March 11, 2025
Fatbear’s two local sides locked horns tonight in the semi-final of the Oxfordshire Senior Cup as step 4 Thame United hosted step 2 Oxford City at the ASM Stadium.
Oxfordshire Senior Cup
Thame were the current holders of the Oxfordshire Senior Cup, having beaten Kidlington 3-2 in last year’s final played at Banbury United. Thame had caused a major surprise in the semi-final when they eliminated National League Oxford City 2-1 in a tie played at North Leigh. Whilst some of the Hoops’ stars had been rested to concentrate on their relegation battle, their starting side included 10 players who had played in the National League that season. Thame were three divisions below, and bottom of their league at the time.
Thame also won the Senior Cup in 2022/23 when they beat Oxford City 4-1 in a final played at City’s Court Place Farm. The Hoops did have a good excuse for this upset, as they rested all of their First XI for their upcoming National League South play-offs, in which they overcame Worthing and St Albans City to achieve their first ever promotion to the National League.
Oxford City had won three successive Senior Cups prior to the two in a row by Thame, and had won the Senior Cup on 36 occasions, ahead of Oxford United, who in recent years field a Youth/Academy XI in the competition, with 14 successes. The last time Oxford United won the Cup was in 2016. Thame had 10 titles to their name.
The structure of this season’s Senior Cup is that the two highest ranked Oxfordshire sides in the Football Pyramid ( Oxford United and Oxford City ) were exempt to the Quarter Finals. The next best 8 clubs were exempt to the second round, with the rest playing in the first round.
Thame had won two matches to get to the semi-final, thrashing Oxfordshire Senior League side Addersbury Park 9-1 at home, and then edging out Southern League rivals Kidlington 1-0 at the ASM.
Oxford City fielded a youthful side in beating Clanfield 2-1 away, in which only two of the side had played in National League North this season.
The winners of this tie would play the winner of Ardley United and Oxford United, at a neutral venue to be determined once the finalists were known.
Oxford City Update
Since the heartbreak of exiting the FA Trophy at home to Woking on penalties, Oxford City played Oxford University in the re-established Town vs Gown fixture. Fielding an unexpectedly strong line-up, The Hoops cruised to an 8-0 victory over the students.
Oxford City then returned to the business of maintaining their National League North status with a home match against Buxton on Saturday, which they promptly lost 0-7 and saw Reece Fleet sent off ! The result left The Hoops one place, and two points clear of the relegation zone.
Thame United Update
Following Thame’s 3-1 win over Kings Langley covered in these diaries, Thame saw an away fixture at Northwood postponed due to a waterlogged pitch and then won the Senior Cup match against Kidlington. They then played out their second home 4-4 of the season, against Hadley, again coming back when they looked beaten. Unlike against Stotfold, when they were 0-4 down with just under half an hour to play, this time they were 0-3 in arrears after just 30 minutes. However, they stormed back to lead 4-3, only to concede a penalty near the end to share the points.
On Saturday they played their local derby against Aylesbury United at Chesham United’s The Meadow which they comfortably won 3-0, all the goals coming in the first half. The victory moved Thame up into the play-off positions to 5th in the table.
Watching Thame vs Oxford City
Twenty or so years ago, these two sides regularly played against each other, but meetings became less frequent as Oxford City moved up the non-league pyramid and Thame suffered successive relegations.
The first fixture I attended between the two sides was on Boxing Day in 2003/04 when Oxford City won 2-1 at Thame’s old Windmill Road Ground in Isthmian League Division One North. Current Oxford City owner Justin Merritt played for Thame that day as did Mark Jones, who went on to manage Oxford City, Hemel Hempstead and Banbury United. The Hoops current assistant manager, Andy Ballard was one of Oxford City’s goal scorers and current chairman Andy Sinnott was the manager.
The next meeting I watched was an FA Cup tie in 2011/12 at the ASM. Step 5 Hellenic League Thame had caused a sensation by knocking out step 3 Southern League table toppers Brackley Town 2-0 to meet Oxford City, second place in the Southern League, in the next round. Another shock looked possible as despite being battered, Thame led 1-0 at the interval through a penalty, but the greater skill and experience told as The Hoops came back to win 3-1 in front of a crowd of 462. The match was shown live on the FA website.
