Thame.net

Author: Sonja Francis

  • Comfortable win for Thame United (Contributed)

    LEAGUE GAME 17/02/09 – Thame United 7, Prestwood 0 – MATCH REPORT:
    Thame United comfortably beat an unimpressive Prestwood side at Wallingford on Tuesday evening in a game that Thame controlled from kick off to the final whistle.

    Thame were in 13th league place when the match started, with Prestwood occupying 16th, but such was Thame?s dominance that a stranger watching the game would not have thought they were in the same league.

    The first goal came from a set piece in the 12th minute. Adam Rhodes took a corner, playing the ball back to Ben Connelly who hit a cross to the far post, which was headed back across the goalmouth for Lawrence El-Kassir, supported by Dave Hocking, to knock in from close range. Five minutes later Sam Cowan was fouled in the box, and Rhodes confidently buried the resultant spot kick. On 35 minutes, Rhodes threaded a good ball to Mark Jones who turned and hit a 15-yard shot giving the visiting keeper no chance. It was also Jones who got Thame?s fourth two minutes later and what a beauty it was. Stuart Barr on the left played an inch perfect ball to Jones who beat his marker to hit a looping, first time, volley over the goalkeeper?s head from about 12-yards. At half time, whist Thame went into their dressing room, unusually the Prestwood team crowded around their dug out for their team talk.

    The first 30 minutes of the second half passed without Thame increasing their lead due largely to some excellent work from Daniel Little, the visiting goalkeeper. Thame brought on all three substitutes, and on 76 minutes, Tom Gough headed to fellow substitute Tom Hoskin who fired home from 5-yards. Five minutes later Connelly made a good run to the right by line before pulling the ball back to Gough who finished well from 6-yards. Goal 7 came with 2 minutes remaining. Thame goalkeeper Paul Searl collected the ball and hit a long kick which Gough back-headed into the path of Hoskin who rounded the advancing keeper and finished confidently from 15-yards. In extra time, Pete Way, who had grazed the post from a free kick in the first half, was unlucky to see another free kick ricochet off the top of the crossbar.

    Overall, it was a good all round performance by Thame, who played with skill coupled with an understanding rarely seen this season. If they can continue in this vein against stiffer opposition, a top eight finish is likely.

    Thame United: Searl, Newell, Way, Thompson (Meredith), Hocking, Cowan, Connelly, Rhodes Hoskin), Jones (Goffe), Barr, El-Kassir

    Thame are away next Saturday, February 21 at nearby Launton Sports. Their next home game is on 28th February, when Finchampstead visit Hithercroft Stadium (Wallingford).

  • Dead driver’s mum calls for tougher penalties for mobile phone using drivers

    THE mother of a woman killed near Thame by a driver who had been texting while driving, is petitioning for the law to be toughened up for motorists caught using their mobile phones whilst driving.

    Jennifer Ford, the mother of the victim, 24 year-old Victoria McBryde, has set up petitions on the 10 Downing Street site, Facebook and Twitter.

    Philippa Curtis, aged 21, was sentenced to 21 months by a judge at Oxford Crown Court recently and given a three-year driving ban for causing death by dangerous driving. She crashed into the back of Victoria McBryde’s stationary car at 70mph on the A40 near Wheatley. Victoria had pulled over after puncturing a tyre.

    Currently, anyone caught driving using a mobile phone receives a

  • Thame rape charge man bailed

    A man charged with rape and sexual assault following an incident at Cuttlebrook, Thame, has been bailed by Oxford Magistrates.

    Arram Price, 19, from Cariff, must report to the police every day until his appearance before Oxford Crown Court on Monday (23/02).

  • Pilot cycle hire scheme for Oxford (Status: press release)

    PLANS to develop a cycle hire scheme for Oxford have gathered pace following a decision by Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet to take the project to the next level.

    The authority is planning an 18-month pilot to test the potential for a permanent cycle hire scheme in the city.

    Cycle hire schemes have been successfully introduced in a large number of cities – particularly in mainland Europe. A number of small scale schemes already exist in parts of the UK including Cheltenham, Bristol and Reading.

    Picture: Velib Paris bike scheme

    The bicycles are usually picked up and returned by users at ‘hubs’ or ‘docking stations’, with swipe cards or some other electronic technology to unlock the bicycles and trace the use of a bicycle to a registered user.

    The railway station, the city centre and Headington are areas being looked at for hubs – for example, discussions with the ORHT (Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust) have focused on ways of establishing cycle movements between the city’s hospitals as part of a pilot scheme. Discussions about the project have also taken place with Oxford City Council.

    Current estimates indicate that a 12-month pilot scheme based on 130 bicycles, or an 18-month pilot based on 90 cycles, would cost in the region of

  • 25th anniversay for Thame 10 K road race

    THAME’s largest mass, sport participation event will be celebrating its 25 year in June.

