Tuesday, 8 July 2025

KuPS 1-0 Milsami-Orhei ( att : 2,316 ) – 2025/26 Champions League First Qualifying Round

July 8, 2025

The 2025/25 UEFA Champions League commenced today, just 38 days after the 2024/25 Final.

In the past two seasons, these diaries have covered the first match to be played in the Champions League First Qualifying Round.

In July 2023. Armenians FC Urartu conceded a late goal to lose 0-1 at home to Bosnian side HSK Zrinjski Mostar, whilst in July 2024 Lithuanian champions FK Panevezys caused a surprise with a 3-0 home win over HJK Helsinki.

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2024/07/fk-panevezys-3-0-hjk-helsinki-att-1100.html 

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2023/07/fc-urartu-0-1-hsk-zrinjski-mostar-att.html 

The honour of the first match this season fell to KuPS, another side from Finland, against Moldovan champions Milsami-Orhei, which kicked off one hour ahead of ties in Armenia and Georgia.

Kuopion Palloseura ( KuPS )

KuPS are based in the city of Kuopio, which is located 390km north of Helsinki and is the 8th largest municipality in Finland, with an estimated population of around 126,000.

KuPS have not had an individual match previously featured in these diaries, but were regularly mentioned during the round-ups of the 2020 season in Finland, and there were brief summaries of their Europa League wins over Slovan Bratislava ( on penalties ) and Lithuanian side FK Suduva ( 2-0 ), and the 1-3 defeat in Romania to CFR Cluj. KuPS had earlier lost the infamous student kitchen derby 0-5 to Molde in the Champions League Qualifier.

Indeed, it was commented that KuPS, 2019 champions, had managed finish third in a two-horse race for 2020 title, losing their last 4 matches when the championship was theirs to lose, after having lost only once in their first 18 matches.

Since then, KuPS had finished as runners-up in 2021, 2022 and 2023, before securing their 7th title in 2024. A double was achieved in 2024 with a 2-1 victory over Inter Turku in the FA Cup Final, their 5th Cup win.

Home is the 5,000 capacity Vare Areena, which has an artificial surface, and their usual colours are yellow shirts and black shorts. Their nicknames are either the yellow-blacks or the Canaries.

Since their Europa League run in 2020, KuPS have continued to enjoy some limited success in Europe. In the Europa Conference in 2021/22 they eliminated Armenian side Noah ( 5-1 on aggregate ), Ukrainians Vorskla Poltava ( 5-4 ), and Kazakh side Astana ( also 5-4 on aggregate ) before being beaten by Union Berlin ( 0-4 on aggregate but with a 0-0 draw in Berlin ).

In 2022/23, again in the Europa Conference, Georgian side Dila Gori were beaten 2-0 over two legs, after which, in a precursor of today’s fixture, Milsami-Orhei were overcome with a 2-2 draw at home but a 4-1 triumph in Moldova. Young Boys of Berne were too strong in the next round as KuPS exited the competition 0-5 on aggregate.

In the 2024/25 Europa Conference, KuPS progressed past Luxembourg side UNA Strassen 5-0 on aggregate but failed to get past Tromso.

KuPS This Season

The 2024 champions are making a robust defence of their title, and after their 16th game of the season, a 2-2 draw last Friday evening at Oulu, they sat in second place in the table, level on points with Inter Turku, who had played two games fewer. Ilves were a point behind but with one game in hand, whilst HJK were four points behind having played one game fewer.

KuPS had an overall 9-3-4 record, and were 7-0-2 at home. The home defeats had been 0-3 to Ilves and 0-2 to VPS.

KuPS had started the season with a 1-1 at Inter Turku and then embarked on a run of 7 consecutive victories. However, their form then dipped with four defeats in their next five games, the only point coming from a 0-0 draw at HJK, and included home and away 0-3 losses to Ilves.

KuPS were unbeaten in their last three matches though, beating HJK 3-0 and Gnistan 6-2 at home before the draw at Oulu.

The average home attendance for KuPS this season was 2,487, which compared to 3,233 in 2024.

