July 25, 2026
Today saw another pre-season friendly as step 4 Thame United hosted step 3 Uxbridge of the Southern League Premier Division South. In their first season at step 3 last season, Uxbridge finished finish 9th, which obviously was their highest ever position in the non-league pyramid.
Uxbridge had achieved promotion after a second placed finish in the 2024/25 Isthmian South-Central Division, beat Kingstonian on penalties after a 2-2 draw in the home play-off semi-final, and then beat Hanworth Villa 2-1 in the final in front of a home crowd of 1,535. Last season their average league attendance was 346.
These diaries reported on Thame’s 2-0 win over step 6 Aston Clinton in their first pre-season friendly, but there had been scant details on their 0-1 reverse at step 5 Kings Langley. On Tuesday Thame had entertained step 5 Ardley United and slipped to a 1-2 defeat on the 3G pitch.
Since the report on the Aston Clinton friendly, Thame had announced an additional retention from last season, with forward Harry Alexander confirmed as re-signing for the new season. However, no new signing had been announced yet.
Uxbridge FC
Uvbridge are officially based in Yiewsley, although after my one previous visit I would have called it West Drayton !
The club were formed in 1891, and home is Honeycroft, which has an official capacity 3,770 with 353 seats. The club’s nickname is The Reds, which often morphs into The Red Army.
Uxbridge claim to have the cheapest season tickets at step 3 for this season, with adult tickets £50, concessions £5, Under 18s £1 and Under 16s free ! Dogs were also free but there was no news about season tickets for cats !
Uxbridge Squad
Uxbridge appeared to have strengthened their squad in the close season, with a number of notable new signings announced. These included ex-Maidenhead United and Hampton and Richmond Borough defender Alan Massey, experienced midfielder Sam Deadfield from Hampton and Richmond Borough, ex-Basingstoke, Badshot Lea, Hanwell Town and Ascot United midfielder Luis Le Paih, ex-Ayr United, Slough Town, Weymouth and Walton & Hersham striker Frances Amartey, winger Frankie Monk from Swindon Supermarine and previously of Poole and Sholing, striker Great Evans from Farnham Town, midfielder Charlie Malin from Harrow Borough, right-back Olumide Akinode from Harrow Borough, ex-Watford, Eastbourne Borough, Welling, Lewes and Burgess Hill defender Jack Burchill, whilst striker Trevan Robinson was injured but in recovery.
Among the players re-signing from last season’s team were ex-Harrow Borough attacking midfielder Georgie Moore, ex-Thame United and Bracknell midfielder Liam Tack, ex-Risborough Rangers midfielder Toby Nnadozie, ex-QPR and Northwood Town defender Gabe Cuthbert, ex-Farnborough and defender and captain CJ Fearn, ex-Portsmouth Under 18 defender Ciaran Martin, Massimo Giamattei, ex-Hayes and Yeading and Chertsey Town midfielder/right-back Cole Brown, ex-Marlow and Bracknell Town defender Josh Boorn, and ex-Slough Town and Beaconsfield Town striker Joe Lawal.
The notable leavers from Uxbridge included defender Kai Hobbs to Hayes and Yeading, whilst the departures of defender Casey Boccaro, midfielder Harry Ruch and forward Ada Okorogheye had been announced although their final destinations had not yet been confirmed. Keeper Marco Underwood had returned to Fulham following the end of his loan.
Uxbridge Pre-season
Uxbridge had started their pre-season with two emphatic home wins, beating step 5 North Greenford United 4-0, with the goalscorers being Amartey, Nnadozie, Trialist and ex-Chertsey Town forward Olly McCoy, then a 5-1 home victory had been recorded over fellow step 3 side 5-1 Wingate & Finchley of the Isthmian League Premier Division with Le Paih, Charlie Stallard, Tack, Boorn and Lawal on the scoresheet.
Last Tuesday Uxbridge hosted Slough and drew 0-0 against their step 2 opposition
Previous Meetings
The only recent meeting Fatbear could find between the two clubs was an FA Trophy tie at Honeycroft in October 2024 when Uxbridge scored in injury time to win 3-2 before a crowd of 129. However, they had played each other in the Isthmian League in the late 1990s/early 2000s.
Watching Uxbridge
My one visit to Honeycroft was in the 1988/89 season when I went to see Uxbridge play a 0-0 with Basildon. My only memories are that it was a dreadful game with neither side looking like scoring, and that the Basildon forward was so big and slow and lacking in any form of ball control I felt I could have done better than him, and I was a goalkeeper !
The only other time I have seen Uxbridge play was in a promotion play off final at the end of the 2007/08 season when they lost 0-1 at Oxford City. This was my first ever visit to Oxford City’s Court Place Farm ground.
