Romeo happy with Thatcham performance, despite loss away in Cornwall

Thatcham Town manager Yashwa Romeo was delighted with his side’s “superb” performance on Saturday.

The Kingfishers fell to a 1-0 defeat away at Cornish side Falmouth, made all the more painful by a day spent on the coach there and back.

“It was about twelve hours on the road. We left at six and got home at midnight”, Romeo said.

“It wasn’t the result we wanted, but it was definitely the performance I asked for!

“We were absolutely superb. It was a classic smash and grab.”

The trip to the South-West saw a return for captain Callum Willmoth, while new signing Harry Thorpe came straight in for his debut, having only arrived last week.

Thatcham were well in control of the game, dominating the first half hour before Falmouth made it 1-0 against the run of play.

A ball into the box was unable to be cleared, bouncing around the penalty area before falling to the feet of the Falmouth number nine, who finished in the 36th minute.

Thatcham’s dominance would continue, but they were unable to find their breakthrough despite an emphatic performance.

“Previously we’ve only done it in spells of 45 minutes, but on Saturday we dominated for 90”, Romeo said.

“We were so good in possession, created lots of chances and missed a couple of open goals!

“It was a crazy game! But that’s football.

“The performance was absolutely superb.”

Romeo has made sure to not let heads drop over the last few weeks, as Thatcham have missed multiple key players and faced some tough opposition.

“There’s definitely belief that we're on the right track”, he said.

“Sometimes you don’t get the rub of the green and you’ve just got to weather the storm”.

Saturday also marked Mo Ceesay’s 100th appearance for the club, with Romeo full of praise for the versatile midfielder.

“Emmanuel Petit said how the best players don’t really talk, Mo is like that.

“He does his talking on the pitch. He’s a credit to the club, so good, so dynamic, a seven out of ten wherever I put him.”

Thatcham are back in league action on Saturday as they host another Cornish opponent, Mousehole AFC.

Before that they’ll host Evesham United at 7:45 on Tuesday in a replay of their FA Trophy clash last week, as Evesham had fielded an ineligible player in the original fixture.