December 26, 2023
Boxing Day’s "entertainment" was an opportunity to watch Thame United for the first time this season as they made the short journey to neighbours Kidlington. With Kidlington in 15th place and Thame in 18th, it was an important game at the bottom of the Southern League Division One Central.
A match between these two sides had previously featured in these diaries, when Thame beat Kidlington 3-1 back in February 2022 at the ASM stadium.
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Thame United
A lot had changed since reporting on The Red Kites 4-1 win over Hadley back in April, with manager Mark West and his coaching staff, chairman Jake Collinge, and virtually all the players leaving the club during the close season. I’m not sure of the reason for all these departures but cuts to the playing budget was the rumour.
The core of last season’s side have ended up at North Leigh ( Dan West, Jack Tutton, Lewis Thorne, George Gilmore and Greg Hackett ), whilst some of the other movements of players included Matthew Peake-Pijnen and Craig Hill to Risborough Rangers, David Pearce to Aylesbury United, and Abu Khan signed for Aylesbury Vale Dynamos. Luke Carnell is back at Didcot after a short spell at Hungerford, whilst veteran Jefferson Louis is now at Beaconsfield Town via Slough Town.
New coach Ben Williams, who was in charge of Aylesbury United when these diaries covered their 2-0 win over Hertford Town in March 2022, had to assemble a brand new squad, with only centre-back Finlay Murray staying from the previous season, plus a couple of youngsters promoted from the reserve team that was relegated to the Oxfordshire Senior League.
Williams used his contacts book and network of former players to at least put together a team to start the season. Against the odds, the early performances were promising. Although Thame crashed out of the FA Cup with a 2-3 home loss to Bristol Manor Farm after holding a 2-0 lead, the first league fixture ended in a 2-1 home win over Hadley, and after a disappointing 0-3 defeat at Cirencester, a 2-2 draw was recorded at Barton Rovers in another game in which they had led 2-0.
Thame bounced back from a poor 0-5 home loss to Badshot Lea in the FA Trophy to claim two more draws, 4-4 at Ware, where they conceded the equaliser in the 98th minute, and 1-1 at home to Biggleswade FC. However, six consecutive defeats in October and November left Thame bottom of the table, before home wins over Biggleswade Town and Stotfold took them out of the two relegation places. Their two most recent games had resulted in defeats, to put them down to 18th place ( second bottom ).
Ex-St Albans 19 year-old striker Benjamin Kakembo and 18 year old midfielder Jaydon Carbon, on loan from Oxford City, had four goals each, but their top scorer with 5 goals was ex-Uxbridge midfielder Eitel Goueth. New signing striker Ryan Knight had played against Thame for both Kidlington and North Leigh earlier in the season.
Background to Kidlington
Kidlington is a large village in the parish of Oxford, and is perhaps most famously known as the HQ of the Thames Valley Police, home to fictional detectives Morse, Lewis and Hilary Greene. Also, Oxford London Airport was known as Kidlington Airport until 2009. The distance between Kidlington and Thame is approximately 18 miles.
I had visited Kidlington’s Yarnton Road ground on one previous occasion, in 2006 to watch a Hellenic League encounter between today’s two sides, which was won by Kidlington 1-0.
Kidlington started the day with a 4-5-7 record to be five points and three places ahead of Thame. The four wins had come at Thame ( 2-1 ) on August Bank Holiday Monday, 1-0 at home to Barton Rovers, 3-0 at Hadley and 4-3 at home to Cirencester. Last time out Kidlington lost 1-2 at home to Biggleswade FC.
Kidlington had a reasonable run in the FA Trophy, beating North Leigh and Exmouth at home before exiting the competition 0-3 at Basingstoke, who play a league higher.