KuPS Squad

Five players had scored five times in the Veikkausliiga this season for KuPS, winger Joslyn Luyeye-Lutumba, midfielder Otto Ruoppi and centre-forward Agon Sadiku ( 2 caps ), who is on loan from Dutch side FC Emmen. Veteran midfielder Petteri Pennanen ( 1 cap ) had found the net four times, and had scored twice whilst playing for Ilves against Inter Turku in a game covered by these diaries in 2023. Guinea forward Mohamed Toure also had four goals to his name.

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2023/04/fc-ilves-2-1-inter-turku-att-1221-2023.html 

Other foreigners in the KuPS squad included two Ghanaians, wing-back Bob Nii Armah and left-back Clinton Antwi, and ex-Nice and Nancy Ivorian centre-back Ibrahim Cisse. Kosovan under 21 striker Dion Krasniqi was on loan from Swedish side Elfsborg whilst Austrian keeper Johannes Kreidl had played for Nurnberg .

Left-back Nico Hamalainen ( 12 caps ) had played for Queens Park Rangers, Kilmarnock and LA Galaxy and midfielder Saku Savolainen was, along with Pennanen, the only survivor from the 2020 team. Midfielder Jaakko Oksanen ( 1 cap ) numbered Brentford, AFC Wimbledon and Greenock Morton amongst his former clubs

Ex-Stockport County and Hibernian midfielder Jarkko Wiss ( 47 caps ) was the coach of KuPS.

FC Milsami-Orhei

FC Milsami-Orhei are based in the Moldovan city of Orhei, which has a population of just over 20,000 and is located 40km north of the capital Chisinau.

Home is the 3,000 capacity CSR Orhei, and their nickname is The Red Eagles, despite their current kit being all white with red trimmings.

The 2024/25 title was Milsami’s second success, following their win in 2014/15. However, their triumph was considered to be controversial as owner Ilan Shor has been implicated in the theft of $1billion from three Moldovan Banks in 2014, which was 12.5% of the country’s GDP. Shor is reportedly now living in Moscow and is under sanctions from the EU, UK and Switzerland.

All of this came after the alleged Russian Mafia backing of Sheriff Tiraspol in the breakaway Republic of Transnistria, which had led to 21 titles for Sheriff in 23 seasons, although Sheriff had now failed to win the league for two seasons in a row, after Petrocub Hincesti had won the 2023/24 title.

Like KuPS, Milsami had not previously featured in an individual match report, but were regularly mentioned during the round-ups of the Moldova 2021/22 season. Matches from Moldova used to be streamed free to air on YouTube, but since 2022 both live streams and highlights had been subject to a small fee, so Fatbear had not covered the league since then.

At the 2021/22 winter break, Milsami were in third place in the table. International midfielder Radu Ginsari had led Milsami to the top of the league by the end of August but then left to join Greek second division side Xanthi and the results suffered.

Milsami ultimately finished the 2021/22 season in third place, and the following seasons resulted in 3rd, 4th and 4th placed finishes, before last season’s title win.

Milsami have an ordinary record in European competition, with their main successes having come against Belarus opposition, overcoming Shakhtyor Soligorsk on penalties in the 2013/14 Europa League, and Torpedo Zhodino in the 2024/25 Europa Conference ( 4-2 on aggregate ). Other triumphs came against Bulgarian side Ludogorets in the 2015/16 Champions League ( 3-1 on aggregate ), Sarajevo in the 2021/22 Europa Conference ( 1-0 on aggregate ) and Panevezys in the 2022/23 Europa Conference ( 2-0 on aggregate )

FC Milsami-Orhei This Season

The Moldova Super Liga was the first of the European Winter Leagues to commence this season, and Milsami had already played three matches. Zimbru were beaten 3-0 on the opening day in June, and Politechina UTM were beaten 3-0 away in Round two.

However, their most recent match saw a 1-2 home defeat to Sheriff Tiraspol. Ginsari had given Milsami the lead from the penalty spot after Ndon had been brought down by the Sheriff keeper, but Sheriff got back into the game after a red card to Nigerian defender Christoper Mwaeze, who is on loan from Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk, to take the three points. Milsami were consequently in third place after three matches.

FC Milsami-Orhei Squad

Ginsari ( 47 caps ) rejoined Milsami in 2022 and remained their key player, whilst Vasile Jardan was another survivor from the 2021/22 team. Keeper Emil Timbur ( 1 cap ) had a brief spell at Panezeyvs.

