Thaxted Rangers 1 : 5 Wisbech St Marys Reserves

Thaxted crashed out of the Creake Charity Shield Cup at the weekend to higher league opponents Wisbech, but not without a fight.

The scoreline suggests a straight forward victory for the visitors, however this game was very much in the balance right up until the closing stages.

It was the home side who started brightly and went in front after 10 minutes, when Al Potter cut in from the left and hit a great shot with his right foot, giving the keeper no chance.

Thaxted could have gone further in front a few minutes later when Charlie Daniels broke clear and hit an unstoppable effort which hit the bar.

Wisbech then began to settle and, as the half wore in, it was the visitors who were beginning to dictate the game. First off, a goal was chalked off for offside, but Thaxted’s relief was shortlived as just a few minutes later, Wisbech were back on level terms when slack marking allowed the striker to head home.

Then a bit of fortune for Wisbech, as another header came back off of the bar only to hit a Thaxted defender and rebound into the net, so 2-1 at the break.

The opening of the second half was keenly contested and it was Thaxted who were asking most of the questions and looking likely to get the all important next goal.

However, with 20 minutes to go, Wisbech broke clear and made it 3-1 to put the tie beyond Thaxted.

A miss hit cross, made it 4-1 and another goal in the closing stages as Thaxted threw men forward put an unrealistic score on what had been an evenly contested game where Thaxted had given as good as they got.

So it’s back to league action at the weekend, when Thaxted travel away to City Life.

Team: C Pink, M Williams, S Mead, A Macdowell, L Hornsby, C Grout (capt), J Lacon, A Potter, C Daniels, C Payne, T Clark. Subs: L Mead, S Vince, J Hansen, W Perry. Goal: A Potter