Louis for substitute Hale to sweep into the top corner for a stunning finish from around 10 yards. With the score 1-1 it was now anyone’s game, but the game became bad-tempered and niggly and both sides seemed to be trying to take advantage of the referee.

At first glance, Thame’s West appeared to have been a victim of a nasty stamp by Stokoe, who was shown the yellow card, but judging by the smiles afterwards the Thame captain hadn’t been seriously hurt, so there was perhaps some poetic justice when West was hit in the head from a close range pass from a team-mate that left him requiring lengthy treatment.

When play resumed Aylesbury centre-back Wood went to ground after trying to challenge Louis, who was attempting to turn and break-free, and although the Ducks defender was awarded the free-kick, he seemed to be unsure whether to hold his chest or his head.

However, Aylesbury now seemed to be the side more likely to score the next goal. Lynn’s header from a corner was controlled on the chest by a Thame defender a couple of yards off his line and then hoofed clear. French then executed a good turn but sent his left-footed effort off for a throw-in, after which Hunte showed unexpected finesse to turn and sent a delightful left-footed chip towards goal, forcing the back-pedalling Thame keeper to tip over the bar for a corner.

Aylesbury substitute Seaton had a shot from 20 yards block by the Thame defence, and then West committed a bad foul on Seaton and was fortunate to escape without any sanction from the referee. Bewley then sent a free-kick through the Thame defensive wall, but the effort was easily saved, and then a flowing move involving Hunte and Ishmael ended with a poor touch by Seaton.

The game became frantic in the last 10 minutes. Jones’ long-range stinger was well-held by the Thame keeper, and when the ball was quickly played into the Aylesbury area, the home side couldn’t capitalise on a goal-mouth scramble, and when the ball was reworked and sent back into the mixer, Louis made a complete hash of an acrobatic finish. The visitors responded with Hunte showing unexpected speed to burst past his marker, but his ferocious left-footed drive was pushed past the post by Knox. Hunte then offered an action replay but although his shot was partially blocked by a desperate dive by a Thame defender, Mepham needed to be on hand to give away the corner to prevent Mukwada having a tap-in at the far post.

Three minutes of added time were displayed. Thame launched a free-kick into the Aylesbury area but Massingham could only head high into the area, and Hopwood leapt to gather. Massingham was then shown the yellow card for an off-the-ball incident. However, the referee soon blew for full-time, leaving a feeling it was perhaps a minute or so too early.

With the points shared, both sides would probably have had mixed feelings with the result. Thame were the better side in the first half, but squandered their chances, but Aylesbury were much the better side in the second half, and were the side more likely the snatch the winner the longer the game went on. Overall though, a draw was probably a fair result, but it did little to help either side at the bottom end of the table, although both moved up one place.

Thame United : Knox – Thorne, Massingham, Murray, Peake-Pijnen ( Hale ) – Mepham, Tutton ( Gardner ), West, Hackett – Pearce, Louis ( Alexander )

Aylesbury United : Hopwood – Jones, Wood, Lynn, Bewley – Stobbs ( Mukwada ), Stokoe ( Seaton ), Moriarty, Ishmael – French, Hunte

Online Programme : https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/files.pitchero.com/clubs/13461/QYF9XxAOTISGPpnCJI0K_Aylesbury%20United%2026%2012%2022.pdf