Thame United 3, Flackwell Heath 1
4/3/08 Soccer
Kits Supplementary Cup
After successive
league defeats manager Mark West changed the formation for Tuesday’s
Supplementary Cup First Round match with Premier Division Flackwell Heath.
United immediately looked comfortable in their new 3-5-2 formation and, after a
fairly even opening 20 minutes in which the best opportunity fell to Stuart
Barr who dragged his shot just wide, it was Thame who began to mount pressure
on the visitors goal. The break through came after 28 minutes when Ben Connelly
did well to cross from the right, and the ball was met with a powerful header 8
yards out by Luke Ricketts to give United the lead.
The lead was doubled
10 minutes later when Connelly again picked up the ball in space on the right
before cutting inside, beating his marker and drilling the ball beyond the
keeper, low to his left. The same player had a similar opportunity two minutes
later, but saw his shot well saved by the Flackwell keeper whilst, from a
similar goal scoring position, top scorer Nathan Jack turned on to his right
foot rather than hitting a shot with his favoured left foot.
With a 2-0 score line
at half time, Flackwell pressed in the early stages of the second half without
really threatening Searl in the Thame goal. Indeed, it was United who had the
best scoring opportunities with Jack hitting the crossbar from 20 yards before
skewing a shot wide from 10 yards when it looked easier to score. Nevertheless,
Thame extended their lead in the 75th minute when Ben Connelly hit a
shot from an acute angle that the keeper could only help over the line. With
Thame comfortably ahead Flackwell pushed forward in search of a consolation
goal, which duly arrived 10 minutes from time when Alan Akerman beat Searl from
12 yards with a drive to the keepers left. Despite getting a goal back, it was
Thame who pressed forward with Connelly coming close to completing his hat
trick.
The result sees Thame
progress to the second round where they face a trip to another Premier Division
side, Wantage Town.
Thame United: Searl, Hocking (Watkins), Graves, Thompson, Cowan,
Connelly, Rhodes, Catlin, Barr (Dawson), Jack (Leach), Ricketts.