Thame United 1-2 Milton Keynes Irish ( att : 131 ) – 2025/26 Southern League Division One Central

November 11, 2025

Tonight saw the first ever meeting between Thame United and Milton Keynes Irish, in what was a mid-table clash with 11^th hosting 13^th.

Thame United Update

Thame had enjoyed mixed fortunes since these diaries reported on their 2-1 home win over London Lions a month ago. They continued their recent good form with a 4-0 victory at Barton Rovers, but then crashed 0-4 at home to Hitchin Town.

Thame recovered to win twice on road, 1-0 at Biggleswade Town and 2-1 at Flackwell Heath but then slumped again at home, this time going down 1-4 to Beaconsfield Town. Their defence of the Oxfordshire Senior Cup ended at the first hurdle with a 1-2 defeat at home to step 5 Ardley United, who they had beaten 5-1 in last year’s final.

Last time out though, Thame beat Enfield 3-1 at home in front of a paltry crowd of 57, leaving them with a 7-1-6 record, and 4-1-3 at home, and reducing their average home attendance to 118.

Thame now had four players as joint top-scorers on 5 goals, Harry Alexander, Curtis Brown, Dan West and Louis Walsh.

Milton Keynes Irish FC

Milton Keynes Irish were only formed in 2020 when Milton Keynes Robins, Unite MK and Milton Keynes Irish Veterans joined together to operate as one club for the 2020-21 season, and have since made rapid strides to reach step 4 in the non-league pyramid.

They are located in Fenny Stratford in Bletchley, which is part of the Milton Keynes City Council. Home is The Irish Centre, which has a capacity of 1,500.

The manager of MK Irish is Terry Shrieves, who was previously in charge of Newport Pagnell Town. Assistant Coach Glyn Creaser had a long career as a defender at Barnet and Wycombe Wanderers and had managed Aylesbury United.

MK Irish started at the step 6 in the Spartan South Midlands Division One but after the season was terminated due to Covid, were promoted on a points-per-game basis to the step 5 Premier Division.

After a mid-table finish, MK Irish were then level transferred to the United Counties League Premier South for one season before being transferred back to Spartan South Midlands.

2023/24 saw MK Irish finish second behind Real Bedford but they lost 0-3 to FC Romania in the promotion play-off semi-final. However, they made no mistake last season, winning the title by 9 points ahead of Tring Athletic, losing only one league game all season.

James Meadows finished the season with 23 goals, closely followed by ex-Colchester United, Hayes and Yeading, Hitchin, Cambridge City and Stotfold midfielder Mason Spence on 22, and George Shrieves, son of manager Terry and also ex-Newport Pagnell, on 21 goals

Milton Keynes Irish This Season

Milton Keynes Irish arrived at the ASM Stadium with a 5-1-8 league record, but were 3-0-3 away from home.

They started life in Step 4 with 6 defeats in their opening 7 matches, with their only points coming from a 2-1 victory at AFC Dunstable.

A 2-0 home win was registered over Barton Rovers but the next game was lost, 0-1 at Hertford Town. Irish then went on an unbeaten run of four games, winning 5-2 at Hadley, 4-3 at home to London Lions and 2-0 at Rayners Lane, with a 1-1 at home to Northwood Town. The run ended last time out, with a 1-5 mauling at home to Stotfold.

In the FA Cup, MK Irish beat Heybridge Swifts of the step 4 Isthmian League Division One North but exited in the next round after a disappointing 0-2 loss at home to step 5 Arlesey Town. They fell at the first hurdle in the FA Trophy, going down 1-2 at step 4 Grays Athletic.

Irish appeared to have a very settled squad, and of the 16 players involved in their last game against Stotfold, 13 of them played last season and defender Matt Haworth had stepped up this year from their youth team. Winger Owen Brooks joined in the summer from Wellingborough Whitworth and defender Freddie Joyce signed in October from AFC Dunstable, and played for Ardley United and Aylesbury United last season.

Meadows was the leading scorer so far with 8 goals, with Brooks on 7 and Shrieves on 4.

MK irish’s average home league attendance to-date this season was 180.

Matchday Information

The journey from Fenny Stratford to Thame is 46 miles and according to AA Route Planner should normally take 47 minutes down the A418.

There was some light rain was falling when I arrived at the ground but it had got progressively heavier by the 19.45 kick-off. There was also a stiff breeze, and the temperature was 13 degrees.

Entrance to the game was £10 for adults and £5 for concessions, £3 for Under 16s, whilst under 5s went in for free. A pint of Poretti cost £5.20.

An online programme had been produced for the match and free team-sheets were available at the turnstile

MK Irish kept the same squad of 16 but made three changes to the side that lost heavily to Stotfold, with Callum Hirst, Kyle Boyce and Haworth replacing Oliver Kalek, Joyce and Brooks.