Matchday Information
According to AA Route Planner the journey from Uxbridge’s Honeycroft Stadium to the ASM is 41 miles and the journey via the M4, M25 and M40 should take just under 50 minutes. It looked like around 30 of The Red Army had got up early to make the trip.
Unlike the two previous Thame home friendlies, which were played in the 3G cage, this game was being played on the main ASM stadium pitch, which looked a nice colour of green and well-watered prior to this week’s hosepipe ban !
Entrance was £5 with under 18s getting in for free. The bar was open but the tea hut inside the ground was closed. There were no teamsheets provided.
The weather at the 11.30 kick-off was sunny and 23 degrees, but there was a nice gentle breeze for those sitting in the main stand.
Uxbridge were playing in a change kit of all blue, whilst Thame were in their usual red and black shirts.
Match Report
Thame made the early running and Uxbridge keeper Kacper Orlowski needed to punch away Jack Tutton’s free-kick. However, Uxbridge failed to clear their lines and when the ball was played back into the Uxbridge area, slack defending allowed Thame’s number 17 to hammer the bouncing ball into the corner of the net from 12 yards. 1-0 after 4 minutes.
Uxbridge looked to quickly hit back and a cross from Le Paih was headed straight at the Thame keeper by Moore. A period of Uxbridge possession followed until Lawal tried his luck from 25 yards and the Thame keeper was unable to hold on to the swerving effort. Moore was quickest to react and walked the ball into the empty. 1-1 after 10 minutes.
Thame were undeterred by being brought back to level terms and played some neat passing football. Their number 9 and Alexander combined to make space down the right wing, but the cross was partially blocked, sailed high into the air and the Uxbridge keeper made the catch.
Curtis Brown then played an inside pass to allow Greg Hackett to run into space on the left, but the shot was blocked by an Uxbridge defender. When Thame regained possession their number 17 was brought down just outside the penalty area. A training ground routine of first time passes between Tutton, Hackett and Alexander was thwarted by a last-ditch tackle.
Amartey then forced the Thame 17 to concede the first corner of the game in the 15th minute. Number 17 then headed away the corner but only as far as Lawal, whose 25-yard curler drifted just wide of the keeper’s right-hand post.
Finlay Murray’s long throw down the right-hand touchline was poorly dealt with by Amartey back helping out his defence, heading the ball back towards his goal-line, but the Uxbridge number 3 was able to prevent a corner at the expense of a throw-in near the corner flag.
Luke Tingay’s long throw towards the 6-yard area was headed on by Mark Riddick, and keeper Orlowski needed to dive and punch the ball away for a corner before Hackett could bundle it over the line. The corner was taken short but Thame number 17 was chopped down by the Uxbridge right-back just outside the area. Tutton’s drilled free-kick hit the head of an Uxbridge defender, and the ball fell to Hackett just inside the area, and the Thame winger smacked the ball into the bottom corner for an impressive finish. It was now 2-1 with 22 minutes played.
Again, Uxbridge tried to respond quickly, and a ball chipped over the Thame back line put Uxbridge number 11 in space inside the Thame area, but his shot from a narrow angle was blocked for a corner. Thame had two attempts to clear the set-piece, then Brown stopped playing in expectation of a foul being awarded again Moore. The referee though hadn’t seen anything untoward, but a Thame defender reacted to clear and save any embarrassment for the Thame left-back.
Hackett then showed good skill to beat his marker close to the half-way line and threaded a good ball forward to put Alexander one-vs-one against the Uxbridge keeper. Unfortunately for the home side, Alexander’s effort to put the ball into the top corner floated narrowly wide of the upright, and Thame had missed a good opportunity to take a two-goal lead. Both the Uxbridge keeper and number 5 complained vigorously to the linesman about it being offside, but Fatbear was in line and it looked like a well-time run to him, as was the linesman……
On the half-hour mark Hackett sent the Uxbridge number 5 this way and that and got to the byline, but no-one was up in support to apply a finish at the far post. The first drinks break was then called for.
The match entered a period of calm, until both sides stopped playing expecting a foul against Le Paih to be given, but again the referee allowed play to continue, and Alexander sent a left-footed curler just wide of the post.
Shortly after, a flare-up occurred which Fatbear didn’t see the reason for. The referee gave a long talking to Uxbridge number 11 and Amartey, after which it looked like a yellow card was shown to Amartey. The game restarted with a drop ball to Uxbridge !
Alexander and Thame number 17 again linked up, and number 17 nutmegged the Uxbridge number 4, but number 5 recovered to concede a throw-in.
At the other end, Murray unconvincingly sliced an Uxbridge free-kick over his own bar, and from the set-piece Le Paih was left unmarked but headed high and wide from 8 yards. The referee though had seen something and awarded a free-kick to Thame.
