Moneyfields played their latest cup game on Saturday, as they attempted to get past the first qualifying round of the FA Trophy, hosting fellow step 4 side, Thame United.

Moneys did get off to a good start, looking generally more threatening in the early exchanges. James Franklyn warmed the keepers palms as he brought a smart save out of the Thame keeper, having to tip a riffled shot over for a corner, within the first 10 mins.

As with recent games however, it was our opposition who scored first. The Thames forward was leaning backward into Moneys defender Tom Jeffes, when both fell down. Almost no one in favour of the opposition even appealed for a penalty as it was quite clear what the striker was trying to do, and the ref bought it. Walsh put the penalty away well with a short run up, placing it in the bottom right corner.

It wasn’t long though and Moneys were back level on 19 minutes. A corner from the right hand side was taken short and brought away from the goal line. Jordan Pile whipped the ball in, and Tayo Singerr was there to make it 2 goals in 2 Moneys appearances.

Between Tayo’s goal and half time, neither team were looking particularly threatening. It was mostly long range efforts and runs down the left wing from Moneys winger Faris Khallouqi that looked most likely to bring the next goal. He came closest with a couple of efforts going narrowly wide of the goal.

Half Time – Moneyfields 1-1 Thame United

On 57 minutes, things looked good for Moneys as they took the lead. Thame attempted to load the box for a long throw in, but left themselves exposed with a high defensive line. The ball was played into Tayo who flicked the ball on to release Franko into a one on one. The keeper didn’t really close down Franko, so he calmly pushed it to the keeper’s right to give Moneys a 2-1 lead.

Lawrence Cooper looked like he’d taken a knock on around 70 minutes. A combination of that and possibly an attempt to defend any attempts by Thame to come back into the game, resulted in Tom Cain being brought in place of Loz.

Soon after that, Kieran Alcock was brought on in place of Rudi Blankson to give a different outlet and more defensive support on 78 minutes.

There was a few chances Moneys will have regretted not taking, when on 90 minutes, Thame got themselves back level. A corner came in from the attacking right hand side, was headed back across goal at the far post and then into the net by Williams.

In added time, Asad Ssemwogerere was brought on for James Franklyn with a penalty shootout looming.

Full Time – Moneyfields 2-2 Thame United

The first 6 penalties were all put away, leaving us at 3-3, when Jordan Pile had his penalty saved. It was unfortunately the only penalty not to be converted as Singerr, Ssemwogerere, Cain and Khallouqi all scored theirs. Thame United therefore progressed 4-5 on penalties.