Thame made one change to the side that started against Enfield, with Greg Hackett replacing Harry Alexander.

MK Irish were in green and white striped shirts with white shorts and socks, whilst Thame were in their usual red and black shirts.

Matchday Report

With the heavy rain falling, it wasn’t an evening for Pep style football and both sides tried to keep things simple, playing percentage football, and regularly sending the ball long. The difficult conditions led to a lot of unforced errors.

The first piece of action occurred in the 5^th minute when Ryan Smith played a free-kick to Spence, whose drive hit a Thame defender and looped up high into the air for an easy catch for keeper Archie Davis.

A minute later, at the other end, Jack Tutton set-up Jenson Wright, but his first-time effort went just wide, then Walsh had an attempt blocked by Nat Beecher for a corner, from which Thame centre-back Luke Tingey put wide from 10 yards after a flick on.

Thame’s Walsh was looking lively up front and ran onto a ball down the right-hand channel from Wright, but his low cross went fractionally ahead of Hackett at the far post.

MK’s Ryan Smith then won possession from Brown and put Shrieves clear, but the left footed shot from just inside the area went straight at Davis, who had spread himself, and grabbed onto the loose ball.

With 15 minutes played, Irish won a free-kick 25 yards out after a bad foul on Shrieves. Ryan Smith took, and the ball took a huge deflection, forcing Davis to scramble across his goal-line but the ball drifted just wide for a corner. The set-piece went across the goalmouth and Spence saw his shot blocked for another corner.

Smith sent a left-footed in-swinging corner under the crossbar, and after a bit of a scramble, Davis dived on to the ball.

With 24 minutes on the clock, Thame looked to be building an attack in a good position when Wright stopped and hoofed the ball off the pitch. It had a puncture ! Probably after all the punishment it had been subjected to already !

The referee restarted play with a drop-ball to Thame, which Tutton sent into the 6-yard box where a Thame player crashed to the ground. However, any thoughts of a possible penalty were quickly dashed by the linesman’s offside flag.

In the 27^th minute, Walsh ran into the Irish penalty area and fell to the floor, but his reward was a yellow card for simulation instead of a penalty, which looked to be an excellent decision by the referee.

Thame were enjoying a good spell but were unable find the final pass. Walsh made a good run and found Hackett, whose shot was blocked. When Thame reworked possession, Brown forced a corner, which came to nothing.

The best move of the half involved first time passes between Walsh, Wright, West and Wright again, but Beecher made a vital tackle just as Wright was about to pull the trigger.

Boyce won a free-kick for Irish near the corner flag, which Smith drove into the Thame area, where Shrieves’ diving header flew wide of the far post. The Irish players appeal for a corner but from where I sat, a goal-kick looked the right decision.

Thame had the better of the closing stages of the first half as Walsh and Callum Hall put Hackett into space on the left, but his low cross was intercepted before it could reach West, then Hall went on a mazy run beating three Irish defenders before eventually being crowded out.

It was still scoreless as the referee blew for half-time, and frankly it had been a poor half, and 0-0 was a deserved scoreline. Under the circumstances, moments of quality football had been in short supply, although Walsh had shown some nice touches for Thame.

The second half commenced with both sides consistently giving the ball away until Spence was played into space inside the Thame area, and found Shrieves with his pull-back, but the Irish number 11 shot wastefully over the bar from a great position.

Irish were getting on top but Smith’s corner was poor and cleared at the near post by Hall, and when Smith gathered the loose ball, his delivery towards the far post was too long for Spence.

Shrieves, looking two yards offside but with the linesman 10 yards behind play, then ran onto a long ball, but his effort was awful, going well wide of the near post when he should have scored.

Shrieves made amends two minutes later though. Spence played a short pass to Shrieves who was unmarked inside the area, and this time his left-footed effort flew into the top corner. The chance had come after Thame captain Riddick had needlessly turned and played a back pass to his keeper, who under pressure put the ball out for an Irish throw. 0-1 after 55 minutes.

Thame raised their game as first Walsh outmuscled Zawe but his low left-wing cross was blocked, then another left-wing cross from Walsh went too far ahead of Hackett. By now MK Irish’s Spence had continually started whinged at the referee, who eventually had words with the veteran midfielder but kept his cards in his pockets. Shortly after, Thame substitute Lance Williams was shown the yellow card after complaining about not being given a free-kick.

Hackett charged down an attempted clearance from Irish keeper Tom Ladyman, and the loose ball fell to Wright, who opted to run at goal and then shot weakly rather than pass to the unmarked Hackett.

Spence had the next attempt for Irish, but could only shoot high and wide from 20 yards.

