March 3, 2026
This evening saw the re-arranged match between Thame United and Hertford Town, which had twice been postponed due to waterlogged pitches, once in November and then again in January. This was now a match between 6th and 5th, with Hertford three points ahead of Thame, with both sides having played 30 matches. Hertford were the joint highest scorers in the league, and with Thame the 5th highest, a high scoring game looked to be in prospect.
This would be Hertford’s fifth appearance in these diaries, and they were yet to win a game, with their most recent game being a 0-4 loss in Thame in October 2024. Previously, Fatbear had seen a 2-2 draw in Thame in October 2022 and a 1-2 loss to Thame in February 2023. A 0-2 defeat was also witnessed against Aylesbury United in Chesham in March 2023.
Thame United Update
After a disappointing 0-1 home to defeat last Tuesday evening at the hands of Welwyn Garden City which brought an end to an 11-game unbeaten run, Thame crashed to a 0-4 loss at relegation threatened Enfield on Saturday, apparently missing a stack of chances and having three penalties awarded against them.
It was announced earlier in the day that Oxford City’s Brayden Daniel had signed on a dual registration and went straight into their side this evening. Daniel had spent a season on loan at Thame last season, and had been a regular in the Oxford City squads this season. Although mostly featureing from the bench, he had scored three times in National League North.
Hertford Town This Season
After last season’s 13th placed finish, Hertford were enjoying a much better season and came into today’s game with a 18-3-9 record, and were 7-3-4 away from home.
Hertford started their league campaign with a 2-0 home win against Thame, then a 2-0 victory at Ware, but then lost three of their subsequent five games, going down 1-2 at home to Northwood Town, 0-2 at London Lions, and 0-3 at home to Biggleswade. Hertford then went on a run of just three defeats in 17 games, which included a 7-0 romp at home against Enfield and a 5-0 triumph at Biggleswade Town. Their last six matches since that run had seen defeats at Milton Keynes Irish ( 2-3 ) and at home to Hitchin Town ( 2-3 ), before a 3-0 home win over lowly Rayners Lane. Another defeat followed, 0-2 at Hadley, before returning to form with a 6-2 home win over Barton Rovers and a 6-0 victory at bottom of the table AFC Dunstable.
Hertford started the season with a 3-1 victory over London Lions in the FA Cup, and continued their run with wins over step 5 Harpenden Town ( 5-3 ) and at step 4 Bowers & Pitsea ( 2-1 ), before being crushed 0-6 at step 2 Chelmsford City.
Their FA Trophy campaign ended at the first hurdle with a 1-3 defeat at home to step 4 Felixstowe and Walton United.
Hertford were currently the third best supported team in the division, with an average of 326 whilst the average for Thame was 115.
Hertford Town Squad
Manager Ben Herd amassed nearly 400 Football league appearances for Shrewsbury Town and Aldershot Town, and in addition to being player-manager of Hertford since 2019, was now the owner of the club. He hasn’t yet had to sack himself !
Billy Mardell-Smith was a youngster at Watford before being released, and keeper James Callan had played for Barnet, Aylesbury United and Hitchin. Herd, Mardell-Smith and Callan were the only three survivors from last season’s fixture.
Ex-Arlesey Town winger Noah Mosanya was the top scorer with 15 goals, followed by ex-Baldock Town and Hadley striker Lawrence Ajong on 14. Mardell-Smith was next with 11 goals.
Defender Joe Nardelli had a brief spell at Baldock Town before returning to Hertford, defender Isaac Evans was previously at Ware, right-back Jesus Mendoza was ex-Arlesey Town and Biggleswade United, and midfielder Billy Heaps was previously at Hitchin Town.
Matchday Information
The journey from Hertford to Thame is 50 miles and should normally take around 90 minutes via the A1M and the A41. It looked like around 25 Hertford fans had made the journey.
The weather at the 19.45 kick-off was dry and the temperature 9 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 cup of tea was £1.50.
An online programme had been produced for the match and free team-sheets were available at the turnstile.
Hertford were unchanged from the side that thrashed AFC Dunstable, whilst Thame made four changes to the side that lost at Enfield. In addition to Brayden Daniel starting, 17-year-old keeper Daniel Starkey was in for his debut, Louis Walsh returned after injury, and Abu Khan came in at right-back. Luke Tingey, Curtis Brown and Lance Williams all dropped to the bench, but regular keeper Matt Crowther was missing.
Hertford were in a kit of all blue but with white sleeves on the shirt, whilst Thame were in their usual red and black shirts.
Matchday Report
The game nearly had a dramatic start when Herd’s clearance was charged down and Walsh played the loose ball to Harry Alexander, who made ground to the edge of the Hertford area only to shoot a few feet over the bar. Herd appealed for a handball but was ignored by the referee.
