Thame United's Ryman League Division 1 promotions ambitions suffered a major setback when they went down to rivals Braintree Town at Cressing Road Stadium last night.
Thame made a disastrous start when Mark Jones's driven cross was turned past debutant keeper Chris Brain by defender Andy Williams.
But Thame rallied well and were rewarded in the 43rd minute when John Mitchell's pace took him clear to lob over the advancing keeper.
Thame lost key defender Andy Williams with an ankle injury at half-time, but continued to press after the break only to be caught out by a classic counter attack in the 52nd minute.
Jefferson Louis gave possession away deep in Braintree territory, and a long ball from Gavin Cowan evaded Justin Lee and the league's leading scorer, Robbie Reinalt, shrugged aside Mark Avery to beat the oncoming Brain. Thame committed more men forward, but Braintree grabbed a decisive third goal in the 84th minute .
Reinalt was again first on to a long ball, his strength took him past Avery and he coolly slotted home.
The scoreline was given a cruel look deep into injury time when Leon Gutzmore slid the ball under Brain.
Thame Utd: Brain, Avery, Lee (West 75), A Williams, (Swaysland HT), Brown, Fontaine, (Greig 70), Merritt, Mitchell, Louis, Perna, G Williams.
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