Ex-Oxford City, Didcot and Highworth Town Brazilian striker Felipe Barcelos was their top scorer with 5 league goals, but he looked a lot heavier than the pacey whippet who scored a hatful of goals for Oxford City Nomads when they won the Hellenic League in 2011/12. Centre-back Benjamin Richards was also on 5 goals. Attacking midfielder Jack Gardner had a short-spell at Thame at the start of the 2022/23 season whilst Amari Davis-Stephenson is on work experience from Oxford United.
Kidlington had the lowest average home attendance in the division at just 101, with their highest crowd being the 161 present for the game against AFC Dunstable.
Matchday Information
Tickets for the match were £10 for adults, £5 for concessions, whilst under 16s were allowed in free with an adult, or £1 on their own. The matchday programme was £2.
Kidlington were wearing a kit of green shirts with a white pattern on the front, with green shorts and socks. and made two changes from the side that started against Biggleswade FC. Jack Hopwood replaced Charlie Barnett in goal, whilst winger Mekhai Bessasa-Grant started in place of Piers Walton.
Thame were in their change kit of blue and white striped shirts, with blue shorts and socks. They also made two charges from their last match with Ryan Knight starting in place of Kakembo up front, whilst Pierce McNamara replaced Elliot Kettle, who presumably had gone off the boil……
On a dry day, the temperature was relatively mild at around 7 degrees at the 15.00 kick-off time, with no breeze.
I arrived 50 minutes before kick-off and the car park was already full, but also full of pot-holes. It was a good job I was dropped off by Mrs Fatbear !
A pint of Guinness in the clubhouse was £4.70, whilst there was Shepherd Neame brews Bishops Finger and Spitfire on tap, as well as Amstel, Singha, Carlsberg and San Miguel. Bottles of Hobgoblin were also available.
Inside the ground a cup of tea was £1.50 and served in a proper mug.
The dug-outs had KFC written on the back wall, presumably not a sponsorship from the fast-food chain.
Behind the goal closest to the clubhouse was the Mike Gradwell stand, a small covered terrace. On one side of the ground was the Terry Wiffin Stand, which housed around 100 seats in four rows, and further along that side was another small covered terraced stand. Behind the other goal and along the other side was just hard standing.
With 10 minutes to go before kick-off there were about 25 people inside the ground but the rest of the crowd trickled out of the bar in time for the start. There was hardly a big, bank holiday local derby atmosphere to the occasion. It all seemed very low key.
There were no team annoucements over the tannoy so the only way to learn who was playing was to look at both sides' Twitter accounts.
Matchday Report
Thame kicked off in an eerie silence attacking the clubhouse end, with the only noise coming from the players. This though was to change as the game progressed and passions rose.
The game quickly fell into a pattern of Thame playing neat passing football but making very little impact against a rugged, well organised defence, whilst Kidlington looked dangerous on the counter with some fast, attacking play against a vulnerable looking Thame defence.
In particular, Gourth was finding a lot of space in the centre of midfield for Thame, whilst Bessasa-Grant was looking lively down the left-hand side for Kidlington.
After 4 minutes, Gourth spread a nice ball out to the left for Alexander, but the youngster’s control was poor and Gardner was able to make a block tackle to clear the danger.
The first controversial moment, of many in the match, occurred in the 6th minute when Kidlington centre-back Richards appeared to elbow Knight in the face as both chased a long ball heading to the home keeper. With the Thame forward making a bit of a meal of the contact by falling to the floor in an exaggerated fashion, the referee allowed play to continue. Richards looked a little lucky to get away with it though.
After 11 minutes, Thame’s Carbon played an incisive through pass between the square Kidlington back-line for Alexander to run onto, but keeper Hopwood was sharply off his line to make a close range save. Kidlington responded almost immediately as Cowmeadow was played into space on the right-hand side of the Thame area but his poor shot went across the face of the goal, and when partially cleared, Bessasa-Grant’s shot from just outside the area was blocked by Maxwell.
At the other end, Knight saw his shot blocked and when Lucey curled a cross towards the far post from the left towards Carbon, a good defensive header conceded a corner.
