THAME UNITED 0
PETERBOROUGH SPORTS 1 (Malone 43
Both sides went into this game with continued hope of promotion. Peterborough continue on a tremendous winning run, where as Thame are continue to fight for each point to battle the sides around them in the table.
HT SCORE – Thame United 0 – 1 Peterborough Sports
The importance of this fixture could be felt in the crowd and during the pre-game warm ups. Thame survived injury scares to Hill and West who both did start the match.
The first chance in the match came around quickly when Peterborough’s Jones had half a chance to score but a low drilled shot went past Hill’s left hand post. Peterborough continued to have the brighter start in possession in the first ten minutes. Thame resorted to closing the opposition down earlier and more often in an attempt to get back into the game. This lead to Thame dominating play and Peterborough did not have as much time on the ball and were being left frustrated. Thame’s Goss and Lynn were proving to be exceptional on the left wing both in defence and attack.
Tack made a chance out of nothing when in possession, whereby he manged to dribble towards goal and fire a shot which did go over the bar. Lynn prevented a goal scoring opportunity when a diagonal ball into the box towards Malone meant the challenge in the air was enough to put Malone off heading it into the net. Peterborough continued to create chances when a set piece led to an easy header for Malone from a corner which was headed over the bar. Peterborough made a change in tactics as they now started to play the ball wider where possible but Thame’s body language and communication on the pitch remained positive. Thame’s Goss was having to work extremely hard up the top on his own making sure that the Peterborough defence were put under pressure. Goss did excellent work in holding up the ball in order to get team mates further forward. An example of this was Thame’s Fasanmade started to exert his quality and was able to get onto the ball more and make runs at the defence of his own. Thame did nearly find the first goal when a free kick from Goss did reach the leaping Essex who could only head the ball over the ball. This was followed up by a great cross by Peterborough’s Griffiths which was anticipated by Mepham to flick the ball away for a corner and preventing the player behind getting onto it. Before the end of the half a through ball to West meant he was one on one with Moat, the goalie made a great move to prevent West dribbling round him for an easy finish. A foul just before half time lead to Peterborough pushing numbers into the box whereby Hilliard’s free kick was brilliantly weighted for Malone to jump up and head the ball in to give Peterborough the lead on 43 minutes.
FT Score – Thame United 0 – 1 Peterborough Sports
Peterborough started the second half with a different approach and begun to stretch play and were passing side to side in the early stages. The second half proved to be a very tactical game early on and both sides were finding it difficult to break the other side down to create clear chances. Peterborough were happy with the game being stop/start in order to slow play down. Peterborough nearly extended the lead when from the right wing a cross came into the box but it failed to reach any of the 3 supporting players. Thame’s hopes did rely on the play of Goss who was continuing to win the first and second ball but link up play was difficult for Thame. Neither goalie had to do much so far but Hill was forced into a save when McCammon passed to Sembie-Ferris on the left who put in a cross which led to a comfortable stop by Hill. Thame’s wingers had to work extremely hard off the ball and Fasanmade continued to impress with his workrate chasing down balls. Thame’s tactic of playing direct towards Goss In search of a goal was proving difficult due to two defenders being around him all the time. Thame were awarded a corner late on from the left which when put into the box was cleared but found Lynn 30 yards out who drilled a low shot which required concentration by Peterborough goalie Moat. Thame did make a change bringing on Peake-Pijnen to play on the left who did create a great run of his own which led to his cross proving to be dangerous resulting in a last ditch clearance to prevent a tap in near the back post. Peterborough tried to avoid dropping deeper and began to push the defensive line further afield. The game was very much end to end in the last 5 minutes but with no shots on target. Peterborough were able to see out the closing minutes and secure the win in at the ASM Stadium.
Peterborough Sports will be relieved to come away with 3 points as Thame proved to be a real challenge for them. The win means Peterborough climb back up to top spot with a game in hand. Thame now remain in 9th place and with 6 games to go will need to secure victories home and away if they are to clinch 5th position.
*** Man of the Match Award Sponsored byFigaro's Barber in Thame ***
This was awarded to Thame left back David Lynn who was a threat going forward, multiple dangerous crosses, great positional play and multiple important tackles and headers throughout the game.
*** NEXT GAME ***
Bedford Town v Thame United
Saturday 30/3/19
15:00
The Eyrie, Bedford
*** FOLLOW US ***
Web – www.thamefootball.co.uk
Facebook – @thameunitedfc
Twitter – @thameunitedfc
Red Kite Radio – 107.2fm
Sports Shots - @sports_shots
*** STARTING LINE UPS ***
Thame United – Hill (gk), Mepham, Lynn, Essex, Gledhill, Ashworth, Tack, Sturgess (cpt), Goss, West, Fasanmade
Subs used – Peake-Pijnen
Peterborough Sports – Moat (gk), Griffiths, Herd, Malone, Jones (cpt), Lawlok, Sembie-Ferris, McCammon, Jones, Hilliard, Macleod
Subs used – Vieira