The third and final meeting I’ve seen was a pre-season friendly at the start of the 2021/22 season which Oxford City won 2-0 at the ASM in a game reported on in these diaries.
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2021/07/thame-united-0-2-oxford-city-att-195.html
Matchday Information
The journey from Oxford City to Thame’s ASM Stadium is 13 miles and should normally take 20 minutes outside of rush hour.
Admission for today’s game was £10 for adults, £5 for OAPs, £3 for Under 16s and free for the Under 5s. A pre-match pint of Poretti was £5.10. No team sheets were available for this game, with the line-ups being written on the whiteboard next to the tea-bar, in addition to being posted on both sides’ Twitter account.,
The weather at the 19.30 kick off time was dry but a chilly 5 degrees
Oxford City again fielded a youthful side in this competition, with all of the starting XI having featured in the previous round. Every player was 18 years old or younger, with only centre-back Phil Croker having played in National League North this season. Croker had a brief loan spell at Thame earlier in the season before being recalled when the Hoops suffered an injury crisis. The one notable change from the side that took to the field at Clanfield was that forward Jayden Carbon is now a first team regular so he was excused duty tonight.
Four more of the Oxford City side had Southern League experience this season. Midfielder Josh McConnell impressed Fatbear whilst playing for Didcot earlier this season, midfielder Charlie Bacon was in the Kidlington side thrashed 0-5 at Thame in August, Kian Duggan is currently on loan at Didcot and winger Mekhai Bessasa-Grant appeared in these diaries last season for Kidlington and is currently on loan at step 3 Marlow.
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2024/10/didcot-town-0-1-yate-town-att-280.html
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2024/08/normal-0-false-false-false-en-gb-x-none.html
Thame made two changes from the side that was victorious against Aylesbury United at the weekend, with veteran Jefferson Louis and Josh Stranks coming into the defence, with Finlay Murray and Oscar Lucey dropping to the bench. Brayden Daniel was playing against his parent club, after having played in the Town vs Gown match for Oxford City.
Oxford City were wearing pale green shirts, with dark green shorts and green and white socks. Thame were in their usual red and black stripes.
Match Report
The early stages of the game were quiet, with the only action in the opening ten minutes being Curtis Brown playing in Greg Hackett down the right, but Oxford City left-back Freddie Joyce managed to get a foot to the cross, deflecting the ball high in the air for keeper Tom Russell to make a straight-forward catch.
Oxford City’s first real attack saw a free kick from Joyce, who was to take all of The Hoops’ set pieces, headed away by Louis but Joyce was able to force the first corner of the game. The corner was played short, and Joyce crossed deep for McConnell to head for goal, but the effort was cleared to Bitencourt de Oliviera, who is more commonly referred to as Kauan, but the 25-yard effort was gently curled into the arms of Thame keeper.
After 13 minutes, Croker was adjudged to have handled the ball just outside the Oxford City area. Hackett’s free kick went into the defensive wall, but Brown lashed the rebound only to be denied by a diving block by Russell. Daniel followed up but his close-range effort from a tight angle was blocked by a defender by the post for a corner. However, the Thame corner was poor and easily headed away by Finlay Beckett.
Shortly after Hackett had a cross blocked, and Bacon set off on a lengthy run, but Louis ended the danger with a good tackle at the expense of a throw-in.
A long pass out of defence by Louis put a suspiciously looking offside Daniel clear of the Oxford City back-line and his pull-back reached Joshua Stranks, but the shot went a few feet wide.
Stranks then went on a strong run down the left wing, but Kyron Webb made a good tackle to concede a throw in. A minute later, Thame forward Ty Deacon hit the post from 12 yards with a left-footed effort and his first attempt was blocked.
Thame were ramping up the pressure and Daniel did well to get to the left-hand byline and his cross found Hackett unmarked 8 yards out, but his back flick saw Russell make a sprawling save to push the ball away.
