August 22, 2026
Cup fever returned to Thame as their local side took on Brislington of the step 5 Jewson Western League in the Preliminary Round of the FA Cup, potentially only 13 games away from a trip to Wembley. If the scores were level after 90 minutes, a replay would be played in Brislington, and the winners would play in the First Qualifying Round on September 5th. The draw for the next round was being made on Monday………
This would be Thame’s first match since these diaries covered their 3-3 home draw with Ware last Saturday. On the morning of the game the signing of ex-North Leigh, Hayes & Yeading, Berkhamsted and Evesham winger Roger James was announced.
Brislington Background
Brislington is an area in the south-east of Bristol, close to Keynsham, and around 10 miles from Bath. Its population was estimated to be approximately 25,000, so about twice the size of Thame !
Brislington FC were found in 1956 and are known as The Foxes or Briz. Home is the 3,000 capacity Brislington Stadium, which has 150 seats, and for sponsorship reason is now called The Poplar Insulation Stadium. The home colours are red and black striped shirts, with black shorts and socks, which would clash with Thame’s home kit.
Brislington began life in the Bristol leagues, then the Somerset County League, until being promoted to the step 6 Western League Division One, of which they were champions in 1994/95. Brislington were twice runners-up in the Premier Division but voluntarily took relegation after finishing third from bottom in 2021/22. However, promotion was won via the 2023/24 play-offs to return to the Premier Division.
In their first season back at step 5 Brislington finished 14th but last season they finished 17th, which was second from bottom following two sides withdrawing from the league, and only 5 league games were won. Brislington were the 12th best supported team in the Premier Division last season with an average home attendance of 150, up from 121 from the previous season despite the poor results.
Brislington’s best run in the FA Cup came in 2013/14 when as a step 5 side they reached the fourth qualifying round after winning 5 ties, but were eliminated 0-1 at home by National League Welling United in front of a crowd of 600. In the earlier rounds Brislington had won 3-2 at step 2 Weston-Super-Mare, 3-2 at home to step 3 Truro City, 2-1 at Wells City, 4-0 at home to St Blazey and 2-0 at Barnstaple Town.
Fatbear was unable to find any previous meetings between these two clubs.
Brislington This Season
Brislington started the season with four successive defeats in the league, losing 3-4 at home to Saltash United in front of a crowd of 140, 1-2 at Clevedon Town, 3-4 at Liskeard Athletic and 1-4 at Portishead Town.
However, cup ties had brought some welcome distraction with a 1-0 victory at step 5 Thornbury Town of the Hellenic League Premier Division in the Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup, and then a 1-0 home win over Royal Wootton Bassett, also of the Hellenic League Premier Division, in the FA Vase, with Oaklan Buck coming off the bench to score an 80th minute winner. Brislington’s reward will be a home tie in the next round against step 6 Sharpness.
On Tuesday night Brislington returned to league action with a trip to Shepton Mallet and continued their improved form, convincingly picking up their first points of the season with a 4-0 victory, and their third clean-sheet in a row. This result took Briz up to 16th in the 19 team division.
Brislington Squad
Winger Tyller Davis-Whitlock, who joined in the summer from Kent side Phoenix FC, was the leading scorer so far this season with 6 goals in all competitions, followed by ex-Mangotsfield United centre-back Mircea Ilea with 3 goals.
Striker Oaklan Buck had just rejoined the club, having been part of the squad that won promotion through the play-offs three seasons ago, midfielder Charlie Maddison had joined from Bradford Town and midfielder Joe Budd had signed from Roman Glass, having previously played for Taunton Town and Frome Town.
Keeper George Dorrington was another former Mangotsfield player in the Brislington squad, and started his career in the youth teams at Manchester United before being released and joining Huddersfield Town
Brislington’s manager was Josh Egan, who numbered Cheltenham, Blackpool, Bath City and Chippenham amongst his former clubs.
Matchday Information
According to AA Route Planner the journey from Brislington to Thame was 88 miles and should take a couple of minutes shy of two hours.
The weather at 15.00 kick-off was sunny, with a temperature of 21 degrees.
Attendance was £10 for adults, £5 for concessions and £3 for Under 16s. The programme was online but no free team-sheets were available from today’s game. A cup of tea cost £1.50.
