Match Report Amersham Town 0-0 Thatcham Town

The weather spent all afternoon dropping vague hints, but held off just long enough to deceive us. Naturally, the second hand ticked over to 3:00 PM and the heavens over Buckinghamshire opened in absolute sync.

The pitch, slippy and greasy but Thatcham took early control, Willmoth whipped in a corner and Titch rose highest to glance a header on goal, setting the tone for a dominant spell. The Kingfisher kept piling on the pressure, forcing Amersham into errors.

Then in minute 22, the moment official impartiality went entirely out the window.

The tackle on Kye Williams was so high, two-footed and reckless, it looked less like a football challenge and more like a WWE entry straight off the top rope. We all waited for the obvious red card, or at least a Yellow, but the man in the middle apparently decided airborne combat is fully permitted under FIFA’s updated guidelines.

Thatcham kept pushing and forced even more mistakes, but despite having all the momentum, we went into the break locked at 0-0.

If you hoped the referee would grab a pair of glasses during half-time, you were sorely disappointed.

Amersham certainly started the second half as the brighter team, Winchcombe immediately took a late, totally deliberate hit from their No. 10. Once again, our fearless official looked right at it, shrugged, and saw absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Around the 55th minute, Amersham thought they’d cracked it when their No. 9 poked the ball home, but luckily the linesman actually had his eyes open, he was standing three yards offside, and the goal was rightly chalked off.

That let-off sparked us back to life as Thatcham slowly regained a grip on the contest. Willmoth unleashed a crisp drive that had their keeper scrambling across the greasy surface for a nervous save. Shortly after, the ball dropped nicely to Baines on the edge of the box, though he managed to send his effort soaring high over the bar toward the local flora. Amersham then gave us a proper heart-fright out of nowhere on 70 minutes, rattling our crossbar with a long-range thunderbolt.

Looking to turn the tide, the gaffer threw on fresh legs, bringing Tooze on for Wallace before replacing Baines with Elliot to inject some raw pace up front. It nearly paid off instantly. Willmoth carved Amersham open and found Tooze, who beat his man all ends up and dragged a brilliant ball straight across the six-yard box... only for everyone to watch it roll by because nobody had gambled on the run.

Then, in the 87th minute, a genuine Christmas miracle occurred: the referee actually found his card. He brandished a yellow card at the Amersham No. 8 for a mild shirt pull, an offence he clearly deemed far more dangerous than earlier top-rope launch attacks.

Thatcham continued to press right until the death, but to no avail. It finished 0-0. All things considered, a very solid point on the road and our first clean sheet of the season!

Man of the Match: Owen Lobb

Attendence : 61

Team: Sharlott, Lobb,Winchcombe,Willmoth,Denton, Heholt, Williams,Polding, Wallace, Smith, Baines

Subs: Tooze, Emm Subs not Used: Chowdhary, Shurvill,Khamis