Stranks, Tutton, Daniel and Stranks again were all involved in a neat move for the home side but good defending by Dos Santos ensured his side won the goal kick.
With 29 minutes played, Bacon robbed Louis of possession near the halfway line and headed for the Thame penalty area. His attempted pass to put Kauan clear was thwarted by a handball by Thorne, who was shown the yellow card and was very lucky to remain on the pitch as it appeared to be denying a clear goal scoring opportunity.
The 25-yard free kick from Joyce was easily tipped over the bar by Crowther. Joyce took the corner, which went to the far post, where Croker rose above Louis to send a downward header which Crowther could only push into the roof of the net. 0-1 after 31 minutes.
From the restart Thame sent a long ball down the left which was played back to Lack just outside the Oxford City area, and a vicious volley went over the head of keeper Russell for an instant equaliser. 1-1 after 32 minutes.
Hackett and Daniel were involved in another Thame attack, but Croker was on hand to intercept the cross.
Jack Tutton then became the second Thame player to see yellow after chopping down Bessasa-Grant. Joyce took the free kick, and his floated delivery was met by Croker who steered a volley across goal into the far corner. Unfortunately for the Hoops, the raised linesman’s flag chalked off the goal for offside. The Joyce-Croker combination was looking very dangerous from set-pieces for Oxford City.
As the game approached half-time, Hackett was found in space in the right-hand channel and was able to run away from Joyce but his shot from a tight angle flew across the face of the goal and past the far post. The last action of the first half saw Bessasa-Grant run from the half-way line into the Thame area but Thorne slid in to make the tackle.
Thame started the second half strongly as Deacon released Daniel just inside the Oxford City area, but his left-footed effort struck the top of the crossbar and went over.
A minute later Bacon took the ball off Louis for the second time in the evening and the ball was spread wide to Joyce on the overlap on the left, but the cross was headed away.
Six minutes into the second period some kids kicked a ball onto the pitch causing some confusion as Oxford City attacked, but strangely the referee failed to stop play with two balls on the pitch.
Louis then won a strong header close to the half-way line which Deacon flicked on for Daniel to run onto, only to be fouled. Tutton’s free kick went into the defensive wall.
The kids then kicked their ball onto the pitch for a second time, which this time Thame keeper Crowther picked up the ball and to some cheers from the crowd, kicked it out of the ground.
With 55 minutes played, Bacon beat three Thame defenders before laying off to Bessasa-Grant, who shot across goal and narrowly wide. A minute later at the other end, a scramble resulted from a Thame corner, following which Tutton was able to turn and shoot, but the ball went narrowly wide
The game was now end to end, and Louis under pressure from Kauan, could only head weakly back to his keeper, and Crowther could only slice high into the air as Kauan bore down on him. However, Thame were able to clear the danger.
Daniel then won a corner off Webb for Thame, which was sent long to beyond the far post, but Riddick was unable to direct his header on target.
The match then became attritional, with neither side able to apply any sustained pressure. For Oxford City, Kauan had a left footed shot easily saved high at his near post by Crowther, whilst Thame were penalised for pushing when a corner was played into the 6-yard box.
However, as the game entered the final 15 minutes, the home side started getting on top. Daniel skipped past Webb and Bacon to get to the left-hand byline, but his low ball was put out for a corner by good defending at the near post, and substitute Finlay Murray headed the corner wide at the back post.
Deacon and Daniel then combined to set-up Deacon for a fierce shot from just outside the area, but it was straight at the Hoops keepe,r who did well to hold on to it.
Louis was now playing up front for Thame and his neat flick put Deacon in space on the left, but after he spread play to Hackett on the right-hand touchline, the cross drifted onto the roof of the net.
In an increasingly rare foray into the Thame half, a Joyce free kick to the back stick came off a Thame defender for a corner, from which Joyce played to Dos Santos on the edge of the area, but the centre-back could only steer the bouncing ball a couple of yards over the bar.
