September 14, 2024
These diaries recently reported on Thame United’s 0-4 defeat to Wingate & Finchley in the FA Cup, but they rebounded with a 5-0 victory at Steyning Town in the FA Trophy, with harry Alexander scoring a hat-trick. So far, their season had been topsy-turvey, with two 0-4 defeats, but with three 5-0 victories.
Today’s fixture saw a meeting of 7th vs 8th in Division One Central, although Thame had played one game fewer than Welwyn GC. The main news from Thame was that midfielder/striker Dan West had rejoined the club after leaving in the summer of 2023/24 to play for North Leigh, Risborough Rangers then Leighton Town, before returning to the side where he had won the League golden boot in 2017/18.
Welwyn Garden City FC
Welwyn Garden City is a city in Hertfordshire and is unique in being both a Garden City and a New Town. Its population is estimated at being just under 50,000.
The town’s football side were founded in 1921 and are known as The Citizens. They play at the 3,000 capacity Herns Way.
After winning the Spartan South Midland championship in 2017/18, Welwyn GC have spent six seasons in the Southern League Division One Central, with their best seasons being in 2021/22, when they finished in 5th place but were denied a place in the play-offs on ground grading criteria. They were in 4th place when the 2019/20 season was terminated due to Covid. Last season they ended up in 9th position and had an average league attendance of 147.
Welwyn Garden City FC This Season
Welwyn GC started their league season with two away wins, overcoming Leverstock Green 3-1 and then beating big-spending Real Bedford 2-1, before losing 3-4 at highly fancied Berkhamsted Town. Their first home fixture saw a 3-1 victory over Northwood Town, but they then succumbed to a surprise 1-4 home loss to Barton Rovers.
Welwyn GC exited the FA Cup at the first hurdle with a shock 0-2 loss to Spartan South Midland side MK Irish. In the FA Trophy they drew 1-1 at Isthmian League North Division side Tilbury FC but lost in the penalty shoot-out.
The obvious dangerman for Welwyn GC is striker Bailey Stevenson, who had already scored 7 times in the League to be the second highest scorer in the division, plus once in the FA Trophy. Ex-Berkhamsted, Chesham and Slough forward Bradley Watkins had scored twice for The Citizens this season, after scoring 16 league goals last season.
The Welwyn squad contains two players with experience of playing in the Football League. Defender Ryan Sellers played for Wycombe Wanderers in League Two in 2015/16 whilst midfielder Matty Whichelow played for Watford, Wycombe, Exeter City and Accrington Stanley, as well as winning 5 caps for Montserrat. Both were missing today through injury.
Right-back Zuriel Otseh-Taiwo played for Southampton Under 21s and left-back Josh Bryant featured in these diaries for Herford Town back in February 2023, when they lost 1-2 at Thame.
Previous Meetings
Results between these two sides have been very even in the six seasons they have been together in the Southern League Division One Central, with 4 wins each and 3 draws in their 11 meetings. There has been no significant home advantage either, with both sides winning twice at home and twice away !
Last season Welwyn won 1-0 at the ASM in October, whilst a 95th minute goal from Jefferson Louis gave Thame a 4-3 away win in January.
Matchday Information
The journey from Welwyn Garden City to Thame is just over 45 miles and should normally take an hour via the A1M and the A41. It looked like a dozen or so away supporters had made the journey.
Admission for today’s game was £10 for adults, £5 for OAPs, £3 for Under 16s and free for the Under 5s. A large cup of tea was £1.50.
The weather at the 15.00 kick-off time was blue skies with the temperature around 18 degrees.
Thame played in their usual kit of red and black striped shirts with black shorts and red socks, whilst Welwyn GC were in a tasteful change kit of white shirts with one claret and light blue stripe on the left-hand side of the front of the shirt, with claret shorts and socks.
Thame made three changes from their side that started at Steyning with West, Louis and Curtis Brown coming in for Daniel, Riddick and Garcia. On the bench was midfielder Greg Hackett, who like West left the club last season, and has since played for North Leigh, Risborough Rangers and Uxbridge.
Welwyn GC made five changes to their side that were knocked out of the FA Trophy including strikers Wadkins and Stevenson both out injured. Joe Welch replaced Poku in goal and Benjamin Crilley and Aiden Read came into the back three. In total, eight of their squad were missing through injury and to make up the numbers, manager Marc Weatherstone named himself as a substitute.