Foreign members of the Milsami squad included French midfielder Nabil Khali, who had played in Slovenia for Tabor Sezana, Nigerian midfielders Oladotun Olatunde-Matthew and Ime Ndon, Ghanaian left-back Frederick Takyi and Burkina Faso midfielder Abdoul Yoda.

Belgian centre-back Danny Lupano had previously played for Hednesford Twon, Hull City, Derry City. King’s Lynn Town and Virton whilst Dutch right-back Hennos Asmelash had played for ADO Den Haag and Top Oss as well as playing in Ukraine and Poland.  Striker Kabamba Kalabatama was born in Zambia but grew-up in Norway, and Malian attacking midfielder Sibiry Keita had played for Eupen and Slavia Sofia.

Matchday Information

The distance from Orhei to Kuopio is around 1,800km by road. There are no direct scheduled flights between Moldova and Finland, so Milsami would either need to transfer somewhere eg Riga, Warsaw, Copenhagen or Frankfurt, or charter an aircraft. They would still then need to travel from Helsinki to Kuopio !

Tickets for today’s game ranged between €11 to €26

The weather at the 18.00 kick off time ( 16.00 UK ) was dry and 17 degrees. Light rain was forecast for during the match

The match was live streamed on Bet365, who made KuPS 2/7 favourites, with Milsami at 8/1 and the draw at 15/4.

KuPS made seven changes from the side that drew with Oulu with Kreidli, Savolainen, Cisse, Antwi, Oksanen, Ruoppi and Pennanen coming into the side, and all the dropped players were amongst the substitutes. Eight of the starting line-up were qualified to play for Finland.

Milsami-Orhei made four changes from the side that lost to Sheriff, with Asmeleash, Lupano, Keita and Kalabatama coming in for Chele, Lisu, Olatunde-Matthew and Ndon. Milsami only named six substitutes, two of which were goalkeepers. The Milsami starting XI contained only three Moldovans, although a further five more were on the bench.

KuPS were playing in their usual kit of yellow shirts, black shorts, yellow socks, whilst Milsami-Orhei were all red with white trim and numbers. There was no sponsor on the front of their shirts.

The referee and his assistances were from Latvia.

Match Report

The game started quietly, with KuPS enjoying nearly all of the possession but the final ball was usually overhit and went through to the Milsami keeper or to a defender. The home fans were in good voice though ( and would be throughout the game ).

Milsami keeper Timbur was first called in to action to come out of his area to reach a long ball out of the KuPS defence and concede a throw in.

The first sight of Milsami as an attacking threat came in the 7th minute as a cross from the left went  slightly behind Ginsari, who could only head high over the bar from 10 yards.

The home created a good opportunity in the 13th minute as Oksanen released Ruoppi in to the left-hand channel inside the Milsami penalty area, but his right footed shot hit the sliding Jardan and went off for corner. After the corner was partially cleared, the reworked ball in from the right wing was cleared by Lupano.

Ruoppi tried his luck again two minutes later but his first time low shot from just inside edge of area was straight at keeper Timbur, who made a comfortable save

In the 22nd minute, Milsami’s Nwaeze lost possession 10 yards outside his area and Sadiku looked to break into the penalty box, but Jardan was covering and made an important tackle. KuPS appealed for a penalty but the referee wasn’t interested.

At the other end, Kalabatama delivered a dangerous cross from the right-wing which was punched away by keeper Kreidl. Shortly after, Keita again released Kalabatama but this time his low ball across goalmouth cleared by Miettinen.

Just after the half-hour mark, Ruoppi fed Antwi but the shot was blocked. A minute later Pennanen ran onto a defence splitting ball but his left footed shot from 10 yards was blocked by a combination of the keeper and a defender. The rebound fell to Antwi, who shot wildly across goal and Sadiku sliding in at the far post couldn’t apply final touch. It was a great chance !

Milsami’s Khali then had two attempts on goal inside two minutes. First, a 25 yard left footed shot bounced just wide of far post, although keeper Kreidl looked to have had it covered. Keita’s second effort with his right foot wasn’t nearly as impressive and sailed high and wide.

