Thame Youth (06/01/2002)
2001 - 2002 Season, Hithercroft Under 15s



This game was our first gathering after our last game on 16th December, training having been cancelled last Friday as the astroturf would have been too slippery. The Thame ground had been damaged by cars having been driven over it recently and a second pitch was therefore readied, delaying the kick off for 18 minutes.

After five minutes of play Hithercroft opened the scoring when Shane Globe hit a long, hard shot over the keeper’s head. Fourteen minutes later the equaliser came when Matthew Wilson-Jones headed the ball into goal. Both sides had numerous attacks on goal with Hithercroft not being able to get their shots in and Thame putting their attempts either wide or over the bar. Four minutes before the half-time break Jason Guy put the visitors back into the lead with a strong shot high into the net and bringing the scoreline to 1-2.

Ten minutes after the restart Jason extended Hithercroft’s lead to 1-3 when he picked up a poor clearance from Thame and struck the ball fiercely into the net, giving keeper Matthew Dickinson little chance. However, five minutes later Matthew Wilson-Jones took the ball downfield and, despite Adeel Iqbal’s attempt to intercept him, hit the ball wide of the Hithercroft keeper into the net bringing the deficit back to just one goal. (At this point the batteries in my dictaphone dislodged and my subsequent notes went unrecorded. As this is the second time that this has happened I have carried out some technical modifications by judicious use of some cardboard packing). Thame picked up the pace and took the lead scoring three goals courtesy of Garrett Green, Nicholas Portnall and Matthew Wilson-Jones (completing his hattrick). Phillip Lines, minding the goal for Hithercroft, pulled off two superb saves to deny the home team from an even bigger lead. Hithercroft then upped their game again and were rewarded shortly before the final whistle when Jason gathered the ball near the Thame goal, rounded a couple of defenders and, from close range, hit the ball just inside the right hand post. The ball appeared to find it’s way between the post and the net and ended up outside of the goal. Jason appealed to the referee, who sought confirmation from Matthew Dickinson, the Thame goalkeeper. He sportingly confirmed that this was the case and so the goal was awarded. The whistle at the end of the game saw Thame Youth taking all 3 points in this closely fought game with the final score standing at 5-4.


The scorers for Thame were Matthew Wilson-Jones (3), Garrett Green and Nicholas Portnall.

The scorers for Hithercroft were Jason Guy (3) and Shane Globe.

Hithercroft’s ‘Man of the Match’ was Phillip Lines.

Comic quip of the game came from a Thame Youth supporter who called out encouragingly “Come on. Whack it! Imagine it’s your little brother’s head.....”