Thatcham Town take all the points to secure Step Five

A goal in each half earned Thatcham three points against Sutton Common Rovers to secure Step Five football at the Mettal Stadium next season.

Cam Philbey’s side have picked up six wins in twelve games this calendar year to propel themselves out of danger with two games remaining.

The Kingfishers were eager to finish the job in front of their home support and made an excellent start by taking the lead in the sixth minute through Luke Polding. The midfielder thumped a shot against the crossbar from 12 yards out, Dan Smith helped the ball back to him, and he made no mistake at the second attempt.

Thatcham were on top and were keen to try their luck from distance, as Archie Denton, Levi Heholt and Kye Williams all saw shots saved, while Curtis Angell was fractionally over from a free-kick.

Sutton Common managed a couple of corners which caused some uncertainty, with former Thatcham and Hungerford striker Jacob Bancroft heading into the side netting.

At the start of the second half Finley Meikle’s cross was met by Angell whose header was tipped round the post. Charlie Knight almost extended the lead when his shot on the turn struck the outside of the post.

The lively Williams was then replaced, still feeling the effects of a facial injury picked up towards the end of the first half, and Town missed his energy as the game entered a prolonged scrappy spell.

But on 68 minutes, a burst of energy from replacement Tyrese Georcelin led to Town getting a second to put the game out of reach. Georcelin picked up possession in the middle of the park, fed Heholt who knocked the ball into the left channel. The Town youngster latched onto the return pass, advanced into the penalty area and lashed home a shot which beat Rileigh Hebditch at his near post.

Sutton Common gave Thatcham a scare when a cross from the left bounced through a congested penalty area and came back off the far post. But otherwise Maciej Wieczorek had relatively little to do as the defence dealt comfortably with balls into the box.

In the closing minutes Polding came close to adding a spectacular third when he picked up possession in the centre-circle and tried a first time shot but Rovers’s replacement keeper Kacper Orlowski back-pedalled to catch the ball in his six yard box.

Thatcham are now travelling to third-placed Tooting & Mitcham United (Easter Monday), before concluding the season away to relegation threatened Chipstead on Saturday.