Warrington Town 0

Thame United 2 (aet)

By PHIL HOWARTH

TOWN'S Wembley dream slipped away when they lost their cutting edge against Thame United on Saturday.

The young team seemed daunted by the occasion as they played this FA Vase clash in front of the biggest crowd at Cantilever Park in three years .

But it still took the visitors 107 minutes to find a way through the Warrington defence in a match that kept the crowd guessing until the final whistle.

Terry Nestor was an inspiration in midfield for Town but the Thame defence did an effective job of keeping in form strike partners Damien Whitehead and Kevin Tyrell on a short leash.

The home fans had to wait 44 minutes for Town's first real chance of the game when Whitehead's clever backheel put Paul Berry through against the Thame 'keeper but he could only fire over.

The visitors had rather more opportunities in the first 45 minutes with midfielder Ricky Paul let down by his shooting on three occasions.

Town started the second half looking stronger and James Ward squandered an excellent chance after Whitehead's pass had left him one-on-one with the 'keeper.

Nestor headed over when left unmarked after 64 minutes but Thame's Jason Macaik went within inches of a wonder goal when his speculative 25 yard strike bounced back off the bar four minutes later.

There was another let off for Town four minutes from the end of normal time when Thame substitute Jefferson Louis outmuscled Ian Hughes to break through before shooting over when it seemed easier to score.

The balance of the game seemed to be steadily shifting in Town's favour as their young legs stayed fresh going into extra-time.

But still they struggled to break down the Thame defence as further half chances from Ian Bold and Nestor came to nothing.

The deadlock was finally broken by Thame two minutes into the second period of extra-time.

Louis broke on the left for Thame and blasted a low shot past Alan Thomson to leave the large travelling contingent in raptures.

The final blow came three minutes from the end when a brief respite from Town pressure saw defender Elfyn Edwards harshly adjudged to have deliberately handled the ball after he protected his face from a close shot.

Macaik slotted the penalty into the bottom corner and a place in the last 16 was Thame's.

Team: Alan Thomson, Ian Bold, Paul Anderton, Ian Hughes, Elfyn Edwards, Paul Berry, Terry Nestor, Andy Tague, Kevin Tyrell, Damien Whitehead, James Ward. Subs: Chris Hunt, Jerry Coll, Neal Holden, Neil Johnson.

Town host high flying Abbey Hey in a North Western Trains League Division Two match on Saturday, kick-off 3pm. They travel to Atherton Colleries on Tuesday for a Floodlit Trophy game already postponed six times.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.