Thame’s pressure won another corner, and from Alexander’s in-swinging delivery, Tingey turned the ball home at the near post. 1-1 with 75 minutes played.

The game now had a short spell of end-to-end football. After Thame needlessly gave away a corner, Irish substitute Guess shot from the edge of the area in to the arms of keeper Davis, Thame’s Alexander played an inviting ball into the Irish area but with no-one on hand to finish, then a good Irish move saw Brookes run clear but his attempt was saved by Davis’ legs.

An Irish corner was cleared but was played back in to the danger zone, where Davis twice punched the ball away, but after some pin-ball the ball ended up in the back of the net. Haworth was credited with the goal, and it was now 1-2 after 82 minutes.

Irish nearly added a third a minute later, but Spence’s drive hit the head of a Thame defender and went over the bar for a corner.

Irish then had some defending to do, and after Williams played a cross to beyond the far post back into the goalmouth, a frantic scramble ensued, but the ball wouldn’t fall kindly for the home side, and MK Irish were able to clear.

The visitors should have wrapped up the points in added on time when Brooks ran clear but his shot across goal lacked power and Davis dived and made a fairly regulation save. Play was held up though as Thame’s Tingey appeared to pull a hamstring when trying to chase Brooks and crumpled to the floor, and needed to be substituted.

Thame had one final chance to equalise, but when Alexander played a great ball over the Irish centre-backs, Williams was unable to control and the ball ran away for a goal-kick.

The final whistle sounded shortly after, and MK Irish celebrated a hard earned three points. Frankly, it wasn’t a game that will linger long in the memory with the conditions making good football difficult, but MK Irish won’t care too much as they pulled further away from the lower regions of the division.

Thame United : Davis – Brown ( Alexander ), Tingey ( Maxwell ), Murray, Hall – Wright ( Williams ), Riddick, Tutton, West ( Lack ), Hackett – Walsh

Milton Keynes Irish :  Ladyman - Zawe, Haworth, Beecher, Boyce ( Kelsey )– Hirst ( Guess ), N.Smith, R.Smith, Spence – Meadows ( Brooks ), Shrieves ( Kalek )

 

 

 

Oxford City 2-0 Worksop Town ( att : 524 ) - 2025/26 National League North

November 8, 2025

Today’s Saturday afternoon entertainment was the National League North fixture between Oxford City and Worksop Town in a meeting of 23^rd vs 16^th. The two sides had never previously played against each other.

Oxford City Update

These diaries last reported on Oxford City at the end of August when they suffered a 1-5 thrashing at hands of Radcliffe at Court Place Farm, which left The Hoops third from bottom in the table.

City immediately bounced back by hammering Alfreton Town 5-0 but then embarked on a run of just two draws and seven losses in their next 9 matches in all competitions, including an embarrassing exit in the FA Cup at step 4 Westbury United, losing 2-3 after leading 2-0. All of the defeats had been by single goal margins, with a pattern of Oxford City playing well, missing their chances, and giving away soft goals.

The rot was stopped on Tuesday night with a convincing 3-0 home win over Hereford United, but they still remained second from bottom.

Oxford City’s average attendance this season was 659 and midfielder Tom Scott was the leading goalscorer with 5 goals. Captain Josh Ashby had scored in each of the last three matches.

City had brought in three new recruits since the start of September, with the return of former player Ewan Clark, who left The Hoops to join Bristol City but had since moved on to Bath City.  Full-back Geneiro Maragh signed after being released by Reading, and centre-back Chris Francis was recruited after leaving Crystal Palace. Francis had played on loan at Dagenham and Redbridge last season.

Worksop Town FC

Worksop is a market town in Nottinghamshire, close to the border with South Yorkshire and Derbyshire. It has a population of around 45,000 and famous people born in the town include golfer Lee Westwood, Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson, actor Donald Pleasance and England football manager Graham Taylor.

Its football club were founded in 1861 and the club badge shows this year, but Wikipedia reports the date is disputed, with football first being reported as being played in Worksop in 1875 !

Worksop play at Sandy Lane, which has an official capacity of 2,000 and 327 seats. Their nickname is The Tigers and the home colours are yellow and black stripes.

After the non-pyramid was introduced, Worksop played either in Conference North or the Northern Premier League Premier Division. Chris Waddle played for two seasons at the tail-end of his career.

Financial difficulties led the club to opt to voluntarily drop down to the step 5 North-East Counties League Premier Division in 2014. Promotion to step 4 was achieved at the end of 2018/19 after winning the NECL Premier Division, and the NPL Division One East title was secured in 2022/23.

Last season Worksop won promotion to National League North via the play-offs after finishing second in the NPL Premier Division, beating both Ashton United and Guiseley 2-1.

