A hat trick from Jason Cowley and a brace from Richard Gregory helped Bromsgrove Sporting romp to a 5-0 win over Thame United.
The scoring started three minutes in, as a Cowley shot was palmed away by keeper Craig Hill, but only to the feet of Gregory, who slotted home into an empty net.

Four minutes later it was two, as a Josh Quaynor corner was glanced on by Gregory towards the goal, with the final touch being the outstretched boot of Cowley.

It was almost 3-0 on the 17th minute mark, as Cowley managed to get himself one on one with the keeper, with his chipped effort kept out and the rebound blocked away.

The third came on the 22nd minute mark, as Charlie Dowd played through Cowley, who capped off his driving run towards goal with a cool finish past Hill from inside the box.

Sporting's dominance continued throughout the first half and into the second, with Thame's best chance at getting on the scoresheet actually coming from the most unlikely source, with goalkeeper Hill booting the ball forward from his own box - this caught the wind and blew menacingly towards the Sporting goal; fortunately Jono Brown was equal to it, tipping it over for a corner.

Gregory notched up the fourth in the 77th minute, as a fine Kieren Westwood ball into the area was slotted home from point blank range.

The demolition job was completed by Cowley in the 90th minute, as he ran onto a pass from Liam Spink, took the ball around keeper Hill before composing himself and slamming the roof of the net with his shot.

This empathic win meant that Sporting's unbeaten league home run extended to 12, as they continue to maintain their second place in the table.

Sporting: Jono Brown, Liam Spink, Mike McGrath, Nathan Hayward, Tom Taylor, Danny Morris, Charlie Dowd(Christ Mayuba 68 mins), Josh Quaynor, Jason Cowley, Richard Gregory (Capt.), Kieran Westwood (Louis Hall 79 mins).
Substitutes not used: Craig Jones, Cameron Peters, Tom Massey.
Goals: Richard Gregory (3, 77 mins), Jason Cowley (7, 23, 90 mins).
Cards: None

Referee: Mr R Watkins (Nuneaton)

Crowd: 916
Weather: Cool, rain.

Report: Max Banner

BROMSGROVE SPORTING 5 ( Gregory 3 and 77, Cowley 9, 22 and 90)
THAME UNITED 0

Evo-Stik Southern League Division One Central
Saturday 26th January 2019 @ The Victoria Ground
Attendance - 916
Weather – 9 celsius, wind and rain

By Carl Catling

Following defeats in the last week for both sides this was one of the big games of the weekend in the division. In which Thame United (5th) would travel 70 miles up the motorway to play Bromsgrove Sporting (2nd). Bromsgrove were undefeated at home going into this game and have two of the best forwards in the division in Cowley and Gregory.<

*** STARTING LINE-UPS ***
Bromsgrove Sporting FC – Brown, Spink, McGrath, Hayward, Taylor, Morris, Dowd, Quaynor, Cowley, Gregory and Westwood
Subs Used – Hall and Mayuba

Thame United FC - Hill (GK), Mepham, Lynn, Essex, Jewell, Tutton, Martin, Sturgess (C), Goss, West and Peake-Pijnen<br>Subs used – Tack, Murray and Ashworth

*** FIRST HALF ***
HT Score - BROMSGROVE 3 – 0 THAME

There was a real sense of atmosphere before kick off and there was surge of large numbers of fans coming through the turnstiles. Literally straight from kick off Bromsgrove were awarded the first corner, which found Taylor unmarked who narrowly headed the ball wide. It did not take long for the first goal whereby Jewell misjudged jumping for a header which lead to a shot on goal which was brilliantly by Hill saved but rebounded to Gregory for a tap in.

There was a continuation of relentless pressure and attacking runs by Bromsgrove. This had Thame trying to contain play and drop players back in their own half. On 7 minutes Bromsgrove had another corner which somehow managed to drop to Cowley’s feet inside the six yard box for a simple pass into the net. Bromsgrove were spreading the ball wide namely to both Dowd and Westwood who looked threatening every time they had the ball, often needing Mepham and Lynn to block crosses or to make a tackle. Thame’s Goss was working extremely hard trying to get his side into the match pressing all over the field and when possibly trying to attack the right wing with runs of his own.

Then from a goal kick by Brown the ball found it’s way to Cowley who dummied Hill and shot the ball to his left to make it 3-0 on 22 minutes. One of Thame’s best moments was when Lynn stepped out of 2 tackles at left back and dribbled the ball forward and was able to make a pass behind the defence which lead to a Thame corner. At the end of the half possession became more even with the pace of play slowing down. Bromsgrove managed to dominate in the air and 50-50s for most of the first half. Due to excellent defending by the two centre backs of Taylor and Morris it was a difficult task for Thame’s West to create many chances of his own.

*** SECOND HALF ***
FT Score - BROMSGROVE 5 – 0 THAME

Following the break Thame started the brighter with Thame’s captain Ben Sturgess leading by example and winning countless tackles in order to get the ball forward. The first chance in the half again fell to Bromsgrove’s Gregory, when a long ball in his direction was volleyed at Hill. There was more disappointing news for Thame when injury forced Mepham to be substituted by Tack.

Thame’s Goss produced multiple excellent set pieces in the second half. One of which was a corner which found Jewell’s feet at the back post and narrowly missed the post. The combination of Sturgess and Tutton was proving crucial to Thame’s battle in midfield. Due to the pressure of Thame playing at a higher tempo Bromsgrove were losing possession and misplacing passes all over the field. It was a surprise that Thame’s first shot on goal was actually from a goal kick by Hill which had to be tipped over the bar by Brown on 60 minutes. Thame followed this up by a cross from the left by Lynn which somehow bounced over the fullback’s head and Goss fired a half volley onto the top of the net which had Brown unmoved.

In Thame’s search of a goal this lead to a break down the left which was crossed along the ground towards the running Gregory who passed the pass the ball into the net to make it 4-0 to Bromsgrove. Thame still continued to attack with multiple runs by Goss which needed sometimes multiple players to tackle or block him off the ball. Thame produced a further attack on goal when West shielded a ball for Goss to shoot towards goal which had to be saved by a diving Brown. The final goal of the game came in the 90th minute when Cowley dribbled right of Hill and then came back towards the left and fired the shot onto the crossbar and in.

Following the result Bromsgrove end the week in 2nd position and Richard Gregory leads the chase for the golden boot on 21 league goals. Despite the biggest defeat of the season for Thame they remain in 5th position and 3 points clear of Berkhamstead due to other teams not securing victories this Saturday.

*** MAN OF THE MATCH ***
As awarded by Bromsgrove - #3 McGrath He produced a solid display at full back both defensively and going forward.

*** KEY STATS ***
Shots on target - Bromsgrove 12 – 2 Thame
Corners - Bromsgrove 2 - 6 Thame
Yellow Cards - Bromsgrove 0 – 0 Thame
Red Cards - Bromsgrove 0 – 0 Thame
Penalties - Bromsgrove 0 – 0 Thame

Report courtesy of Carl Catling (Thame United)