Pennanen won a corner for KuPS, which was headed away. Antwi crossed the ball back into the danger zone, and after a bit of pinball, the ball rolled harmlessly to keeper Timbur. The ball may have hit an arm of a Milsami defender but the referee waved play on.

The home side came close to opening the scoring three minutes before the interval. A cross from the right wing went over the head of Sadiku and hit Milsami’s Asmelash. The ball looped back across the goalmouth and struck the crossbar before bouncing away to safety.

A minute later Pennanen launched a 25 yard left footed drive which was spectacularly tipped over the bar by Timbur. The keeper flapped at the corner, which everyone missed, and the ball went off for a goal kick.

Timbur was in the action on the stroke of half-time but his tip over the bar from Sadiku’s 25 yarder was a regulation save. Savolainen, under pressure beyond far post, headed Antwi’s corner well wide.

There was still time for Keita to be shown the first yellow card of the game for a stray arm into face of Antwi. It was 0-0 at half-time, but KuPS had dominated, having had 62% of the possession, and the corner count was four to nil

KuPS forced a corner almost immediately at the start of the second half. After taking a short corner, the ball into the area was poor, but Yoda dallied rather than clearing. KuPS were able to regain possession, but the ball towards the far post was shielded off for a goal-kick by Asmelash.

Milsami earned their first corner of the game in the 47th minute, which was blocked at the near post and then hoofed away.

Takyi then saw his left-wing cross headed away by a KuPS defender but a 25 yard shot from Asmelash flashed across goalmouth but bounced a couple of yards wide.

With 52 minutes played, Ruoppi played a smart pass to put Pennanen clear inside the area on the left but incredibly Timbur came off his line to make an excellent sliding tackle !

Ruoppi then displayed good control and trickery but was closed down at the expense of a corner. A scramble ensued when the ball was played in the 6-yard box and Sadiku shot for goal, only to be denied by Nwaeze’s header off the line.

Lupano was having a good game for The Red Eagles, and more excellent defending blocked a cross from Antwi for a corner, which was punched away by Timbur under pressure in a crowd of players.

Milsami created their best chance of the game to date in the 68th minute. A raking cross to far post was headed across the six-yard line by substitute Sorin Chele. Kalabatama tried to turn and shoot but his control was poor and the ball ran away from him and the chance was gone.

Khali’s cross was then deflected and Kreidl was unable to prevent the ball from going out for a corner. Chele’s delivery was poor and was cleared, and when Chele regained possession, his cross went straight to the KuPS keeper.

Pennanen then did well on left and his cross from close to the byline was headed back across his own goal by Takyi. The ball reached Ruoppi, who athletically struck the bouncing ball with his left foot from the angle of the 6-yard box across goal, and the ball nestled inside the far post. It was the last contribution from Pennanen as he was immediately substituted after the goal. The restart was delayed and three minutes after the ball had hit the net, there was a VAR for a potential offside against Toure, for possibly impairing the view of the keeper. However, after a wait of nearly 5 minutes, finally the goal was given and it was 1-0 with 73 minutes played.

The Milsami keeper then needed to dive onto a low ball from left before Ruoppi could pounce, and at the other end Keita’s left-footed shot from the edge of area bobbled wide.

Asmelash entered the referee’s notebook for bringing down Ruoppi as he ran down the left wing towards the byline, after which Oksanen saw yellow for an off the ball block on Kalabatama.

With time running out, KuPS had two corners which came to nothing after which Milsami won a corner following a cross from Khali being headed off by Savolainen. The corner was punched away by Kreidl.

Five added minutes were to be played but Milsami seemed content to play around at the back, with just a couple of aimless lumps forward. KuPS comfortably saw out the end of the game to finish winners of the first leg.

It’s all to play for in the second leg but KuPS may come to regret not having a greater lead to take to Moldova

KuPS : Kreidl – Savolainen, Cisse, Miettinen, Antwi ( Hamalainen ) – Oksanen, Ruoppi, Arifii – Luyeye-Lutumba ( Toure ), Sadiku ( Heinonen ), Pennanen ( Voutilainen )

Milsami-Orhei :  Timbur – Asmelash ( Arhirii ), Lupano. Jardan, Takyi – Khali ( Ghimp ), Mwaeze, Ginsari, Yoda ( Lisu ) – Keita ( Chele ), Kalabatama, 







 

 

Saturday, 5 July 2025

Thame United 1-2 Abingdon United ( att : 75 est ) - 2025/26 Pre-Season Friendly

July 5, 2025

Thame United’s season ended in early May with their Oxfordshire Senior Cup victory over Ardley United. Barely two months later the new season was beginning with their first pre-season friendly, against Abingdon United, in a match between step 4 vs step 5. It was also an Oxfordshire derby, between two teams who hadn’t played each other too often in recent years.