Worksop Squad

Captain and centre-back Hamza Bencherif was an Algerian Under 20 international and had a long career in the Football League, playing for Lincoln City, Macclesfield, Notts County, Halifax and Wrexham but is now 37 years old.

Attacking midfielder Liam Hughes spent 7 years at Cambridge United and played in the SPL for Inverness Caledonian Thistle, before playing for a number of non-league sides, including Barrow, Darlington and Bradford Park Avenue.

Forward Aaron Martin had played for Harrogate and Gateshead, striker Jordan Burrow played in the Football League for Morecambe before moving on to Stevenage Borough, Halifax, Gateshead and York City, and Irish defender Mason O’Malley played for Scunthorpe United when they were in League Two.

Playmaker Joe Leesley numbers Harrogate, Stevenage, Stockport County, Boston United and Kidderminster Harriers among his former clubs, midfielder Aleksandrs Starčenko is Latvian and defender Luke Waterfall had played for Scunthorpe, Macclesfield, Mansfield Town, Wrexham, Lincoln City, Shrewsbury Town, Grimsby and Hartlepool.

Winger Louis Whitham joined from Guiseley, keeper Tommy Taylor is ex-Buxton, Scarborough and Darlington, and defender Bailey Gooda was previously at Scarborough. Reserve keeper Luke Chadwick is not the former Manchester United midfielder !

Worksop This Season

Worksop came into today’s game with a 5-3-8 record and were 2-0-6 away from home. The away wins came at lowly Peterborough Sports ( 1-0 ) and perhaps unexpectedly at league leaders AFC Fylde ( 3-2 ). The home wins were over Southport ( 2-0 ), Chester ( 2-1 ) and Scarborough Athletic ( 1-0 ). Last time out they were battered 1-5 at Darlington.

Like Oxford City, Worksop exited the FA Cup at the first hurdle, being eliminated at step 3 Harborough Town 2-3.

The average attendance for their three home games was 798, with the highest being 1,032 for the visit of Chester.

Hughes was the top scorer with 7 goals, ahead of Martin on 6 and Burrow on 4. Leesley had 5 assists.

Matchday Information

According to AA Route Planner, the journey from Worksop is 138 miles down the M1 and M40 and should normally take around 2 and a half hours. It looked like around 30-40 Tigers fans had made the journey, and a Supporters Coach was parked in the car park.

Tickets for today’s game were £13 for adults online and £16 at the turnstile. There were a whole range of reductions depending on ages, from seniors to children. An online programme was available and a cup of tea cost £2.50.

The weather at the 15.00 kick-off was dry with blue skies and the temperature was around 13 degrees.

Bet365 made Oxford City 6/5 favourites, with Worksop at 17/10 and the draw 12/5.

Worksop were playing in their usual kit of yellow and black striped shirts, with black shorts and yellow socks. Oxford City were in their traditional blue and white hoops.

Worksop made four changes from the side that was routed at Darlington, with the return of Bencherif at centre-back alongside Dylan Cogill, Deegan Atherton was at right-back and Chae Whitman-Brown was on the right-wing. Waterfall, Gooda and Regan Hutchinson all dropped to the bench, and Hughes was missing altogether.  Chatting with one of the Worksop coaching staff before kick-off and asking if they were optimistic for today, he stated “It depends on which Worksop turns up !”

Oxford City made two changes to the side that beat Hereford Isaace Westendorf and Alfie Potter replacing Josh Parker and Ewan Clark.

Matchday Report

The impeccably observed Remembrance Ceremony was slightly unusual in that the playing of The Last Post was part of the two-minute silence, rather than the two minutes starting at the end of the music.

Worksop immediately attacked from the kick-off, and two long throws from Leesley needed to be headed away. From the second, Potter started a counter-attack and fed left-back Maragh, who was up in support, and then played a pass down the left-hand channel for Westendorf to run onto. Although looking suspiciously offside, Westendorf ran into the Worksop area, drew the keeper and played a square pass for Jacob Roddy to side-foot into the empty goal. It was 1-0 after 62 seconds !

Two minutes later Roddy played a cute flick over the Worksop backline for Westendorf, but Bencherif was covering and put the ball out for a corner. After a bout of head tennis Worksop cleared and broke, but a poor cross should have been meat-and-drink for Hoops keeper Sam Lewis, but Aston Villa youngster inexplicably dropped it but quickly recovered.

Worksop won two more throw-ins close to the Oxford City area, and from the second Leesley sent a low cross bouncing towards the near post which Lewis claimed.

For the home side, Scott played a one-two with Westendorf on the edge of the Worksop area, but blasted the return narrowly wide.

Whitham did well on the left get a cross in, which Charlie Wiggett headed away but Whitham picked up the loose ball to cross again, and Burrows backwards header drifted just wide of the post, with Lewis motionlessly watching on. The action seemed to be in slow motion, as if played had stopped, but a goal-kick was the decision.

