Next up – Thame United
Saturday, 13th December at Wodson Park, SG12 0UQ.
Pitching in Southern League, Divison One (Central); kick off 3pm.
Although we are now embarking on the second half of our league fixtures this will be our first meeting with Thame this season. And there are still two other sides we have yet to meet in league matches. Who are they? I’ll let you work that out. A clue, we meet them both in January.
Admission
Admission (card preferred but cash accepted) – Adults £10, Concessions £5, under 14 free with paying adult otherwise £2.50.
Printed programme on the gate for £2.
Tickets can be purchased in advance at https://warefc.co.uk/product/ware-v-thame-utd/
Our opponents
Formed in 1883, United are one of the oldest sides in Oxfordshire and after spells in the Hellenic and South Midlands leagues joined the Isthmians in 1991. Two promotions brought them to division one for 1995. They lost their ground in 2005 and with finances becoming tighter they also lost their Step 4 status, returning to the Hellenic League. After ground sharing at Aylesbury and then Wallingford they moved to their current ground in 2011. Promotion back to Step 4 came at the end of 2016/7 and they have maintained their place in the Southern League ever since.
Thame were FA Vase semi-finalists in 1999 and have reached the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup twice.
United’s “away” colours are identical to our normal shirts and shorts so we can expect to see them in their traditional red and black stripes.
Form guide
Last weekend’s 6-3 home win over Northwood raised United to 12th in the table. At first glance it looks to be no more than a comfortable mid-table position but they have three games in hand on us and are eight points behind. They will be thinking that we can be caught and a win on Saturday would put them in a position to overtake us and challenge for the play-offs. They have won four of their last five league games away from home, the only defeat being at league leaders Leighton Town. Playing at home may not be the advantage we think it is. There again their last seven league matches home and away have followed a WLWLWLW sequence on which basis they are due to lose on Saturday. We’ll see.
There’s a good feel about Ware after two clean sheets and six points. The return of Jack Grosvenor has given the defence a more confident look whilst recent games have seen the adoption of tactics appropriate to the circumstances and the intelligent use of substitutes. The injury problems continue but the signing of Gabe Ward on loan from St Albans has proved a success. We can expect a confident Ware team to take the field on Saturday. Among their number, if selected, will be Theo Ofori making his 103rd appearnce for the club. He reached the ton at Stotfold, too late to make it to the programme notes for the MK Irish game, so this Saturday provides the chance to show your appreciation.
Previous Meetings
We first met in the Isthmian League division two in September 1993, a 2-2 away draw (John Spring and Dave Farenden). We lost the return 2-1 at home and then lost both matches the following season. We didn’t meet again until 1998, a 0-0 draw at home in the Isthmian League Cup before winning the replay 2-0 at their previous ground. That was it until we were moved sideways into the Southern League in 2021/2. The first three seasons of competiton saw us win four and draw two games against them but they got some recompense last season. They won both matches, 3-2 at Ware (Jon Clements and Joe Dearman) then 4-0 in Thame.
In the 14 games between Ware and Thame both sides have won five and both have scored 24 goals. Will the teams be separated come 5pm on Saturday?
Commentary
Pete and Symon will be at the game if you can’t make it yourself. They’ll be broadcasting commentary from 2.55 at https://90minuteslivefootball.mixlr.com/events/4689070
Match officials
Our referee for this game is Liam Giles with assistant referees Brian Taylor and Aidan Jones. For Mr Taylor it’s a second visit of the season. He ran the line in our home defeat to Hertford.