Thame made three changes from the side that drew with Ware last Saturday. After a sizzling cameo from the bench Charlie Bacon was handed his first start of the season. Luke Tingey returned to the side whilst Jamie Davies was also making his first start. Finlay Murray, Hayden Beadle and Ed Daffern all dropped down to be substitutes.
Brislington made just one change from midweek with Budd replacing Ben Withey.
The visitors were in a change kit of sky blue shirts and socks, with black shorts.
Thame were in their usual red and black stripes, with black shorts and red socks.
Match Report
Thame kicked off defending the ring-road end and were immediately on the attack as Davies saw a shot from 8 yards deflected for a corner, from which Dan West headed narrowly over the bar from just outside the 6-yard line. However, they were soon ahead as Tingey’s long ball out of defence enabled Curtis Brown to run clear of the square Brislington back-line, and the make-shift centre-forward coolly finished into the opposite corner. It was 1-0 with barely a minute played.
Two minutes later Josh Stranks went past two defenders on the left to get to the byline, and his pulled back reached Davies, whose first effort was mis-hit, and the follow up was put over the bar. It was a good chance.
The first yellow card of the game was shown in the 8th minute when Louie Millard and Stranks competed for a loose ball. The card was shown to Millard but initially Fatbear thought it had been shown to the home player !
It was all Thame, and Bacon was brought down by Ilea just outside the Brislington area on the left-hand side. The free-kick was played short to Harry Alexander on the edge of the Briz area but again the first-time effort was mis-hit, with the follow-up struck weakly to roll through to Dorrington.
The visitors were briefly seen as an attacking force but the linesman’s raised flag for offside stopped Buck running clear, which was repeated a couple of minutes later after Spike Weaver had flicked a header into the Thame half.
Callum Hall was looking lively for Thame and after a strong run deep into the Brislington half he released Brown to pull-back to Hall from close to the byline, but the full-back’s shot was blocked for a corner, which was over-hit and come to nothing.
Alexander ran at the retreating defence but his short from the edge of the area was deflected for another corner to Thame. The ball was played short by Brown to Alexander, whose curling cross was met by Thame captain Mark Riddick to head home at the far post. 2-0 after 16 minutes.
Hall then got to the by-line but his pull-back to Davies saw the Thame winger crowded out near the penalty spot. Shortly after Davies teed up Alexander, but the left-footed attempt flew out of the stadium, after which Hall teed up Alexander for another effort, but Bris captain Lewis Dunn made an important block at the expense of a corner, which Tingey headed narrowly wide.
Some head-tennis ensued following another Thame corner, until the visitors were able to clear. The pressure from the home side was relentless and a good pass from Alexander found Davies in space on the right wing, but his cross went inches past the far post, and just ahead of West who was unable to get his head to it.
With the half-hour approaching, Bacon made another good run down the left and squared for Brown, but the shot was badly sliced for a throw-in.
The second yellow card of the game arrived in the 31st minute following a nasty foul by Buck on Hall near the half-way line, which could easily have been a red card.
The visitors optimistically appealed for an off-side against Bacon, even though the Thame player looked to be about 3 yards onside as he ran onto a ball into the left-hand channel, but Millard was able to recover and produced a good tackle to concede another corner. From the set-piece, West saw a shot blocked and Thame centre-back Tingey went down with an injury. Both teams took the opportunity to take a drink break whilst Tingey was receiving treatment, but he had to leave the field and was replaced by Murray.
When play continued, Bacon ran from the half-way line but his stinging 25 yarder was pushed away by Dorrington diving to his left. Bacon appeared to have the Brislington right-back on toast, and he cut-back inside from the left only to see his shot partially blocked. Dorrington did well to prevent the ball going out for a corner, reacting to dive on the ball, but he appeared to hurt his shoulder in doing so. Play was held up for around three minutes whilst he received treatment but the keeper was able to continue.
West sent a long ball down the right wing where Hall got past Charlie Ames, but the dangerous low cross was intercepted by Dunn. The final action of the first-half saw Jack Tutton’s 25 yard free-kick hit a Thame player and go off for a goal-kick.
It was 2-0 at the interval in what had virtually been a game of attack versus defence. Indeed, Thame keeper James Callan had barely touched the ball, just a couple of back-passes and a goal-kick.
Thame made a change for the second half and James came on for his Thame debut, replacing West. However, this necessitated a re-shuffle in the Thame defence, with Brown dropping back to right-back, Stranks moving to centre-back and Hall switching to left-back.