The game was end to end, and Maragh’s attempt to release Westendorf was stopped by a vital interception by Bencherif. Maragh regained possession and chipped into the Worksop area for Potter to head on, but keeper Taylor clutched the ball before it could reach Roddy.

The Hoops enjoyed a two-minute spell of possession, nicely passing the ball around in their own half without making any progress, and eventually sent the ball long to give possession to Worksop. The visitors continued to launch long throws and free-kicks into the Oxford City area, all of which were well defended.

A free-kick from Leesley was unconvincingly headed by Wiggett under pressure, leading to a scramble, but City eventually cleared.

The first yellow card of the game was shown in the 22^nd minutes. Leesley played a terrible cross-field pass along the half-way line which Scott intercepted, and then flicked over the head of Cogill. With the City midfielder about to run clear, Cogill brought him down.

Two minutes later Worksop had their first shot on target. Whitham’s cross was cleared only as far as Atherton, but the 20-yard first-time volley was caught by Lewis under his crossbar.

In the 25^th minute, a 30-yard fizzer from Hoops captain Ashby produced a diving save from Taylor, pushing the bouncing ball around the post for a corner. Ashby took the set-piece and keeper Taylor was less impressive this time, his poor punch under pressure going backwards, but over his own bar. Roddy went down theatrically at the far post from the next corner but the referee was unimpressed and play continued.

A clash off heads between Ashby and Starčenko resulted in a free-kick to Oxford City in a central position mid-way inside the Worksop half. With Ashby off the field receiving treatment, Scott took the free-kick, but George Burroughs was just unable to get on the end of it and the ball went off for a goal-kick.

With 30 minutes on the clock, Scott passed forward to Westendorf, who took advantage of a slip by Bencherif to run into the Tigers penalty area and then threaded a pass back to the on-running Scott, who struck the post from close range.

Worksop continued to pump balls into the Oxford City area but Lewis did well to punch away a corner under pressure close to his line.

Another flowing move from The Hoops saw Maragh pass to Westendorf who released Scott down the left-hand channel, but his attempted cross was blocked for a corner, which Taylor punched away.

Worksop were forced into an early substitution as Burrow had to leave the field with an injury, and Martin took his place. The substitute nearly had an instant impact but after a free-kick was awarded for a high foot just outside the Oxford City area, Leesley’s left-footed delivery was headed over the bar at the back post by Martin.

Oxford City probably deserved their one goal lead at the interval as they had played some inventive passing football, had hit the post, and defended well against the aerial bombardment.

The floodlight were switched on at half-time and Worksop took the game to the home side in the second half. However, although they dominated possession and pressed for most of the half, they floundered against some solid defending, and didn’t seem to have the necessary guile or creativity to make a breakthrough.

Leesley continued to be the main source of their play, taking all the throws, corners and free-kicks, but Oxford City keeper Lewis wasn’t unduly troubled.

Bencherif headed a long throw straight at the keeper for an easy catch, Martin headed a cross high over the bar, and Vaughan Redford went down far too easily when challenged for a cross towards the penalty spot.

Oxford City occasionally threatened on the counter. Westendorf outmuscled Cogill to put Maragh into space, but the cross towards the far post was put out for a corner before Roddy could pounce. Ashby’s corner bounced across the penalty area, and Roddy turned and shot over the bar, but the referee had spotted a foul by an Oxford City player.

Another long throw into the Oxford City area was headed on by Bencherif, and after Ashby headed away from the Oxford City goal, Cogill’s returned header was an easy save for Lewis.

With Worksop now dominating possession and running the midfield, it was a little surprising that Oxford City didn’t make any changes to turn the tide, and nearly paid the penalty but Martin was unable to control Leesley’s ball into the mixer, and City cleared at the expense of a corner. It was Worksop’s best chance of the game so far.

Another Leesley delivery from a free-kick bounced across the danger zone with no Worksop attacker prepared to gamble.

With 74 minutes played, Leesley’ ball into the Oxford City area was met by a glancing header from Cogill, but the contact was not strong enough, and the ball bounced a yard or two wide of the post.

A rare attack from the home side saw Ashby release Scott, whose fierce drive from a tight angle was pushed away by keeper Taylor, and there were appeals for a penalty when a City player went down trying to get to the rebound, but again the referee wasn’t giving anything.

With 10 minutes remaining, Whitham shot into the side netting from a tight angle when he might have been better off crossing, and a minute later Whitham-Brown sent a dangerous looking ball from the right towards the far post, where Burroughs did well to put the ball out for a corner under pressure from Whitham.

Worksop continued to lump balls into the Oxford City area, and Wiggett made another good defensive header to put the ball out for a corner.