On 82 minutes, Daniel again ran past Webb, but again his low cross was put out for a corner by Croker. This time the corner was sent to the near post, where Murray’s powerful header went inches wide.
Oxford City won another free kick for Joyce to take, but after his ball into the Thame penalty area was headed away by Murray, McConnell’s long-range effort hit a defender and rolled gently through to the Thame keeper.
With Hackett being substituted, Daniel switched wings and immediately ran past Joyce into the Oxford City area only to be brought down as the left-back tried to recover. After some deliberation the referee pointed to the spot but only after the linesman had flagged for the infringement. I’m not sure it would have been given without the linesman’s involvement. There seemed to be a long delay before the penalty was to be taken, not helped by Oxford City making a substitution, but eventually we were ready as the clock now showed just two minutes remaining.
Deacon stepped up and placed his kick to the keeper’s right, but it lacked power, and Russell was able to dive and parry, and Russell did even better to smoother the follow-up attempt.
Thame continued to press for the winning goal. Deacon did well to chest control a long free kick taken by Crowther but his left footed shot on the turn was high and wide. As the game moved into added time, keeper Crowther took a free kick from close to the halfway line which Croker did well to head off for a corner. Thame took a short corner, which was wasted, but they did win a throw-in. Brown sent a long throw to the 6-yard box which Murray headed on, but Russell made a confident catch under his own bar.
Dan West then sent an optimistic 25 yarder bouncing through to Russell and the last action saw Brown’s cross-cum-shot from the right land into the hands of the Oxford City keeper.
At the final whistle, there was a little bit of confusion as to whether extra time would be played, or if the tie would move straight to penalties, there was no mention in the online programme of what would happen in the event of a draw. However, it was going to be a penalty shootout. With the penalties to be taken at the other end, all the young Thame supporters behind the goal their side had been attacking had to run around the ground, but they all got there in time !
Penalties
Two weeks ago Oxford City had exited the FA Trophy to Woking after a shambolic set off penalties, missing four in a row so would their youngsters fare any better ?
West took the first penalty for Thame and drilled it down the middle of the goal as Russell moved to his left. 1-0
Duggan went first for Oxford City and with a kick worthy of the FA Trophy shoot-out, shot tamely to the keeper’s right, and Crowther dived to push away. 1-0
Thorne’s kick sent the keeper the wrong way, diving to his right as the ball nestled in the left-hand corner. 2-0
Joyce then produced a fantastic penalty, left footed into the keeper’s top left-hand corner. Crowther went the right way but had no chance. 2-1
Brown was next for the home side, and again Russell went the wrong way, as the ball went to his bottom left-hand corner. 3-1
Croker put his kick to the bottom right-hand corner as Crowther went to his left. 3-2
Deacon made amends for his earlier miss, thumping the ball down the middle as Russell went left. 4-2
Needing to score to keep Oxford City in the tie, McConnell sent the keeper the wrong way, but his effort struck the keeper’s right-hand post and stayed out. 4-2
Thame were through to the final, where they will now play step 5 Ardley United, who outplayed Oxford United’s youthful side in the other semi-final, winning 3-0.
Oxford City can be proud of the efforts of their side, who held their own against a top 5 side at step 4, and they look to have a conveyor belt of talent who will soon be ready to take over when some of their elder and experienced players who have served the club so well move on. In addition, Daniel was in the Thame side, and looks ready to move up next season, just like Jayden Carbon has done after a year on loan at Thame last season.
Link To Online Programme : https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/files.pitchero.com%2Fclubs%2F13461%2FhPuxiWZ7RO6JqRSX04pG_Match+Day+Programme+Oxford+City+OSC+11+March.pdf
Thame United : Crowther – Brown, Thorne, Louis, Stranks ( Lucey ) – Hackett ( Tamplin ), Lack ( Murray ), Riddick, Tutton ( West ), Daniel – Deacon
Oxford City : Russell – Webb ( Moir ), Dos Santos, Croker, Joyce – Bacon, Duggan, McConnell, Beckett – Bitencourt de Oliviera, Bessasa-Grant
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