MATCH PREVIEW : Thatcham Town v Cinderford Town AFC

This afternoon the Kingfishers take on Cinderford Town in an FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round tie.  Kick-off is at 3:00 at Waterside Park.

Both Thatcham and Cinderford started their 2026/27 campaigns with a defeat before bouncing back with wins in midweek. The Kingfishers lost 3-1 at Penn & Tylers Green last Saturday before goals from Kye Williams and Josh Baines secured a 2-1 win over Bedfont on Tuesday. Meanwhile over in the Hellenic League Premier, Cinderford lost 2-0 at Bradford Town but scored the only goal through Harry Leeson at Droitwich Spa.

Two seasons ago both Thatcham and Cinderford were relegated to step five from the Southern League Division One South & West. The Foresters finished bottom, picking up a few wins towards the end of the campaign to finish with some respectability. In a luckless season of long-distance travel and postponements, Thatcham couldn’t quite force themselves the right side of the dreaded dotted line.

In that ill-fated season the two sides met each other twice in the space of four days during March. In Gloucestershire Alex Bonthron fired Cinderford into an early lead then Harvey Flippance then struck twice for Thatcham but was heading to A&E by the time Marley Thomas levelled it at 2-2. The return fixture in Berkshire went ahead at the third time of asking and Christian Johnson scored the only goal for the Kingfishers.

Not too long ago the two teams contested FA Trophy Ties in consecutive seasons at the Causeway Ground. In October 2021 Cinderford were victorious on penalties after the tie finished in a 2-2 draw, with Dan Fosu scoring both goals for the Kingfishers. The following season Thatcham’s Ashley Howell scored the only goal of a Tuesday night tie, postponed from the weekend following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

The games come thick and fast in the Combined Counties Premier Division North, with Thatcham travelling to local rivals Wokingham on Tuesday. Cinderford are not in action until next weekend, when they play their first home game of the season against Hallen. The winners of today’s tie travel to Easington Sports or Mangotsfield United in the next round.

Ahead of the game manager Cam Philbey said,

“The FA Cup is a prestigious competition, the players are looking forward to today’s tie and it’s great for the club to be involved. But ultimately it’s just another game which I want us to play well in and win.

We have a strong squad and with more spaces on the bench for this tie it’s important we not only find the right team but also the right subs bench. I expect us to be largely unchanged, though Declan is just helping a couple of players who have picked up knocks.

It was great to get a win on Tuesday night. At the start of a new season everyone is eager to get off to a good start, the goalscorers want to get off the mark and so on. So it’s pleasing to have points on board early on, and that gives us a platform to kick on from.

Looking back at the Penn & Tylers Green defeat, we created a good number of chances and it was the same against Bedfont on Tuesday. Yes it was a bit frustrating we didn’t score more and a little more nervy than it should have been, but I’d be more worried if we weren’t creating chances, and making the most of possession in the final third is something we have been working on.

We had a game plan we were confident with at eleven versus eleven. Playing against ten made it more difficult at times as when they put ten behind the ball there was less space for us to break them down. Credit to Bedfont, they worked hard in the second half, but defensively I didn’t think we were troubled aside from giving away a silly penalty away. Enjoy the game.”