    This year?s Thame 10km road race will take place on Sunday, June 28, 2009. Entry forms are available on the Thame Runners’ website www.thamerunners.co.uk.

    Alternatively, runners can enter on-line at www.runnersworld.co.uk.

    This year?s event is the 25th anniversary of the run, originally run in 1985 as a charity fund-raiser by the Thame Boys Brigade. Thame Runners took over the organisation of the event a few years later but kept the charitable nature ? some

  • Date for demolition of new Thame library site

    A NEW library for Thame will come a step closer, when demolition work on the old Pied Pedaller toy shop site begins in two weeks.

    The demolition work is expected to be completed by April 10. The main tenders for the building of the new library are due in to the county council on February 20. The council says that it expects the building work to begin shortly after that.

    The design of the new library has been very controversial, twice being rejected by Thame Thame Council’s planning committee, one of whom described the new design as ‘horrendous’ and looking like a greenhouse.

    Picture: An artist’s impression of how the new library will look in the townscape

  • Invitation to Thame Community groups to ‘get fit for funding’

    THAME Networking Lunch for Voluntary & Community Groups – Thursday, February 26 – 12.30pm ? 2pm
    at The Barns Centre, Thame. More information:

    OCVA (Oxfordshire Community and Voluntary Action), working in partnership with Soha Housing, is inviting representatives of local voluntary and community groups in Thame to a networking lunch. The event will offer an opportunity to share ideas, meet with others in your community and hear the latest updates in the world of volunteering. There will also be a short workshop session on Getting Fit for Funding.

    To book your place on this FREE event, please contact OCVA at The Old Court House, Floyds Row, St Aldates, Oxford OX1 1SS. Tel. 01865 251946, Fax 01865 204138, or email admin@ocva.org.uk

    About OCVA

    OCVA is the main umbrella organisation for community & voluntary organisations in Oxfordshire. Its mission is to enable a diverse voluntary and community sector to flourish. They do this by providing advice, information and training, acting as advocates and representatives, and building partnerships. The group also runs the OXNET web portal for local voluntary groups ? visit www.oxnet.org.uk

  • Wheatley robbery man in court

    A MAN charged with the robbery at the Londis Store in Wheatley recently, has appeared in court today.

    John Shirley has been charged with three other counts of robbery at houses in High Street, Beckley, and Ambleside Drive, Headington, as well as one charge one of attempted robbery and two firearms offences.

    During the robbery in Wheatley, a member of staff at was beaten over the head with a weapon before cash was stolen. John Shirley was remanded in custody`

    Jamie Worthington-Hale, 35, of Stockleys Road, Oxford, has been charged with assisting an offender and was also remanded in custody.

    The pair will appear at Oxford Crown Court next Monday, February 23.

  • Wanted man arrested

    JON Shirley, aged 23 has been arrested on suspicion of robbery. The arrest was made on Friday evening at an address in Marston.

    Shirley was wanted in connection with an armed robbery at the BP Garage in Marston last Friday (6/2). He will be questioned about a further 11 robberies that have taken place across the county since beginning of December, including one on the 280 Arriva bus, another at the Thame Service Station, Long Crendon Road and another on the Oxford tube bus.

    Det Ch Insp Colin Paine, leading the investigation, said: ?The team of detectives in Oxford has been working relentlessly over the past weeks to track down and arrest the suspect.
    ?30 specialist officers were deployed to the address where the arrest took place.
    ?I would like to thank the public and the media for their support in this investigation which has assisted us with this arrest.?

    Another man at the property has also been arrested on suspicion of robbery and is currently in police custody.

  • End of the fight for Moreton pub

    AFTER a eight year, on-off fight with the local authorities, the current owners of The Royal Oak pub (formerlty Paddy McGinty’s) have won their battle to transform it into a house.

    Since the pub closed around nin years, the current owners have lived up-stairs and removed the fixtures and fittings from the public areas downstairs. They have continually maintained that it would not be viable as a business, and submitted several planning applications for change of use to a residence.

    Thame Town Council has persistantly opposed the conversion of this once very popular pub, stating that a proper marketing exercise had never been carried out to see if it could be run as a going concern again.

    In giving its reasons for the approval, the local planning authority, South Oxfordshire District Council, stated that whilst the terms of the policy CF-1 have not been me in full, in as much as the Royal Oak had not been marketed, it was accepted that it is currently not a commercially viable proposition……not capable of reopening as a pub without costly and extensive refurbishment and re-equipping…lost its customer base, not on a through-route so unable to attract passing trade, local population too small to make it sustainable and because the current uncertain economic climate had “depressed confidence in the licensed trade.”