The game was end to end, and Ryan-Phillips made a good run into the Thame area, and after his low cross was cleared to the end of the area, Jenkins’ left-footed shot was weak and went well wide.
The opening goal of the game arrived soon after. Ryan-Phillips played a nice pass to Bessasa-Grant in space on the left but his shot from just inside the aread was saved by Davis. When a Thame defender in a panic attempted to clear the loose ball, he could only smack it straight at Barcelos, and the ball rebounded fortuitously towards the goal, and perhaps off the Thame keeper, and bounced over the line. 1-0 after 16 minutes
Thame quickly attempted to respond as Forde drilled the ball across the face of the goalmouth and after the ball was headed high into the air, Carbon’s shot was blocked for a corner.
Kidlington then countered with a flowing moving which saw Barcelos release Bessasa-Grant down the left, and his cross reached Ferguson on the edge of the area, but the volley went high over the bar.
With 21 minutes on the clock, Cowmeadow theatrically fell over in the Thame area, impressing the referee only in so much as to award a corner.
As Thame searched for an equaliser, a dangerous free-kick by Gourth was headed off by Smith for a corner, Gourth had a shot blocked after a good run, then Carbon shot well over from long range.
After 28 minutes a Thame move involving Gourth, Forde and Carbon ended with Carbon’s shot being blocked after all three had hesitated in going for goal. Two minutes later McNamara found Lucey on the left, and after the full-back beat Gardner, his low cross towards the near post was fumbled by Hopwood under pressure from Knight, but the Kidlington custodian recovered to gather at the second attempt.
A minute later Barcelos was put clear, but with only the keeper to beat, he shot straight at Davis who made a good save to prevent Kidlington doubling their lead. Two minutes Ferguson sent a 25 yarder a few feet wide.
After 34 minutes Richards committed an awful foul on Knight near the half-way line, and again escaped with no sanction apart from a free-kick. On a different day he could have by now had two yellow cards. There clearly wasn’t any love lost between the two former team-mates.
Perhaps still suffering from this assault, Knight carelessly lost possession shortly after enabling Barcelos to run the gaping holes in the defence towards the Thame goal, but again he squandered a great chance and could only shoot at the Thame keeper, who saved with his legs.
A potential pivotal moment in the game came in the 38th minute. Ferguson made a good run into the Thame area but lost control of the ball. Thame keeper Davis came off his line to claim the loose ball, and although Ferguson had ample time to pull of a challenge, he continued and clattered into the keeper. A reckless and dangerous challenge, and after a period of reflection, the referee brandished the obvious red card.
Disappointingly, the home bench launched a whole series of insulting or sarcastic comments at the official, resulting in the home side completely losing their composure. Gardner made a wild lounge on Maxwell to see yellow and Ryan-Phillips scythed down McNamara for another yellow. With a different referee they could have been down to 8 or 9 players by this stage.
Forde had an opportunity but his shot was block and Alexander dwelt on the loose ball and was crowded out for a corner. Kidlington sent a long ball out of defence and as Maxwell and Barcelos challenged for it, the Kidlington player went down after head contact. With the Kidlington players and bench baying for a red card, the referee simply awarded a free-kick as it was 6 of one and half a dozen of the other, and Maxwell had actually won the header.
When play eventually resumed, Gardner’s floated free-kick bounced inside the Thame area, and Jenkins reacted first to head into the top corner from 8 yards to make it 2-0 after 45+2 minutes.
There was still time for Thame’s Lawson to be shown the yellow card after sliding in late on Bessasa-Grant, and when Kidlington sent the free-kick into the Thame area, their appeals for a handball were silenced by an off-side flag.
As the two sides trooped off at the interval after 6 added minutes it was hard to make sense of the first-half. Kidlington had what looked on paper to be a comfortable and deserved 2-0 lead, albeit they were now a man down. For all their nice play, Thame had looked light-weight and faced a tough task to get back into the game against a side that had shown they could be physical when necessary.
