Category: Sports News

THE Thame 10k road race has been running since 1985 and has grown to be one of the key sporting fixtures in Thame with 1000 runners pounding a course through the town centre to Towersey, and back along the Phoenix Trail.

Thame Runners organise the race and allocate any surplus funds to local charities. Last year approximately £2.5K was given to local Thame organisations and charities.

This year’s CPM Thame 10km road race will take place on Sunday, June 29, 2014, starting at 9.30am from Thame Leisure Centre. Entries are being taken now on-line via Runners World website www.runnersworld.co.uk.

There will be NO ENTRIES ON RACE DAY and the race will be limited to 1000 entries to maintain a safe and enjoyable day for everyone. Last year this race was full before the end of May so it is recommended to enter early to avoid disappointment.

THAME  United were defeated 0-1 by Bracknell Town at the ASM Stadium on Saturday, a disappointing result for Thame as Bracknell are six places below them in the league. Football is however about converting chances into goals and, although United created several good scoring opportunities, they could not find the back of their opponent’s net.

A strong wind gusting behind Thame in the first half and Bracknell after the break contributed to a ‘game of two halves’ with United controlling the first half and their opponents in control for much of the second. The game saw the return of goalkeeper Lee Farrow, who was injured on Boxing Day.

Thame started brightly and created a good chance when Lewis Cordice hit a low cross from the right into the path of Luke Ricketts who narrowly failed to meet the ball. After 10 minutes, a ball from Ian Pykett created a half chance for Cordice whose shot was parried by the keeper and fell to Niall Hodgkins but the keeper also blocked his shot allowing Cordice to fire home, but it was ruled to be from an offside position. Thame were looking dangerous and Nik Rhodes Lynton Goss, Cordice and Ricketts all went close. The game was goalless at the break despite Thame having won six corners to the visitors one.

It was a completely different game in the second half. Thame struggled to threaten whilst the visitors mounted attack after attack. Farrow was on form and made several good saves. Bracknell hit the woodwork twice before taking the lead with 10 minutes remaining. A pass from midfield created the space for Martin Bradshaw to run at goal and hit a low well placed shot into the corner of Farrow’s goal, giving him no chance.

Thame United: Farrow, I Pykett, Hall, Hercules, Rhodes, Lynch, Goss, West, Cordice (Jesson), Hodgkins, Ricketts.

A Memorial cricket match is to be held to celebrate the life of a former captain of Thame Cricket Club, and all-round outstanding sportsman.

The match will be held in the summer between a Ray Hawes XI & a Nigel Cassidy X1, to commemorate the life of Ray Hawes, who died in November 2013, in Charleston, South Carolina, USA age 75. He was an outstanding local sportsman at cricket, golf, squash and table tennis. He captained Thame Cricket Club in the 1966 & 1967 seasons scoring thousands of runs during his time there, including a record breaking 1537 runs in 1964, averaging 48.83, with his highest score of 148 not out v Buckingham.

Ray moved to Aylesbury CC in 1969 where he became the first batsman for 20 years to score 1,000 runs in a season. He went on to captain the club for many years in 1970s. He represented Bucks & Devon over-50’s.

The Ray Hawes XI will be captained by his nephew, Steve Cooley, another past captain of Aylesbury, & will include his son Geoff, who lives in the USA managing Ray’s businesses, and his teenage American grandsons. The opposition will be provided by a Nigel Cassidy XI captained by his son, Darren. Nigel Cassidy died in 2008 age 62. Nigel is an Oxford United legend, a centre forward who made 116 appearances between 1970-74 scoring 33 goals. He was also an accomplished club cricketer. After retirement from football he became an hotelier in Cornwall. He & Ray were good friends.

The match in on Sunday, June 29th, 2014, at Thame Town CC’s ground at Christ Church Meadow, Thame, starting at 2pm.

RESIDENTS of Thame and throughout South Oxfordshire wanting to get more active can take advantage of a month’s unlimited swimming at the local leisure centre from February,  for just £5.

Unlimited £5 vouchers are available for members of the public who currently do less than 30 minutes physical activity per week, to use at Thame Leisure Centre, Henley Leisure Centre, Didcot Wave and Abbey Sports Centre. The offer is available between February 1, and March 31.

The scheme is primarily aimed at encouraging both men and women who find it hard to increase their activity levels to give swimming a go.

A recent survey by Sport England showed that less than 40 per cent of people in South Oxfordshire do 30 minutes or more moderate physical activity per week. The World Health Organisation recommends that people should do two and half hours moderate activity per week, with physical inactivity estimated to cost public health up to £940 million a year.

The unlimited swimming initiative is being provided by Better Leisure Centres in partnership with the Go Active Get Healthy and Active Women projects, and being administered by South Oxfordshire District Council. Last year when Active Women ran a similar promotion the scheme was so popular that all vouchers were claimed shortly after the launch. Following demand from the public this year the scheme has been opened up to everyone so that men can take advantage of the offer too.

One set of free swimming vouchers each are available to those aged 16 plus. To apply for the vouchers sign up at www.getoxfordshireactive.org. Alternatively you can email swimming.south@southandvale.gov.uk or call 01491 823 135.

Vouchers are strictly limited to 500, and will be given out on a first come first served basis with one set of vouchers available per person. 

MATCH REPORT ONE –  Thame Cyclones v Hares Green at Waddesdon. Div 5 –  Wednesday, January 15. 