Almost predictably, after totally dominating the second half but creating very little, Worksop conceded a second goal just before the end. Scott showed good energy to run onto a through pass from Josh Parker down the right-hand channel, and looking up saw Westendorf unmarked at the far post, and played an inch perfect low ball across the 6 yard line for a tap-in. 2-0 with 87 minutes played.

The game’s comedy moment occurred shortly after. Westendorf went down inside the Worksop half with what appeared to be cramp. Although Roddy gave him some help, the referee repeatedly signalled to the Oxford City bench for the trainer to come on, but no-one entered the field off play to treat Westendorf. Eventually the referee ran out of patience and strode over to the Oxford City bench and brandished a yellow card, presumably to manager Ross Jenkins, for time-wasting ?

Five additional minutes were to be played, and Worksop fashioned two more half-chances. Vaughan sent a long-range effort curling wide and Martin headed weakly at Lewis. At the other end, a quick break saw Roddy’s cross headed away by Cogill before Scott could head home.

The game ended as most of the second half had been played, with two more hopeful crosses ending up in the hands of Lewis.

At the final whistle, Oxford City took the three points to move out of the bottom four, whilst Worksop slipped one place to 17^th.

Oxford City would be encouraged by a second home win in a row, with two clean sheets. Their defence looked to be much improved with the addition of Francis and Maragh, and comfortably dealt with everything Leesley threw at them, although there could be concerns about how they were unable to stem the tide in the second period, and didn’t make any changes in midfield.

Worksop looked like a solid mid-table side, but will be questioning how they created so few chances in the second half despite nearly all of the possession, and might be seeking how to be less reliant on Leesley. 

Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE85u_t_tWk 

Oxford City : Lewis - Burroughs, Wiggett, Francis, Maragh ( Johnson ) - Roddy, Ashby, Humphrey-Ewers, Scott, Potter ( Parker ) - Westendorf

Worksop Town :  Taylor – Atherton ( Hutchinson ), Bencherif, Cogill, O’Malley – Whitham-Brown, Redford, Leesley, Starčenko – Burrow ( Martin ), Whitham

 

 

 

 

 

Renegades FC 1-2 Dynamos FC ( att : 50 est ) – 2025/26 BFA Senior League

November 2, 2025

Today was an opportunity to watch a game from the Bahamas Senior League and add another country to the list covered by Fatbear.

Bahamas

The Bahamas consists of around 700 islands and 2,400 cays spread over a distance of 800 miles in the Atlantic Ocean, of which 30 are inhabited. The closest point to Florida to the west is only 50 miles, whilst Cuba lays to the south and the Turks and Caicos Islands to the east.

The Bahamas is a former British colony, and achieved independence in 1963. The 2022 census reported the population to be 412,628, of which nearly 300,000 live in the capital Nassau, which is on the Island of New Providence. The second largest town is Freeport on the island of Grand Bahama, with a population of just over 26,000.

The Bahamas have achieved some notable successes in the Olympic Games, winning 7 golds in Athletics since 2000. A double was achieved in the 400 metres at the 2020 games in Tokyo, with Steven Gardiner winning the men’s gold and Shaunae Miller the women’s gold. Miller had also won gold in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

Bahamas have also enjoyed success in the relays, winning silver then gold in the Women’s 4x100 metres in 1996 and 2000, whilst the men’s 4x400 relay produced gold in 2012, silver in 2008 and bronze in 2000 and 2016.

Pauline Davis-Thompson won gold in the women’s 200 metres in 2000, the event Debbie Ferguson won bronze in 2004, whilst Tonique Williams-Darling won gold in the 400 metres in Athens.

Bahamas also won gold in the Star class sailing in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

Bahamas National Team

The Bahamas National team are currently 203^rd in the FIFA rankings, with just 7 countries below them. They actually rose two places in the most recent published list, but that was without playing and Liechtenstein and Seychelles losing points to fall below them !

They reached a high of 106 in 2006 but were as low as 210 in 2018 and 2019. The side are known as the Baha Boyz.

Home matches are played at the 15,000 capacity Thomas A Robinson stadium, the largest in the country, which is also used for Athletics and American Football. It has a grass pitch surrounded by a running track.

The Bahamas lost all four matches in their 2026 World Cup Qualifying campaign, losing 1-7 to Trinidad and Tobago, 0-1 to St Kitts and Nevis, 0-6 to Grenada and 0-8 to Costa Rica.

In the earlier 2024/25 CONCACAF Nations League Group 3, Bahamas drew 3-3 with the US Virgin Islands, and won the return 3-1. Games with Barbados were lost 2-3 and 2-6 as Bahamas finished second in the group.

Dynamos’ Brandon Apperley scored 6 of the 12 goals Bahamas scored in the Nations League campaign.

