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Thatcham suffer FA Cup heartbreak in five goal thriller




Yashwa Romeo's Thatcham Town crashed out of the FA Cup after some "calamitous" defending cost them in a 3-2 defeat at home to Wessex League Premier Division side Horndean.

The Kingfishers had led following a first half header from Simeon Weekes but a Connor Duffin penalty five minutes before half time ensured the sides went in level at the break.

Horndean then punished Thatcham for a slow start to the second half when Rudi Blankson latched onto Zack Willett's cross and slotted past Jack Hopwood in the Thatcham goal.

Simeon Weekes in action
Simeon Weekes in action

Blankson then made it 3-1 with 15 minutes to go before Cory Hathaway pulled one back for the hosts but it proved too little, too late as Thatcham's FA Cup dream came to an end with the referee's final whistle.

"It was disappointing, I thought we started brightly, we dominated the first 10, 15 minutes," Romeo said.

Yashwa Romeo
Yashwa Romeo

"We hit the crossbar and then went ahead but we took our foot off the gas, no complaints.

"All three goals were calamitous if I'm being honest, there's loads of little mistakes in all of them.

"Other than the goals we did well, kept them at bay, we'll be working hard to rectify the mistakes.

"We're not far away, it's a few minor tweaks, the league is what's important to us, we were never going to win the FA Cup.

"Sometimes it takes a couple of games for competitiveness to kick in, it's a bit of a reality check, we've got to be ready now.

"We'll show them the goals we conceded, I think some of them will be embarrassed and certainly won't be making those mistakes again."

Thatcham welcome Guernsey to the Stacatruc Stadium this weekend when their Isthmian League South Central season kicks off.

The Green Lions finished 14th last term, two places below Thatcham, and manager Chris Bass will be hoping to improve this campaign.

Romeo said: "I'm confident we can bounce back and go and get three points at the weekend, we'll work hard this week.

"If we can do the little things better and cut out our mistakes, I believe we can start the season with a win."



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