Match Report
Thame nearly opened the scoring in the first minute. Brown was played into the penalty area and his ball across goal was partially deflected to Alexander, who volleyed narrowly wide from 10 yards.
Welwyn responded a minute later with a long throw-in which had to be headed off for a corner by West. The corner was headed away by Louis, but the visitors kept pressing and won another corner. This time, Thame keeper Crowther, under pressure on his goal line managed to a punch to the ball, and when the ball went out of play, the referee awarded a goal-kick.
Out of the blue, Welwyn scored the only goal of the game. Henry Jones did well on the right to play the ball into the Thame penalty area, where the on-rushing Layne Eadie slammed the ball left-footed on the half-volley in the roof of the net. An excellent finish made it 0-1 after 6 minutes.
Welwyn were on top, forcing Stranks to concede another corner, and then with the Thame back four fannying around at the back with the ball, a high press forced the Thame keeper to kick the ball into touch. Centre-back Read headed the subsequent long throw high over the bar.
Thame produced a nice move involving McElroy and Stranks but the cross from the right struck the arm of a Welwyn defender as he jumped up to make the block. Thame appealed for handball, but the referee ignored their claim, and in any case, it was outside of the area.
Two minutes later Stranks mishit a cross but it had keeper Welch desperately back peddling to tip the ball over the bar. Thame took a short corner, but cocked-it-up and Welwyn won possession.
Thame thought they had equalised in the 17th minute. West’s shot from just over 20 yards lacked power and bobbled through a crowd of players. Alexander ran onto the ball, rounded the keeper and placed it into the empty net. Unfortunately for the home side, the linesman raised his flag for offside, and from where I was sitting, it didn’t look like he had got it right. However, Fatbear’s opinion doesn’t matter, and the score stayed at 0-1 !
Two minutes later McElroy was too strong for Crilley in the tackle, and the Welwyn defender let out a loud scream as he fell to the floor. The referee, standing very close by, allowed play to continue, but fortunately for Crilley, McElroy’s poor pass was intercepted by Read, and the danger passed.
The Welwyn bench started having a go at the referee every time Thame won a tackle, and they seemed to be watching a different game to most of the rest of us. However, it wasn’t long before the Thame bench and players were also loudly criticising the official……….
When some football broke out, a Welwyn long throw was headed out to Lewis Jones, who volleyed a couple of yards wide.
It was now Kirwan’s turn to scream loudly after losing out in a tackle but as play was again waved on, Kirwan immediately jumped up and chased after the ball !
With the game becoming increasingly niggly, Thame midfielder Tutton let fly from 30 yards only to send the ball about 10 feet wide. In the 29th minute, Tutton’s cross-field pass put Brown in space on the right wing, but Read got to the low ball across the 6-yard line just ahead of Louis to prevent a tap-in for the veteran striker.
A minute later the visitors should have doubled their lead, but with Lewis Jones unmarked near the penalty spot with just the keeper to beat, he took too long to shoot, and full-back Lucey was able to recover and take the ball off the foot of the Citizens’ forward.
The game was now end-to-end and in the 31st minute Brown again ran into the Welwyn area, but rather than play a square pass for Louis to score into an empty net, Brown went for glory but shot well wide from a tight angle. A great chance wasted.
McElroy was too strong for Otseh-Taiwo and crossed to Brown who controlled on his chest but was forced to turn and look for support from Stranks. However, his under-hit pass put Stranks under pressure, and his first touch was heavy, and on the stretch committed a foul as a Welwyn defender took the ball off him.
Brown and Stranks combined again to find Alexander, whose floated left-footed cross from the right went beyond the far post to Louis, who couldn’t get his header on target.
In the 38th minute a cross from the right was chested by West back to Alexander, whose volley from the edge of the area was straight at Welch, who comfortably held onto it.
The first yellow card of the game finally arrived in the 38th minute when McElroy made a bad foul on Otseh-Taiwo, leaving the former Southampton youngster needing treatment. This was the first of five times he would need treatment during this match, perhaps suggesting a need to toughen up a little at this level ?
Thame continued to press for an equaliser as the first half was coming to a close. Another cross from Alexander sailed narrowly over the bar, and a mazy run from the same player ended with him being crowded out, and the shot from Louis from the loose ball was blocked.
In between Tutton was showed a yellow card after making a strong run and turning nicely but slightly lost control as the ball ran away from him, and he clattered into Crilley.