Early into the second half, the home side desperately appealed for a penalty when Murray made a clearance inside his own area and the challenging Kidlington player went down claiming to have been kicked in the follow through. The referee wasn’t fooled though.
Thame responded with Forde cutting in from the right and running across the edge of the area, only for his left-footed shot to go off for a throw-in !
Increasingly, it was one-way traffic on the Kidlington goal, with only the occasional counter-attack. Forde and Murray both had shots blocked by brave defending, then after Goueth put Lucey in space on the left, Hopwood made a brave close-range save.
It felt like a goal was coming but Alexander was again crowded out after receiving a chip from Goueth. With 59 minutes played, Maxwell pulled a ball back from the bye-line only for Alexander’s shot to crash back off the post. However, the ball fell to Murray who shot home from 6 yards despite the valiant effort of the defender on the line. It was now 2-1.
Thame could have equalised a minute later, but after Lucey’s ball down the left-hand channel played in Knight, his ball across the face of the goal could have been finished by Alexander or Forde, who both mis-kicked, before Carbon’s attempt was blocked by keeper Hopwood.
It was now all Thame as Kidlington’s appeals for free-kicks were becoming even more desperate.
Goueth’s free-kick was met by Murray, but the header from 10 yards was straight at Hopwood, then a long ball released Alexander, but after being forced wide, the Thame player lost control and the ball went out for a throw-in.
Kidlington were still dangerous on the break though, and on a swift counter Bessasa-Grant’s intelligent ball put Barcelos on goal, but the Brazilian could only cut-back onto his right-foot and shoot several yards over the bar.
Kidlington substitute James was then too strong in the tackle with Goueth, and Bessasa-Grant perhaps could have done better than only win a corner from the dangerous attack.
Another controversial moment occurred 13 minutes from time. After Hopwood dropped a cross under pressure, Smith and Knight clashed for the loose ball and the Kidlington defender ended up rolling on the floor in injury. The Kidlington bench claimed he had been stamped in the head, and Knight was shown the yellow card, but after treatment the Kidlington defender was good to continue. Clearly a magic sponge !
Kidlington still looked like they could score a third goal, and after a delightful dummy by Barcelos, James was through on goal, but his low drive was well held by the diving Davis. At the other end, Knight’s 20 yard shot, after good approach work form Carbon and Alexander, was tipped over the bar by Hopwood.
As Thame pressed forward they were leaving more gaps at the back, and after James astutely played in Bessasa-Grant down the right, Lucey was able to make a block as the winger cut-back onto his left foot.
With time running out, Carbon’s 20 yard drive was pushed around the post for a corner by Hopwood at his near post, then a minute later Hopwood again denied Carbon, holding onto a long-range effort straight at him.
Still the controversial moments continued to arrive, and after a nice flick into the Kidlington area, the impressive Hopwood bravely saved and was injured in the process. Fortunately, after treatment and the replacement keeper warming up to come on, he was OK to continue.
Twelve minutes of added time were played but Thame increasingly looked unlikely to grab an equaliser. Riley’s optimistic 25 yards slid a few feet wide and finally Knight was put clear down the left but his left footed drive was pushed away by Hopwood to complete a fine display from the Kidlington goal-minder.
With the game finally ending at 17.05, Kidlington took the three points to move further away from the relegation zone. Despite all their possession with the extra player, Thame didn’t do enough to deserve an equaliser and face a tough battle to avoid relegation.
Kidlington FC : Hopwood – Gardner ( Edwards ), Smith, Richards, Bailey – Cowmeadow ( James ), Ryan-Phillips, Jenkins, Ferguson, Bessasa-Grant ( Davis-Stephenson ) – Barcelos
Thame United : Davis – Maxwell ( Kakembo ), Murray, Lawson, Lucey – Carbon, McNamara ( Riley ), Goueth, Forde ( Port ), Alexander - Knight
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