Thame Cyclones went on court aware that this was likely to be a close match.  We had beaten them by a few goals the first time round but Hares were above us in the league.
The match started with quite even play as expected and the score at the end of the 1st quarter was 6-6. After a team talk with motivational contributions from the whole team, Cyclones went back on court to start the second quarter. This was Cyclones first match with our new defender, Emma, playing and she instantly gelled within the team.

Sam (WD), Penny (GD) and Emma (GK) worked well together defending against Hares’ attacking players, and regularly won the rebounds to turn the play around, bringing  the ball back down to Cyclones’ attack.  By the end of the second quarter, Cyclones had added a goal difference and were winning by a few goals. Hares made some changes to their team at the beginning of the third quarter but it didn’t deter Cyclones and we continued to play well as a team to increase the goal difference further.

Sarah (GS) and Lynne (GA) worked well with Katie (WA) and Amy (C) to position themselves successfully within the attacking D, and repeatedly got their shots on target.
Hares remained committed to the game but Cyclones continued to fight for the ball with real team effort and were storming ahead. When the final whistle blew, the hard work had paid off;  Cyclones deservedly won 15-30 taking us to third in division 5.
Player of the match – Emma

MATCH TWO – Hurricanes v Cherokees 28 : 30 –  January 22.

Hurricanes played a truly magnificent game for their first match after the long Christmas break, showing great determination and team spirit.

Although they were playing the team at the top of the division, Hurricanes stormed the first quarter leading by 9 goals to 4.  Solid interceptions from the defensive players brought the ball easily down the court and accurate feeding into the circle enabled the shooters to pull ahead.

In the second quarter Hurricanes saw why Cherokees are leading the division. They took charge of the game and controlled the play with plenty of quick passing and good aerial interceptions. The Hurricanes shooters however, took advantage of every ball given to them and the quarter ended with the Thame team only one goal behind.

A change at half time welcomed Jessie Rogers, a new player, to wing defence.  Hurricanes put every effort into the last two, nail biting quarters of the match. The score line was goal for goal until almost the final whistle which saw Cherokees just pull ahead to win 28 : 30.

If the team play as well as this against their remaining opponents, they should pick up some more well deserved points and finish the season well out of the play off positions.
Hurricanes would like to thank Sarah for playing up for them.

SOURCE: Contributed

MY name is Tom Gilmore. I was born on July 23, 1930, and that makes me 83 years and 6 months old, an age at which most people of this era are spending their days sitting in a cosy room reading, dozing or watching television. That’s fine if that’s what they really want to do, but I can’t do that.

I am one of those strange people that have a constant need to do something, to achieve something on a daily basis, even if it’s just mowing the lawn.

I am a retired London Fire Brigade Station Officer and before that I was a soldier and before that a merchant seaman. I had my first trip to Canada in 1946, when I was just 16 years old; such was my restless urge to do something very different. All of these occupations were extremely physical which suited me fine.

It was whilst I was a soldier serving in Egypt in 1950, that I became interested in physical training. I had done a lot of running and had swum in the Suez Canal, but training in a purpose designed environment with others was new to me and I became fascinated with working out with weight lifting equipment on a regular basis. Those days were all about building one’s body. We were already extremely fit and healthy. These days, I just train to maintain my body and unbelievably, I thoroughly enjoy doing it.

I’ve been a member of Racquets Fitness Centre in Thame for four years now. I’ve had memberships of many gyms over the years, including Boxing and Karate, but I found Racquets quite the finest as everyone is so friendly. Racquets is like a home-from-home; the training staff are talented and knowledgeable, the members greet each other like friends which they soon become, and new members who are training for probably the first time in their life, fit in beautifully and are soon comfortable in the training environment.

There is so much versatility in this gym, with many types of apparatus and techniques to bring about a strong, healthy life style, and when you feel fit you feel good about yourself. I do and I assure you that you will do too.

By Tom Gilmore (83 years young!)

THAME United suffered their second successive defeat at the ASM Stadium on Saturday (11/01), when they were beaten 0-3 by Wantage Town. The visitors are favourites to win the league so this was always going to be a tough fixture.

Nevertheless Thame played well and the score line flattered their opponents. United, who have been hit by injury and suspensions, were forced to field a weakened line up which included new signing Alex Kedzierski and reserve player Adam Hazel.

Thame started brightly and had more of the early possession. After about 15 minutes Wantage settled, and created a good one- on-one chance which finished in the side netting. Possession was 50/50 for the remainder of the half with both Luke Ricketts and Dan West going close for Thame, whilst the visitors hit a goalpost just before half time.

Wantage came out fired up for the second half and went ahead 10 minutes after the break. A Thame corner was cleared allowing the visitors to break quickly and, two passes later, the ball was headed across the Thame goal where Richard Claydon headed in at the far post. Ricketts, who was a constant threat on Thame’s left, hit a good shot which forced an outstanding save from the visiting keeper.

Thame were pressing and both Ollie Lynch and Niall Hodgkins went close. Wantage increased their lead in the 79th minute when a ball from the right was cleverly flicked on to the unmarked Matt Pedder who beat Thame keeper, Josh Cockerill, from 15-yards, giving him no chance. With five minutes of normal time remaining, a defensive mix up allowed Harry Halls to score Wantage’s third goal. United continued to press to the end and a Ricketts’ shot was cleared off the line, but it was not Thame’s day and the visitors collected the points.

Thame United: Cockerill, I Pykett, Hall, Rhodes, Johnston, Lynch, Kedzierski, West, Hodgkins, Hazell, (Bonham), Ricketts.

Thame play at Abingdon United next Saturday. The next first team home game is on Saturday 25th January when United face Wokingham & Emmbrook in the Supplementary Cup.