Super sub Simeon Weekes inspires three minute Thatcham turnaround

Two late goals from substitute Simeon Weekes helped Thatcham Town come from behind to beat Northwood 2-1, their first win in five Isthmian League South Central matches.

The Kingfishers were staring a third defeat in four in the face after centre-back Harry Gallagher fired the visitors into a 1-0 lead but two goals from Weekes in three second half minutes secured Thatcham three points that moved them back into the top half.

After a run of 10 games unbeaten, defeat at home to Hanworth Villa led to a run of form that was lukewarm at best, with the Kingfishers losing to strugglers Chipstead and failing to beat third bottom Sutton Common Rovers.

And it looked like Yashwa Romeo's side were facing more of the same when a slow start saw fourth placed Northwood take the lead in the 10th minute when Luke Tingey's long throw was flicked on by frontman Gareth Chendlik and Gallagher stabbed home to score his third goal of the season.

Thatcham thought they'd managed an instant response when the influential Ramarni Medford-Smith's low cross was turned in by Cameron Rohart-Brown but the linesman flagged for offside and the goal was ruled out.

It was an end to end contest as the Kingfishers continued to search for an equaliser but visiting goalkeeper Andrew McCorkell was proving tough to beat, keeping out efforts from Jordan Alves and Harry Williams.

With 10 minutes left on the clock goalscorer Gallagher went from Northwood's hero to their villain, receiving a red card and giving away a penalty after he pulled back Simeon Weekes when the replacement frontman was through on goal.

Weekes stepped up and scored from the spot and Thatcham were level with nine minutes of normal time remaining and a man advantage to press home.

It took the Kingfishers just two minutes to find a winner when Weekes spun his man and fired his shot into the corner to make it 2-1.

Northwood managed a couple of set pieces but with a man down were unable to create a clear-cut chance for an equaliser while Thatcham's Issy Kaba almost made it 3-1 at the death but was unable to score from a difficult angle with McCorkell stranded after coming up for a corner.

The welcome three points returns the Kingfishers to the top half, moving them up to 10th ahead of a trip to 14th placed Leatherhead on Saturday.

And boss Yashwa Romeo hasn't abandoned hopes of a late play-off push but admits his side, who are five points behind fifth placed Hanworth Villa, will likely need to win five of their remaining six matches.

"We needed a good result on Saturday and it keeps us just about in the play-off race," he said.

"We started slowly and struggled to deal with their long throw and I gave the lads a bit of the hairdryer treatment at half time.

"We responded really well and changed the shape to make us much more aggressive up top.

"We left it a little bit late but I felt like we got what we deserved in the end."

Super substitute Simeon Weekes' brace was the first time he'd scored since the opening day of the season.

It's been a difficult campaign for the frontman who scored eight goals in 17 appearances last term but Romeo is confident the weekend could provide the springboard he needs to kick on again.

He said: "It's been a long time coming for Sim but he offers a lot more than goals, he works hard, gets in behind and can add a lot to the team."

Romeo's enjoyed a successful first full season in charge of the Kingfishers following a difficult beginning to the campaign that saw Thatcham languishing in and around the relegation zone before a fantastic unbeaten run saw them rocket up the league.

While he remains fully focused on his side's final six games of this campaign, he's already thinking about how Thatcham can improve next term.

"We've done a lot of prep for the summer and next season, we've been looking at sorting out friendlies and recruiting new players," he said.

"I think there's still a number of areas where we can improve and we'd like more depth for next season.

"We've conceded something like 19 goals from dead-ball situations so a big target of mine is to bring in someone that can dominate in the air and improve us in that area.

"We've had a good season, I'm still learning on the job and we're always striving to improve."