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Thame United 6  Northwood 3

Saturday 6th December 2025

 

NORTHWOOD
     
     
   
1 Andrew McCorkell
2 Ademide Baruwa
3 Harry McKenna
4 Manny Folarin © (71m)
5 Bryan Mankumbani
6 Dan Vincent (58m)
7 Freddie Ford
8 Carl Stewart (71m)
9 Dan Williams
10 Jon-Jo Bates
11 Osa Otote (58m)
Substitutes
12 Rowan Daly(71m)
14 Stephane Bombelenga (58m)
15 Jack Smith
16 Aidan Tarrant (71m)
17 Hicham Bouchareb (58m)
 

Thame: John Pettitt, Callum Hall, Curtis Brown, Finlay Murray, Ethan Lack (Luke Tingey 67m), Mark Riddick, Gregory Hackett (Lance Williams 69m), Jack Tutton (Abuzar Khan 71m), Louis Walsh (Charlie Stow 76m), Daniel West, Harry Alexander

The Woods reached the halfway point in what has been a testing league season to date with this away game at mid-table Thame United played on a boggy pitch following periods of heavy rain over the previous twenty-four hours.

Northwood were forced into several changes following the departures of Omar Rowe and Reece Price-Placid while Gabe Cuthbert was unable to play due to QPR commitments and goalkeeper Hafed Al-Droubi was also unavailable. In came Andrew McCorkell for his second appearance of the season in goal, Bryan Mankumbani into central defence, Jon-Jo Bates bolstered the midfield while Freddie Ford played wide up front. There was a place on the bench for new signing Stephane Bombelenga, most recently with Harrow Borough, on dual-registration with British Airways.

The home side brought back goalkeeper Jonny Pettitt on loan from Wycombe Wanderers having been out injured and also included two former Woods players in their squad; Curtis Brown in a wing-back role while central defender Luke Tingey was on the bench having missed a few weeks with injury.

Both sides took a bit of time to adapt to the conditions with Thame shading things but neither had created an effort on goal before the Red Kites won a corner on 23 minutes and when Jack Tutton knocked it in with a high trajectory, defender Finlay Murray pounced with a free-header which he powered into the net.

The Woods had still created nothing of note when the home side bagged a simple second goal on 34 minutes when Louis Walsh threaded a good ball into the box which found Mark Riddick who laid off a pass onto Tutton and he tucked his first-time shot inside the post with McCorkell unable to get across to keep it out.

Two minutes later, Northwood finally made some inroads into the final third with Ford latching onto a half-cleared corner but his shot from distance was well wide. It led to the Woods finishing the half well though. On 43 minutes, Dan Vincent chipped in a free-kick which was headed away and while Carl Stewart’s shot from the loose ball was heading wide, Bates managed to redirect it with a header which flew across a late dive from Pettitt to pull a goal back.

Just a minute later, it should have been level as a good move saw Bates find Dan Williams and his measured pass saw Dan West miss an interception and Stewart was in behind him on goal but, with the whole goal to aim for, he went for power but hit his shot at the keeper who pushed it two-handed over the bar.

PHOTOS by James Brown

It had certainly raised hopes for a second half comeback for the Woods, though they had the gusty wind against them and those hopes were hit badly just four minutes after the break. It was former Woods winger Brown who did the damage, speeding down the right and leaving the defence for dead before unselfishly chose not to shoot as he squared the ball across the six-yard box where Ademide Baruwa was unable to block and Greg Hackett came in late to sweep a shot into the roof of the net.

That could have been all over but again the Woods hit back, just three minutes later. Baruwa sent a long throw into the box and Williams headed up for Folarin to head across goal and Mankumbani pounced to knock in the loose ball from close range.

Bombelenga and Hicham Bouchareb were introduced as substitutes after 58 minutes, replacing Vincent who was on a yellow card and Otote who had made no impact down the left. Sadly, for Northwood, they gifted a fourth goal to the Red Kites on 62 minutes as McCorkell made a hash of clearing a poor back-pass, which simply rolled out to Ethan Lack who gratefully accepted the opportunity to slid a left-foot shot into the empty net.

Just two minutes later, there were wide spaces everywhere as Brown again raced down the right and got the ball across for Hackett to fire home his second and a fifth for the rampant home side.

The Woods made more changes, bringing on two youngsters in Aidan Tarrant, for skipper Manny Folarin while Rowan Daly replaced Stewart, both on 71 minutes. Substitutions from the Red Kites had seen the experienced West move into a more advanced position and he went close but shot wide of the target with just McCorkell to beat and after 81 minutes, Northwood reduced the deficit once more when Williams bagged his tenth of the season with a right-foot shot that bounced awkwardly for Pettitt and skidded straight through his legs.

One more goal for Northwood might have made for an interesting last few minutes but it was not to be. West had a good strike well saved by McCorkell on 86 minutes and with five minutes of stoppage-time added, the last touch of the game saw Harry Alexander’s cross headed on and substitute Lance Williams headed over McCorkell and into the net for a sixth. The final whistle came before the game was even restarted.

It was the first time the Woods had conceded six since a similar 6-3 defeat at Binfield back in April 2024 with the only good news on the day being the fact that most of the other sides around the danger-zone had also been beaten. Next up, a home game against Stotfold who have the best current form over the last ten matches and have climbed from the bottom of the table to a high of seventh just recently.

REPORT by Alan Evans

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