The pattern of play continued at the start of the second-half as good hold-up play by James resulted in Davies having a short deflected for a corner. However, Dorrington went down again and after more treatment was unable to continue. His shirt was gingerly raised over his shoulders and without a substitute keeper on the bench, Brislington player-manager Egan, who had named himself as one of the subs came on to put on the goal-keeping shirt and don the gloves. As an outfield player and the shortest on the pitch, it wasn’t looking good for The Foxes.
However, Egan couldn’t be held accountable as Thame extend their lead. Tutton chipped the ball ahead and James ran clear of the Brislington defence and lifted the ball over Egan as he advanced off his line, and the ball bounced into the empty net for a quality finish. The score was now 3-0 with 52 minutes played.
Brislington responded with their best move of the game to-date as Davis-Whitlock played a pass for Weaver to latch on to, and Brown brought the forward down just outside the Thame area and became the first Thame player to see yellow. Davis-Whitlock curled the free-kick towards the far post but Tutton made a good defensive header to clear.
Play was soon back in the Brislington half and Alexander played an inviting low ball across the visitors’ area but no-one was on-hand to apply a finish.
Bacon skipped past Millard but again the over-worked Dunn cleared the cross. A long throw from Hall bounced across the Briz are and fell kindly to Alexander, but his first time left-footed effort from 12 yards went narrowly wide.
Alexander and Tutton combined on the edge of the Brislington area, and Alexander’s pass found James, whose drive was bravely blocked, and Bacon sliced the rebound high and wide.
However, Bacon made amends a couple of minutes later, running onto a pass from Alexander, streaking past substitute Adam Parkes and finishing past Egan from close range. It was now 4-0 with 70 minutes on the clock.
Shortly after the restart, James spun away from Dunn and set-up Greg Hackett, whose left-footed shot from the 18-yard line was deflected for a corner, which was played short to Tutton, whose low drive was enterprisingly kicked away by the stand-in keeper.
Brislington enjoyed a very brief period of pressure. First, Groves made progress down the left and played the ball into Weaver inside the Thame area, but his shot on the turn lacked power and Callan made a comfortable save.
Millard then ran towards the Thame area and was brought down. With the Thame players stopping expecting a free-kick to be awarded, the referee played a good advantage, and Budd sent an excellent curling shot from just outside the area into the top corner past the despairing Thame keeper, who was furious with his defence for no longer having a clean-sheet. The excellent consolation goal brought the score to 4-1 with 75 minutes played.
For a while Thame became a little wasteful, and James and Beadle got in each other’s way to mess up a chance. Murray’s header from a corner was cleared by a defender at the back post, Hackett and Brown had consecutive shots blocked, then it was Hackett’s turn to send a shot out of the ground.
Substitute Ed Daffern almost made an instant impact after coming on, delivering a left-wing cross for Hackett, whose close-range flick was saved by Egan’s out-stretched foot. Daffern then saw a long-range attempt produce an outstanding one-handed save by the diving Egan, pushing the ball around the post. Murray headed Tutton’s corner just over the bar.
Thame keeper Callan was called into action to catch a Brislington free-kick and quickly launched his side on a swift counter-attack, which saw James put clear to finish across the goal for his second goal on his debut. It was now 5-1 after 87 minutes.
Thame were not finished yet and Hackett ran onto a ball over the top and got to it ahead of Egan. Despite being forced to turn away from the goal, Hackett delivered an outstanding effort from the angle of the penalty area to hit the inside of the far post and roll into the net. 6-1 after 90 minutes.
There was still no respite for the visitors, and the game finished with Daffern sending a superb 25-yard effort into the top corner, giving the keeper no chance. 7-1 in the 93rd minute.
The final scoreline was probably a little harsh on Brislington, who despite the obvious gulf in class gave their all and bravely made numerous blocks to keep out the efforts by Thame, who now await Monday’s draw for the next round.
Thame United : Callan – Hall, West ( James ), Tingey ( Murray ), Stranks – Davies ( Hackett ), Riddick, Tutton, Bacon ( Daffern ) – Alexander ( Beadle ), Brown
Brislington : Dorrington ( Egan ) – Millard, Ilea, Dunn, Ames – Wearne ( Parkes ), Budd, Scadding, Davis-Whitlock – Weaver, Buck ( Groves )
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