Thame Update

Squad announcements for the new season from Thame had been scarce, apart from veteran journeyman striker Jefferson Louis retiring from competitive football. After some light-hearted speculation he was signing for Southampton, it was announced he was joining Slough Town as part of their backroom team.

However, in the 24 hours prior to the match there was a flurry of activity on Thame’s Twitter account, announcing that keeper Matty Crowther, defenders Lewis Thorne and Finlay Murray, midfielders Mark Riddick, Jack Tutton, Dan West and Greg Hackett, wingers Rocko Tamplin and Curtis Brown, and forward Harry Alexander had signed on for another season. In addition, ex-Hendon, Northwood Town and Leighton defender Luke Tingey had joined the club.

Abingdon United

Last season Abingdon United were playing in the Step 6 Hellenic Division 1, where they finished in 4th place to participate in the promotion play-offs. A 0-0 draw at Clanfield 85 resulted in a penalty shoot-out, which Abingdon won 3-2 to give them a home final against Wantage. A record crowd of 1,621 amassed to see Abingdon win 2-0 to secure promotion, thanks to goals from Pablo Haysham and Anaclet Odihambo, which has seen them allocated to the step 5 Combined Counties Premier Division North.

Abingdon United had been a solid step 4 side when I started watching them in 2009 ( see below ), but due to financial problems they resigned from the Southern League at the end of the 2012/13 season to return to the Hellenic League, after which they flitted between the Premier Division and Division One.

Abingdon United Squad

The player-manager of Abingdon United is John Mills, who had been a prolific scorer in non-league football in the region. The highlight of his career was probably the three seasons with Hereford United, which included an FA Vase final appearance at Wembley in 2016. Mills began his career at Abingdon United, before moving on to North Leigh, Didcot, Hereford, Bath City, and Banbury United, before returning to his first club as a player manager.

Abingdon’s squad last season featured some familiar name to followers of football in Oxfordshire. Centre-back and captain George Gilmore had been a highly rated young defender at Thame United before suffering a long-term injury, striker Pablo Haysham had been a prolific goal-scorer with Oxford City Nomads, Didcot and Hereford, and experienced striker Anaclet Odhiambo had been dual registered with Ardley United, playing in the Oxfordshire Senior Cup Final against Thame, but had also helped Abingdon in their promotion play-off games. Anaclet has been announced as signing on for the new season.

Forward Aaron Woodley had done the local rounds with Banbury United, Oxford City, North Leigh, Didcot, Swindon Supermarine after being released by Oxford United, before pitching up at Abingdon United.

Romeo Nuzi, Freddy Dunham, Leo Cole, Harry Walters and keeper Eddie Cavanagh had all been announced on Twitter as re-signing on for the new season, although ex-Thame and Aylesbury United midfielder Hayden Beadle had been announced as leaving the club, destination unknown.

Other players from last season to turn out today were Casey Highmoor, Nathan Robinson, Zach Morey, Jack Gaul and Liam Burt whilst centre back Sam Jackson was with Redditch Borough last season. Midfielder Brad Walton was previously with Ardley United, and played against Thame in the Oxfordshire Senior Cup Final.

Watching Abingdon United

Fatbear visited Northcourt on five occasions between 2009 and 2011 to see games involving Abingdon United when they were in the step 4 Southern League Division One South & West.

The first occasion was a pre-season friendly against Oxford City when Abingdon sprung a surprise by beating their step 3 level opponents 1-0, with the goal scorer being current manager Mills. Odihambo and Haysham were also in the Abingdon United side that afternoon, which also included a few others who went onto to become stalwarts of Oxfordshire non-league football, including Julian McCalmon, Mark Janes, Tom Franklin, Richard Pierson, Jon Beames and Ryan Brooks.