It remained 2-1 at the interval, which seemed to be a fair reflection of the balance of play, and maybe Thame could have been further ahead. Frankly, for a step 3 side Uxbridge had been disappointing so far.
Unsurprisingly for a pre-season friendly, there were no changes made for the second half. Uxbridge were to made five changes after 60 minutes in what assumedly was a pre-planned move, whilst Thame’s first change came after 55 minutes, after which they adopted a rolling substitution approach, with some players returning after having initially been replaced. Presumably this had been agreed in advance.
The first piece of action after the break saw Moore get free on the right-wing but his intended pass for number 11 was poor and cut-out by Thame’s Tingay.
Uxbridge should have equalised 6 minutes into the second half. Lawal showed good persistence to get the Thame byline and his pull-back reach Moore unmarked 8 yards from goal. His first effort was cleared off the line by Murray with the keeper beaten, but when the ball returned to Moore, he blazed well over the bar when it looked easier to score !
Amartey then outpaced Murray to get onto a long ball out of the Uxbridge defence, and after cutting back inside onto his right-foot his fierce drive went straight at the Thame keeper, who made the parry.
The match was starting to get a little feisty. Amartey went to ground after a strong challenge from Murray and complained to the referee, after which the tackles start to fly in from both sides.
Uxbridge number 3 scythed down Thame substitute number 16 after he was about to go past the left-back, but as this was a friendly there was no sanction from the referee.
Uxbridge were starting to get on top, and after a good run by Amartey down the left, his low cross saw number 11’s shot blocked for a corner. The set-piece was cleared as far as Lawal, whose effort was also deflected for a corner.
Uxbridge substitute Coombes’ first contribution was to dangerously cut inside from the left, only the to wildly shoot across the goal and off for a throw in to Thame. Moore than played a low ball from the right across the goalmouth but no-one was in support for the far post tap-in.
Uxbridge then carelessly gave away possession just inside their own half and Thame substitute number 14 ran at Uxbridge number 5 who stuck out a leg to bring down the Thame forward. Surprisingly the referee saw nothing wrong with this……
Amartey was starting to look increasingly influential and a smart pass to the underlapping Cole Brown gave the Uxbridge right-back a sight of goal, but the shot from a tight angle was blocked by the keeper’s legs at this near post. The second drinks break was then taken on 70 minutes.
The Thame keeper took a long drop kick which substitute Charlie Stow flicked on for Thame 14 to run onto and take a touch past the on-rushing Uxbridge keeper, who then clattered into the Thame player. Only a yellow card was shown to Orlowski as the Thame player was heading slightly away from goal and the Uxbridge number 4 would probably have been able to have covered. The free-kick was taken by Tutton to beyond the far post, but Riddick’s header was straight at the keeper.
Uxbridge again lost possession in their own half and Thame number 14 played a ball forward for Alexander, but his first touch was poor, and Uxbridge number 5 slid in to tackle and win the throw-in as the ball rebounded out of play off Alexander.
There was a slight delay in the restart over whose thrown it should have been, but Thame were dozing when the game resumed as a long cross-field ball was collected by Coombes running into space on the left, and the substitute calmly ran on goal and slipped the ball past the Thame keeper for the equaliser. It was 2-2 with 76 minutes on the clock.
Riddick looked to have put Thame number 14 clear on goal but the linesman’s flag was raised for offside. However, Uxbridge were finishing as the strongest side and a cross from substitute Ciarin Martin needed some good defending by Alexander to deny Uxbridge number 11.
Uxbridge substitute number 12 got to the byline but his cross was straight to the Thame keeper, who then proceeded to drop it and it needed Dan West to stop the ball rolling over the line and he eventually cleared. The Uxbridge keeper again had to come out of his area but this time got to ball before Thame 14 to concede a throw-in.
With time running out Coombes found the unmarked Deadfield, but the shot from the edge of the area was deflected away for a corner. Uxbridge number 12, under pressure, then headed over from close range after a cross from the left was deflected high into the air.
However, the pressure eventually told and after Thame failed to clear, the ball dropped to Deadfield who fired left-footed into the bottom corner for a tremendous finish worthy of winning the match. It was now 2-3 with just about 90 minutes on the clock.
The goal was to be the last act of the match, as the referee decided not to play any added time for injuries, substitutions or the water break, but as it was a friendly I don’t think anyone cared too much about this !
Thame United : Trialist 1 – Murray, Tingay, West, Brown – Hackett, Riddick, Tutton, Trialist 9 – Alexander, Trialist 17
Uxbridge : Orlowski - Brown, 4, 5, 3 ( Martin ) – Lawal ( 17 ), Le Paih ( Deadfield ), 6, 11 ( Coombes ) – Moore, Amartey
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