Thame had the better of the early stages, with a long throw being headed away, and shortly after, Daniel and Walsh combined but the return pass to Daniel was slightly over-hit, and Hertford keeper Callan was swiftly off his line to claim the ball before Daniel could reach it.
Jack Tutton then robbed Kieran Barnes just inside the Hertford half and played forward to Walsh, who held up possession well and then laid off back to Tutton. The Thame midfielder strode to the edge of Hertford area and then steered his shot into the far bottom corner, past the despairing dive of Callan. 1-0 after 8 minutes.
The restart saw a Hertford shot from the half-way line, which gave Starkey his first touch, and he then threw a pass to Ethan Lack. However, Lack lost control and Mosanya gathered and made his way into the Thame area, but his shot was blocked. It was a lucky escape for the home side.
Lack attempted to make amends for his error, but his long-range shot went straight to Callen. More slack defending by Hertford gave away possession, but the threaded pass from Walsh for Alexander was again over-hit and went off for a goal-kick. It was already feeling like there was going to be a few goals tonight !
Alexander’s shot on the turn took a deflection but Callen was able to react and made a fine diving save.
Hertford were first seen as an attacking force as Mosanya and Mardell-Smith were involved in a neat move on the edge of the Thame area that released Painter down the left wing, but he over ran to the byline to give Thame a goal-kick. Ajong then ran into the Thame penalty box, but his effort was blocked by Finlay Murray, and Starkey picked up the loose ball.
Thame were back on the front foot with two long throws launched into the Hertford box, the second off which bounced across the Hertford 6-yard line until Painter hoofed clear.
Daniel then showed some nice footwork to beat Hertford right-back Albert McGregor on the left-hand touchline and was brought down for a free-kick, which was headed away by Fraser Findlay for a throw in for Thame.
Painter then got the better of Khan to get to the Thame byline, and his pull back found Heaps, who took a touch and then drilled a left-footed shot from the edge of the area into the bottom corner of the net. 1-1 with 24 minutes played.
Thame responded straight away with a flowing move down their left involving Callum Hall and Daniel, but the cross was headed away. When Thame reworked possession, Walsh’s left footed shot went a few yards wide.
The first bit of niggle in the game occurred a couple of minutes later when Walsh was fouled several seconds after playing a pass out to the left wing. It was a naughty foul that the officials failed to see. Almost immediately after, Heaps ran from half-way towards the Thame 18-yard line and was tripped by Mark Riddick for the first yellow card of the game. The free-kick was headed away from the 6-yard line, after which Mosanya pushed over Hall for a free-kick to Thame.
With 31 minutes on the clock, Hall played great pass down the left-hand channel for Walsh to run onto and into the Hertford area. After twisting and turning, his shot took a deflection and appeared to be bouncing slowly into the far corner with Callen wrong footed, but the ball went inches past for far post for a corner.
The corner was headed clear, but when Thame recovered possession and sent the ball back into the Hertford area, Murray put the ball into the net, but the whistle had already blown for an offside against Riddick.
Hertford’s Mosanya went down with an injury and needed to substituted, which ironically came a minute after a booming voice from the Hertford bench could be heard across the ground saying “Noah, you lazy ba$tard”
Matters got worse for Hertford four minutes later when Heaps lost a challenge with Riddick and ended up in a heap on the floor. There didn’t appear to be any obvious foul but play was stopped, and the cries of pain could be heard from the prone Hertford player. The stadium fell to an ominous silence as a stretcher was brought onto the pitch with clearly something serious amiss, and Heaps was taken from the field. I later overheard that an ambulance had taken the unfortunate Heaps to Stoke Mandeville hospital, and hopefully he will quickly recover from the injury.
Seven minutes of added time were to be played and Thame pressed in search of a second goal. Tutton’s splendid cross-field ball went over the head of Evans and Alexander kept the ball in play, and laid back to Lack, who shot high over the bar. A cross from Daniel after exchanging passes with Walsh was smartly punched away by Callen, then Lack again shot over from 25 yards.
The scores were level at half-time, which was probably a fair scoreline. Although Thame had more shots on goal, Hertford keeper Callen was mostly untroubled. Hertford had scored from their only shot on target, and had failed to work the debutant Thame keeper.
The second half began with Thame’s Alexander being fouled by both Painter and Evans for a free-kick close to the right-hand touchline. Tutton’s ball into the danger zone saw Dan West’s glancing header drift wide of the far post.
Daniel then had a shot from the edge of the area deflected wide for a corner, which again saw a firm punch from keeper Callen.