Two further games were seen that season, a 0-0 draw with Cirencester and a 0-2 loss to Windsor. The game against Windsor saw the production of a second programme, celebrating the 666th consecutive first team programme over the previous 27 seasons, and it was a fabulous effort packed full of history, pictures and statistics. Only 66 copies were produced and apparently no two programmes were the same due to different pictures being included, so I have a collectors’ item !

The following season Yate were beaten 3-1, with Tom Melledew, Steve Davis and Andrew Younie being the goal scorers, and the year after that Poole left Abingdon with a 3-1 victory, Aaron Parfitt with the consolation goal for United. Leading the line both these games for Abingdon United was Sam Collier, who went on to play for Cirencester and Chippenham, and until the end of last season had been a successful manager at Royal Wootton Bassett. Collier was recently announced as joint-manager of Hellenic league side Fairford Town.



 

Previous Meetings

Fatbear could only detect two seasons this century when Thame and Abingdon United were in the same division. In 2014/15, the matches in the Hellenic League Premier Division finished with 3-2 and 3-0 victories for Thame. In the following season, Thame won 2-0 at home but the away fixture was a 1-1 draw. With Abingdon United being relegated at the end of the season, the sides haven’t played a league fixture since.

Matchday Information

The journey from Abingdon’s Northcourt Ground to Thame’s ASM Stadium is 23 miles and should normally take 45 minutes via the Oxford ring-road.

Today’s match was being played on the 3G pitch, which is surrounded by a cage, rather than on the main pitch in the ASM stadium. As a result, entry was free, but the spectator facilities were pretty limited, with just standing space alongside three-quarters of one side of the pitch, with the rest fenced off. There was no cover from the elements, no tannoy announcements, no team-sheets, but at least the bar and the toilets in the main clubhouse were open.

The weather at the 15.00 kick-off time was overcast with a few spots of rain and a stiff breeze, and the temperature was 21 degrees.

Abingdon United were their usual kit of yellow shirts, blue shorts and yellow socks, whilst Thame were in their usually red and black stripes shirts with black shorts.

Being a friendly, rolling subs were permitted, enabling several players to return to the pitch in the second half after being substituted at half-time.

Match Report

Thame kicked off and the visitors barely touched the ball in the opening four minutes, until Gaul skipped past the Thame left-back to get to the by-line. His pull-back found Odihambo unmarked 10 yards from goal, but the veteran striker’s effort rebound back from the crossbar when he really ought to have buried the chance.

Thame hit back but West saw his short from the edge of the area blocked for the first corner of the match, at which the keeper flapped, but Riddick slipped when attempting to have a shot from the loose ball from near to the penalty spot.

Thame’s right-back then played a low ball into the Abingdon United area, but Riddick’s shot was mis-hit and went well wide.

The rain was a lot heavier now, as Abingdon right back Walters played a ball forward which Odihambo neatly flicked forward, but keeper Crowther was off his line to claim ahead of Gaul.

At the other end, Brown’s low cross was cleared, and when Thame recycled possession, the number 9 blazed high and wide from the edge of the area.

Abingdon’s bench were then a little annoyed when the referee blew for a free-kick for their side, just as the loose ball was played forward to put Gaul clear. Three minutes later Gaul was put clear again, but this time his cross sailed over the cage and out of the ground.

The rain had briefly stopped and Thame won a free-kick in a promising position after Gilmore had pulled back the lively Tamplin, but the delivery from West was poor and sailed straight into the arms of keeper Cavanagh.

The rain returned as Thame’s left-back got away from Walters and send a decent cross into the area, but the number 9’s side footed volley lacked power, and Cavanagh made a comfortable low save.

The opening goal of the match arrived shortly after. Tamplin chipped a ball over the Abingdon United back line for Brown to run on to, and the cross from the right struck the arm of Robinson. The referee awarded the penalty, although it looked more a case of ball onto arm, but after the protests had died down, West stepped up to take the spot-kick. However, his effort was too close to the keeper who made the save diving to his right, but West was the first to the rebound and lifted the ball into the roof of the empty net. 1-0 with 31 minutes played.

Thame almost immediately doubled their lead but a low cross from the right-back deflected across the face of the Abingdon’s goalmouth and went off for a corner.

