A men’s first team on the back of five straight wins to start the season took on a Staines team who despite their league position we knew would be a strong opposition. The game was fairly end to end to begin with and was a bit scrappy in places however we took the lead when Alastair Bennett played a great ball towards the back post from the 25 which Ben Caiger steered into the goal whilst in a full length dive. Staines responded quickly though and through a short corner and on the stroke of halftime they took the lead when a strong drag flick wrong footed Mullins leaving the score 2-1 Staines at halftime.
A stern team talk from Dan kicked Thame back into gear and they started the second half much more positively with chances being created regularly that just couldn't be finished off. Thame's persistence was rewarded with five minutes to go when Pete won a short corner and a well executed routine saw Caiger slap the ball into an empty goal. 2-2 with a few minutes to go and it was all to play for. Unfortunately an uncharacteristic error from Lewis Hall saw a misplaced pass go straight to the Staines forward; allowing him to go through on goal before slipping it to a team mate to put the ball into an empty goal.
The game ended 3-2 which marks the Men’s 1XI’s first loss since early February. It wasn’t our best game but still positives to take from it and things to work on in training. However winning 5 of our first 6 after promotion is also hardly a bad start to the season! Many thanks to Laurence and Clare for umpiring and those who came down to support. Onwards and upwards to South Berks next week!

MoM - Alastair: A really strong performance in the middle of the park and matched the physical intensity shown by the opposition.
DoD - Lewis: Sorry mate it could only be you I'm afraid.