Kingfishers aim to bring down Oaks

Thatcham host Kent side in FA Vase

THATCHAM TOWN will be pitching their multi-faceted strike force against a mean Kentish defence when they face Sevenoaks Town in Saturday’s Buildbase FA Vase Third Round tie at Waterside Park.
The Southern Counties East Premier Division leaders top their table by a single point from Corinthian and Croydon, despite having three and four games in hand respectively on their rivals.
They won 2-1 at Southern Combination League leaders Haywards Heath in the last round, while Thatcham were accounting for Heath’s league rivals Horsham YMCA.
Sevenoaks will head for Waterside Park on the back of their first defeat in nine matches and having fired blanks in successive matches since winning through to this round.
Their 1-0 exit from the Kent Senior Trophy at lowly league rivals Tunbridge Wells followed a goal-less league game at Canterbury, the two outings made by Oaks since winning 2-1 at Haywards Heath to reach this round of the Vase.
Despite those two blips, Sevenoaks have lost only once in the Southern Counties East Premier Division this term, a 2-1 defeat at Cray Valley PM on August 16.
In contrast to Thatcham’s free-scoring ways, Sevenoaks have netted only 27 times in their 13 league games, six of those coming against that same Tunbridge Wells.
But their back line has been breached only eight times in those matches, and their heaviest reverse was a 2-0 defeat at Crowborough in a cup tie.
Shane Cooper-Clark’s 29 goals for Thatcham this season dwarf the aggregate of Oaks’ leading four
marksmen. They are led by the experienced Rory Hill and Byron Walker with seven apiece, the latter having had experience higher up the ladder with Stalybridge Celtic
following trials with Oldham Athletic. Hill’s career began with Gillingham and took in spells at Salisbury, Welling and Maidenhead United.
Billy Bennett’s six goals and four from Robert Jones complete a goal-scoring list made of mainly goal-scoring midfielders.