In the 38th minute the visitors won a free-kick midway inside the Thame half. Jackson’s delivery was directed at Gilmore, but the centre-back’s header under pressure bounced a couple of yards wide. A minute later Odihambo looked to run away from Murray but had his shirt pulled. It would have been an obvious yellow card in a league match, but as this was a friendly no sanction was applied by the referee. The free-kick was wasted and the game restarted with a goal-kick for Thame.

On the stroke of half-time a 30-yard free-kick from Highmoor rolled gently through to the Thame keeper. A long ball out of the Thame defence put Brown clear, and the Thame winger drew the keeper and unselfishly squared the ball towards Tamplin. However, just as the Thame player was getting ready to put the ball into the empty net, Walters recovered to make a tremendous tackle to prevent the goal. Consequently, it was still only 1-0 at the half-time interval.

Thame made four changes for the start of the second half, whilst Abingdon United made five, and not a lot immediately happened as both sides attempted to bed in. The first piece of action saw Thame substitute ( number 18 ) get to a long ball from the left ahead of the Abingdon keeper, but his header bounced a yard wide.

The Thame right-back then got to the by-line and pulled the ball back to Tutton, who put in a good cross to be met on the volley by the number 9. Cavanagh made a tremendous diving save, only for number 18 to head the rebound into the empty net. Thame’s celebrations though, were cut short by the linesman’s raised flag, so the score stayed at 1-0.

The game was becoming much more open, and when Dunham attempted to run onto a threaded through ball, Crowther was off his line to make a sliding tackle, and then hoofed the loose ball out of the cage.

There didn’t appear to be much danger when Abingdon substitute left back West had the ball 30 yards from the Thame goal. His optimistic left-footed shot was blocked and fell to Highmoor on the left 20 yard out, who immediately shot first time right-footed. The effort hit a Thame defender and wrong-footed Crowther, who was unable to prevent the ball sneaking inside his near post. 1-1 with 55 minutes on the clock.

Both sides made more substitutions, with some players returning to the pitch, and the game entered another period where very little happened. The Thame right-back did have a run down the touchline and cut inside onto his left foot, but his attempt sailed high and wide, and for Abingdon Haysham weaved his way into the Thame area but the keeper saved bravely at his feet.

The game burst into life again with 15 minutes remaining. Dunham ran onto a long ball and got to it ahead of the Thame keeper, but rather than attempting to go round Crowther, he flicked it goalwards, and agonisingly for Abingdon the ball bounced narrowly wide. Thame went down the other end and number 18 prodded the ball past the on-rushing keeper and the ball went into the net off the near post. Again though, Thame were denied by an offside flag.

A minute later Burt was put clear for Abingdon in the right-hand channel but his left footed effort on the run clipped the top of the cross bar and went over. Dunham then put the ball in the Thame net at the far post, but this time it was Abingdon’s turn to be thwarted by a flag for offside.

With 5 minutes remaining, Abingdon’s substitute keeper pushed away a corner under pressure on his line, and Robinson cleared for a throw-in, which Brown sent into the mixer, but Thame were unable to capitalise.

Another long ball down the right-hand channel put Burt clear, and seeing Dunham up in support, the square pass gave Dunham a simple finish into the empty net. 1-2 after 86 minutes.

With full time nearly up, the visitors came close to adding a third goal. Burt made another strong run down the right and his pass looked to have given Robinson to opportunity clinch the win, but Brown was tracking back and was able to intercept and concede a corner.

Thame had one last chance for an equaliser, but after their number 19 won a corner, the ball into the area was cleared, and the referee blew the final whistle to give Abingdon United a deserved victory.

Abingdon looked a much more cohesive side in the second half, probably benefitting from most of their squad having played together before. Thame’s side after the break was mostly trialists and/or new signings and they didn’t make much of an impression after a good first half.

Highlights :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qahCcIK2Rso

Thame United : Crowther – Trialist A, Tingey, Murray, Trialist B – Brown ( Thorne ), West, Trialist C ( Tutton ), Riddick, Tamplin – Trialist D

Abingdon United : Cavanagh – Walters, Gilmore, Jackson, Robinson ( White ) – Gaul, Hamza ( Haysham ), Morey ( Burt ), Walton – Odihambo ( Dunham ), Highmoor