At the interval Welwyn led by one goal, which could have been two. For all their pressure, Thame had not seriously troubled the Welwyn keeper.
The visitors had a glorious chance to extend their lead in the first minute of the second half. A long ball out of the Citizens’ defence was poorly headed by a Thame central defender and Lewis Jones ran clear. With just the keeper to beat, his left footed shot hit near post and rebounded out for Thame to clear for a throw-in.
Soon after, a Welwyn corner looked to be sailing into the far top corner until Crowther pushed it over the bar.
At the other end, Thame messed up another short corner routine, but when they recovered possession, Alexander’s cross evaded both West and Louis. A Thame break then saw Brown put McElroy in space on the right, but his ball into the area went behind the unmarked Louis and the chance was gone.
In the 55th minute, Welwyn midfielder Lucas Jordan made a strong run, but Murray made an important tackle leaving Jordan in a heap on the floor in the process. In the ensuing scramble Henry Jones also ended up on the floor with an injury. With Welwyn having two players out of action, Thame looked to counterattack, but remarkably the referee stopped play to allow treatment to the two prone Welwyn players, despite neither of them having a head injury. I think the Thame coach may have received a yellow card for his observations !
When play resumed, Thame made loud appeals for handball inside the Welwyn area, but again the referee was having none of it. Tutton then delivered a threatening cross from the left, which needed a good defensive header from Gallagher at the expense of a corner.
Welwyn’s Jordan sent an optimistic long-range effort out of the ground, after which 20 year old Alexander continued to have no joy with his attempts on goal, this time seeing his 20 yarder going narrowly wide after good approach play by Hackett and Lucey.
In the 69th minute, Henry Jones got to the left by-line, but his shot was at the Thame keeper who held onto it at his near post, and that was just about the last we saw of Welwyn as an attacking threat.
Hackett then found Alexander, who played a defence splitting pass, but strangely Daniel choose not to run onto it, perhaps thinking he was offside ?
Thame though should have got on level terms in the 72nd minute. Keeper Welch had to come out of his area to clear a through ball, but McElroy had closed him down and block tackled the clearance. With the keeper still on the floor, Daniel played the ball forward to Alexander, who in turn passed to McElory. His first effort was blocked, but facing just one defender on the line, McElroy shot over the bar from about 8 yards.
That miss seemed to deflate the home side. Their passing became ragged, and Welwyn exercised effective “game management” as they slowed the game down, taking their time with throw-ins, goal-kicks and free-kick, and taking time to recover from injuries. Thame were creating few chances, and Welwyn looked comfortable.
With three minutes of normal time remaining, Garcia ran past Harris only to shoot wildly across the face of the Welwyn goal. As the clock moved past 90 minutes, another shot from Alexander from the edge of the area needed Welch to push the ball over the bar, and from the subsequent corner Otseh-Taiwo made a block at the near post, and predictably went down needing treatment again.
In the fifth minute of added time, a cross from Hackett bounced across the Welwyn area and struck the arm of a defender, but Thame’s appeals came to nothing.
Welwyn spent the next couple of minutes keeping the ball near the corner flag. In the eighth minute of injury time, keeper Welch was again called upon to push a free kick over the bar. The corner was taken quickly, and after a scramble, Alexander shot over from 25 yards.
At the final whistle, the injury hit visitors deservedly took the three points. Although Thame had enjoyed the majority of possession, they had created very few clear-cut chances and all the saves that the Welwyn keeper was called upon to make were all regulation and you would expect to be saved. As well as their excellent goal, Welwyn also missed two very good chances. Overall though, it wasn’t a great game to watch.
With this victory, Welwyn moved up the 6th in the table, whilst Thame dropped to 9th.
Link To Online Matchday Programme : https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/files.pitchero.com/clubs/13461/0FJ1WutuSqstMZ7LPDDY_Match%20Day%20Programme%20Welwyn%20Gaden%20City.pdf
Thame United : Crowther – Stranks, Galpin, Murray, Lucey ( Tamplin ) – Brown ( Daniel ), Tutton, West, McElroy ( Garcia ) – Alexander, Louis ( Hackett )
Welwyn Garden City : Welch – Crilley, Read, Gallagher ( Harris ) - Otseh-Taiwo, Eadie, Kirwan, Jordan ( Ejjayha ), Bryant – H Jones, I Jones ( Ansell )
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