Thatcham

Posted by ChrisB on January 26, 2008, 8:53 pm

City hit the road yet again this Saturday for the short trip down the A34 to Waterside Park to take on an improving Thatcham Town side.
The early exchanges were fairly even with both sides forcing a couple of corners but with neither keeper being particularly put under pressure. Anthony Alleyne shot wide of the post with Steve Smith slightly wrong-footed, and Mark Bell at the other end produced an impressive run, but the final shot lacked power.
City were pressing the harder as the first quarter closed and on 22 minutes debutant Errol Tellemaque timed his run perfectly to get on the end of a lofted pass from Liam Malone over the back-four and lift the ball over Paul Strudley as he left his line.
City continued to push forward and the lead was doubled seven minutes later when the ball broke to Mark Bell near the top of the area and his firm strike took the ball into the net despite Strudley getting both hands to it.
Almost immediately Thatcham might have narrowed the gap when Vinnie Rusher worked a good position for himself but fired over when he might have done better. The home side did pull a goal back on 35 minutes, however, when Smith, under pressure from Alleyne, could only palm away a deep cross from Mario Nurse, and Dave Asker was in the right place as the ball dropped to fire past a defender on the line.
Thatcham finished the half the stronger. Tom Melledew was first to a corner from the City right but headed firmly into Smith’s hands; Ryan Williams’ precise pass released Rusher but his shot from a tricky angle beat both Smith and the far post; and, right on the whistle, it needed a good tackle from Liam Malone to dispossess Rusher at the expense of a corner.

HALF-TIME: Thatcham Town 1-2 Oxford City

The second half was a comparatively quiet affair with Thatcham having the better of the game in terms of possession but with neither goalkeeper really having to produce anything spectacular.
Around the hour mark the home side looked as though they might force a second goal when the ball flew back and forth across the City area several times with no one quite able to get a significant touch; and a free-kick from a dangerous position was hit well by Rusher, but straight at Smith.
City’s chances were few, the best coming when a long pass from Malone out of defence found Alex Stewart on the left, and his cross just eluded Yashwa Romeo; and then in the dying minutes when Stewart headed down a long free-kick from James Saulsbury for Darren Pond to shoot just wide.

FINAL-SCORE: Thatcham Town 1-2 Oxford City

City: Smith, Saulsbury, Woodruffe, Gunn, Pond, Allaway, Bell (Stewart 70), Malone, Romeo (Redknap 86), Tellemaque, Davis.