In the 51st minute, Ben Herd could clearly be heard instructing Evans “Don’t foul, don’t foul” as he closed down Alexander close to the corner flag, but of course, he fouled the Thame winger for a free-kick, and Evans received a yellow card for his troubles. Tutton sent the ball to beyond the far post when the on-rushing Lack couldn’t make a decent contact, and Hertford were able to clear the loose ball.
Shortly after, another flowing move from Thame saw Alexander pass to Walsh, who laid off for Daniel to burst into the Hertford area, but the attempted square pass to give Alexander a far post tap in was intercepted by Evans at the expense of a corner.
Callen punched the corner off for a second corner, which this time was sent long for West to head across goal. Alexander turned and shot but the ball came back off the post, but Riddick was on hand to stab home from about 3 yards. It was now 2-1 after 57 minutes.
The response from Hertford was for Herd to send a free-kick from close to the left-hand touchline near the half-way line into the mixer, where Starkey made a complete hash of his attempted punch, and the ball went narrowly wide for a corner. The set-piece went long and ended up being headed well wide of the far post. Hertford had again failed to put the rookie Thame keeper under pressure.
Thame though were still looking the side most likely to score the next goal, and Alexander, Tutton and Walsh exchanged passes which ended with Walsh shooting over the bar from 20 yards.
Hertford then had an opportunity to hit back when Painter was fouled near the touchline which saw a yellow card for Lack, but the free-kick from Barnes was over-hit and went harmlessly off for a goal-kick to Thame.
Back down the other end, a long pass from Alexander found Walsh, and his lay-off enabled Daniel to shoot from the edge of the area, and the ball looked to be heading inside the far post until Callen’s dive pushed the ball around the post for a corner. Tutton fired the corner across the goalmouth, but it was fractionally too high for Murray to head at the back post.
The game was now getting spicy as the tackles flew in with the game on the line. After a Hertford free-kick was headed away by the Thame back-line, McGregor’s long-range shot was heading wide, and Zen Cunningham’s flick sent it even further wide for a goal-kick.
Alexander then produced a delicious through ball to put Daniel clear, and the Oxford City man produced a cool finish to beat Callen for his first goal for Thame since the Oxfordshire Senior Cup Final last May !. It was now 3-1 with 70 minutes on the clock.
Thame now appeared to be in total control, and Lack’s forward pass enabled Alexander to cut inside on to his left foot, but his shot was blocked for a corner. As the two sides waited for the ball to be crossed into the penalty box, a bout of handbags ensued in the 6-yard box, resulting Thame’s Tutton and Hertford’s Herd being shown yellow cards.
Another Thame passing move saw Hall and Walsh combine but the return pass to put Hall clear was stopped as the linesman spotted that Hall was about 5 yards offside. “No way” exclaimed Lack from inside his own half !
Thame looked to have put the game to bed when Alexander, under pressure by the touchline played an overhead ball forward. Herd badly misjudged the bounce of the ball, which went over his head, leaving Walsh clear on goal. The Thame forward calmly lifted the ball over the advancing keeper and then volleyed into the empty net for a classy finish. 4-1 with 79 minutes played.
Thame went searching for a 5th goal and a pass from the increasingly influential Walsh invited substitute Brown to run into the Hertford area, but indecision over whether to shoot or pass resulted in Brown being tackled.
The game was starting to fizzle out although Tutton blasted a shot from 20 yards well wide after good work from Walsh.
Hertford pressed for a consolation, and Mendoza ran into space inside the left-hand side of the Thame area. His lay back saw Lene Burden’s left-footed shot from neat to the penalty spot crash back off the crossbar, and Mendoza put the rebound over the bar.
As the game moved into added on time, Zen Cunningham crossed from the left wing, and Mardell-Smith’s header at the far post bounced across goal and past the slow-motion dive of Starkey and just had enough strength to nestle inside the post. 4-2 after 92 minutes.
Although a couple more minutes were played, Thame safely saw out the closing stages to take an important three points.
As a consequence, they moved level with Hertford but behind them on goal difference. After the cynical display from Welwyn Garden City last week, whilst there were a few whinges at some of the referee’s decisions, it was refreshing to see a game played in reasonably good spirit.
Fatbear’s jinx on Hertford continued, perhaps they should pay him to stay away from their matches !
Thame United : Starkey – Khan, West, Murray, Hall – Lack ( Brown ), Riddick ( Tingey ), Tutton, Daniel – Walsh, Alexander
Hertford Town : Callan – McGregor, Findlay ( Zeddini ), Herd, Evans – Mosanya ( Cunningham ), Barnes, Mardell-Smith, Heaps ( Burden ), Painter ( Obeng ) – Ajong ( Mendoza )