Lesly St Fleur is both the record cap holder and top scorer for Bahamas, finding the net 14 times in 45 appearances. St Fleur had played most of his career in Jamaica but is now back home with IM Bears. Wood Julmis is second in both charts, with 7 goals in 23 appearances, and now plays for Dynamos.

Renegades have three current internationals, keeper Vance Wharton ( 8 caps ), and midfielders Nicolas Lopez ( 12 caps ) and Jack Massey ( 1 cap ). 38 year old centre-back Happy Hall won 19 caps, defender Elijah Mitchell won 6 caps, midfielder Michael Massey won 13 caps and left-winger Nahum Johnson has 10 caps.

In addition to Apperley and Julmis, Dynamos’ former internationals included winger Walter Sawyer ( 6 caps ), striker James Thompson ( 2 caps ), centre-back Miguel Thompson ( 3 caps ) and defender Phieron Wilson ( 5 caps )

Bahamas National League

The first Bahamas national league was competed for in 1991/92 and is now known as the BFA Senior League.

Nine teams are competing in the league this season, who will play each other twice for a 16 game season. All matches are being played at the Roscow A.L. Davies Fields ( RALD ) in Nassau, which is owned by the Bahamas Football Association, has an artificial surface, floodlights and an official capacity of 1,700. Typically, three matches are held on the same day at the weekend, leaving three sides with a blank week-end.

The 2024/25 season featured 12 sides, with Western Warriors Titans finishing as Champions, with Dynamos runners-up and Renegades in third.

IM Bears have won the most titles, winning the league seven times, but have not won since 2015/16. Western Warriors Titans have won the league 5 times, including the last three titles, whilst Renegades won the title in 2013/14 and Dynamos in 2018/19.

Details of the BFA Senior League are limited on the internet. The Bahamas FA does run a website that covers all the leagues in the country, but is restricted to just the fixtures, scores, goalscorers and red/yellow cards. There are no team listings for each match.

The Bahamas Facebook gives fixtures and results, whilst Sofascore appears to be the only results website that includes the Bahamas Senior League, but has only results and the league table.

2025/26 Season

The new season started two weeks ago and Dynamos clocked up a 1-0 victory over Baha Juniors thanks to a goal from Adrian Douglass Rolle whilst Renegades slipped to a 1-2 loss at the hands of University of Bahamas Mingoes. Cameron Evans was the Renegades goalscorer.

In week 2, Dynamos played out a 0-0 draw with United FC and Renegades had a free week.

Today was the third and final match of the day at the RALD Fields.

Matchday Information

The weather at the 19.00 kick-off local time ( 00.00 UK ) was 25 degrees, with rain forecast for later.

The match was streamed live on FIFA+.

Dynamos were playing in black and white striped shirts, with black shorts and socks looking very similar to Nicaraguan side Diriangen, whilst Renegades were in all blue.

Match Report

Renegades dominated the opening 30 minutes, with the left-sided midfielder ( Number 16 ) looking lively, the tall blond central midfielder Massey ( No 15 ) showed plenty of energy, and tall centre-back ( No 13 ) was skilful and composed on the ball, and made a number of tackles to stop any Dynamos attacks in their tracks

Renegades got the ball into the net in the 3rd minute when No 16 ran onto a long ball down the left from No 13 and played a low ball into the goalmouth, where No 9 side-footed home from around 8 yards. However, the effort was chalked off for offside, presumably against number 16, but the on-screen graphic gave Renegades a 1-0 lead, and continued to show it as a goal for the rest of the match !

Lopes was also getting involved on the right wing, forcing two early corners, and was chopped down by Dynamos left back Avery Kemp ( No 5 ) for a free-kick in a good position. However, the in-swinging delivery came to nothing due to a foul on the Dynamos keeper.

Renegade centre-back ( No 24 ) sent a long-range effort high and wide after a corner had been cleared, and from a free-kick from the left, Renegade number 24’s diving header went across the goal and No 16 shot left-footed from a tight angle into the side netting

After two poor goal-kicks from the short and stocky Dynamos goal-keeper, the goal-kicks were then taken by one of their centre-backs for the rest of the match !

Dynamos most dangerous moves in the early stages came courtesy of Renegades right-back ( Ismael Sanz ( No 3 ) ! First, he sliced wildly under slight pressure from for a throw-in close to corner flag, then another long ball was hurridly put off wide for a corner by the same player when he had plenty of time to control and play to either his keeper or centre-back. Don’t panic Mr Mainwaring !

Renegade’s No 16 was fouled as he ran at the Dynamo right-back close to the penalty box on the left, but the free-kick was played short, and blazed high over the bar

With 25 minutes played, a Dynamos free-kick was sent straight to Renegades’ keeper Wharton who released quickly to enable his side to attack down the left-hand channel, but the low cross from No 16 was unconvincingly pushed away by Dynamos keeper and cleared.

