Thatcham Town let three unanswered goals decide weekends match

Thatcham suffered a big turnaround as away side take all three points.

Tooting & Mitcham United staged a remarkable turnaround on the weekend, recovering from a half-time deficit to snatch a vital 3-2 victory away at Thatcham Town in the Combined Counties Premier Division South.

Manager Cameron Philbey said, “An overall disappointing result which I think the biggest contributing factor was just individual minor mistakes.”

“Best way to describe it is disappointment because I think we deserved more and we just lacked the experience and composure from a leading position.

Quite a few missed chances again which cost us the game.”

Despite a brilliant brace from Thatcham’s new signing Henry Paxford, the visitors’ clinical efficiency immediately before and after the break proved decisive.

“In the week we managed to sign three strikers- Henry Paxford who scored the two goals, really exciting.

Ben Anderson gives us another dynamic, big, strong, and the Kai Williams has come in and he’s very efficient in terms out output, who creates and scores goals,” he said, as Thatcham aim to address issues with their recent signings.

As the match begins, the hosts burst out of the blocks, seizing the initiative in the 6 minute with Paxford opening the scoring.

Thatcham’s opening goal scorer was on fire, doubling his tally in the 28 minute to give the hosts a seemingly comfortable two-goal advantage.

However, Tooting & Mitcham showed vital composure, clawing a goal back just before the interval when Alex Cruickshank netted in the 44 minute.

That strike proved instrumental, shifting the psychological momentum decisively towards the visitors as the teams headed for the dressing rooms with the score line at 2-1.

Tooting emerged onto the pitch with renewed purpose, finding the swift equaliser just 60 seconds into the second half.

Max Oldham found space almost immediately after the restart and rifled home the leveller in the 46 minute, silencing the home crowd and wiping out Thatcham’s hard-earned lead.

The comeback was completed in the 61 minute when Jordy Ndozid surged forward and delivered the decisive blow, finishing to put the visitors ahead for the first time.

Thatcham desperately tried to find a route back into the game, making attacking changes as Kye Williams replaced Ben Anderson, and later Jamie Barker entered the fray.

However, the visitors held firm, making their own late substitute to shore up the defence.

Ultimately, Thatcham Town will rue their lack of concentration, which allowed Tooting & Mitcham to score three unanswered goals across a decisive 17-minute period either side of half-time.