Dynamos sent another free-kick, this time from close to the half-way line, straight to the Renegades keeper, who made a tidy catch. At the other end, a Renegade free-kick just inside the Dynamo half went beyond far post, but the header was easily saved.

Lopes and Number 16 switched wings, and No 16, cutting inside from the right shot left-footed from just outside the 18 yard line, but his effort was pushed over the bar. A short corner routine resulted in a cross to the far post, but the chance was headed over the bar by Sanz.

In the 32 minute, a long ball out of the Renegade defence saw the Dynamo keeper slip as he went to gather, but he recovered in time before No 16 could latch on to it.

After a mild opening 30 minutes, the referee felt the need to show three yellow cards in 5 minutes. First, Dynamo centre-back Thompson entered the note-book for bringing down Renegades’ number 9 near the half-way line. Shortly after Sanz chopped down Kemp the level the cards, before Kemp needlessly pushed over Massey for another card.

After 37 minutes, Lopes beat two Dynamo defenders on the left and crossed to the far post to the unmarked No 16. With an open goal, the Renegade midfielder somehow headed the ball away rather than in to the empty net. Sanz ran on to the loose ball but his bouncing left-footed shot from the edge of the area was pushed away for a corner by the keeper.

Renegades played the corner shot and lost possession. Lopes produced an impressive sliding tackle to win the ball back, but his effort for goal was blocked on the edge of the area.

At this point, the forecasted rain started falling, and Dynamos had a rare attack, but after a run down the right-wing the low cross was cut-out by Renegade’s number 13. Renegades played the ball quickly forward and their number 9 saw a left-footed shot on the run go across the face of the goal, and bounce wide of the far post.

A minute before half-time a Renegade corner fell to their number 13 who turned to make space, but the shot from 14 yards lacked power and went straight to the keeper. As the game moved into added time, a Dynamo defender attempted to cut-out a chip into his area, but only manage to head it backwards, but his keeper dived onto the ball and gathered at the second attempt.

The scores were level at the break, but Dynamos had barely been in the match, and with better finishing Renegades could have been a couple of goals ahead.

Renegades continued to boss the game at the start of the second period, with Dynamos keeper bravely saving at close range after Evans played a defence split pass for No 9 to run on to, then Lopes skipped past Dynamos No 4 but the cross from the byline was taken by the keeper. Lopez then played a ball down the left-hand channel into the penalty area for No 9 to run onto, but the Dynamos keeper came off his line and slid to kick away rather than use his hands.

Dynamos made three substitutions and the pattern of the game changed as Dynamos started to get on top. Substitute No 39 was left totally unmarked at the far post but his team-mate opted to shoot from the left, which went high and wide. A minute later substitute No 29 played a ball across the goalmouth but no-one was on hand to finish, then a free-kick from No 12 was glanced narrowly wide.

A left-wing cross was punched away by Renegades keeper Wharton, before again, two Dynamos attackers were left free but the cross from the left wing sailed onto the roof of the net.

However, Renegades were still dangerous, and Evans beat his marker on the left and crossed to the back post, but from close range Sanz put the ball over the bar, then with 16 minutes remaining, Lopes shot across the face of the goal and just wide after being found in space on the left inside the Dynamos area.

Dynamos won a corner, leading to a scramble, and after being partial cleared, the ball was played towards the far post where Alijah Fernander headed home from a couple of yards. 0-1 with 75 minutes played.

By now the rain had stopped, and Renegades looked to hit back, but a 30-yard free-kick from Evans was pushed off for a corner by the keeper.

Dynamos then produced the best move of the match as three first time passes set-up Rejohn Ene to finish left footed across goal. 0-2 after 80 minutes

Soon after, Ene was shown a yellow card for a blatant foul to stop an attack, and the free-kick bounced into the goalmouth for the keeper to push over the bar.

Evans then optimistically shot from distance, his effort going a few feet over the bar before Renegades won a free-kick on the edge of the area. This time, Evans sent his effort over the wall and into the top corner to reduce the deficit. It was now 1-2 with 88 minutes on the clock.

Despite a number of substitutions in the second half, the referee only played two added minutes, and Renegades ran out of time to grab an equaliser.

Renegades will be wondering how they failed to win this game, but Dynamos had a good 25 minutes following their substitutions and two goals in 5 minutes were enough to take the three points.

Renegades FC : Wharton - Sanz, 24, 13, 5 – Lopes, Massey, 10, 16 – Evans, 9

Dynamos FC : 1 – 28 ,12, M Thompson, Kemp ( Ene ) – 4, 19, 38, 6 – 43, 51