Cropredy hosted the leagues bottom side Charlton United looking to make it back to back wins for the first time in 13 months after beating Marston Saints 4-0 last week in the best performance of the season to date.

The squad was largely unchanged from that victory with only Ruben Torego - making his first appearance for the firsts since October 8th - replacing the absent Dan Bartlett whilst Archie Cunnold Payne retained his place from the injured Richard Oakey and Harry Dunham returned to the squad as a substitute.

Cropredy made a bright start to the game and it only took four minutes for them to take the lead. Luke Ulla Thomas worked a ball out wide to Harry Walters and with the help of a deflection his shot from a parallel again found the net. Crop’s number nine has now scored in four consecutive matches. The score was almost doubled four minutes later when a header from a Charlton defender was almost forced into his own goal but struck the crossbar.

Midway through the first half, Walters was looking to double his tally and worked a central opening for himself but dragged his shot wide. It was 2-0 to the hosts on 28 minutes though. Ulla Thomas was lurking on the edge of a penalty box scramble and his well struck shot founds its way in as the midfielder made the scoresheet for the second game running.

It was beginning to look a comfortable afternoon for Cropredy at this point as they created numerous attacks but set pieces and long balls gave their defence warnings with a couple of Charlton shots being blazed over. On 32 minutes a Ben Coleman challenge in the six yard box forced the referee into a decision and he pointed to the spot. The resultant penalty was well struck hitting one post and landing in the inside netting of the opposite post and the visitors were back in the game.

Cropredy however deserved to go into the half time break with a two goal cushion and they did just that on 44 minutes. After Jack Welch was fouled 22 yards from goal, Dan Reeves struck a free kick that struck the wall. Aaron Dineen (who scored from this exact situation last week) was denied by the goalkeeper but Ulla Thomas was in the right place at the right time for a tap in at the back post. Charlton were down to 10 men temporarily after this when their striker was sentenced to a cooling down period for remonstrating with the referee.

After the break Cropredy aimed to wrap up the points early in the half and make use of their man advantage. Three minutes into the second half Ulla Thomas’s eyes lit up as he was presented with a chance of a hat-trick after a reverse pass from Welch but the goalkeeper’s trailing leg denied him. But he was rewarded for his irrepressible performance with the trio on 55 minutes. This time in a position wide on the right inside the box he received a Dineen pass and struck across the goalkeeper into the far side of the net.

There was a moment of confusion a minute later. A back pass from a Charlton defender bypassed the goalkeeper who was forced to scurry back and clear the ball, which seemed to have already crossed the line. The referee awarded the goal from a sizeable distance away and then backtracked on his decision a minute later so the score remained 4-1.

There was no further goals in the contest but Cropredy came closest through Harry Dunham who saw his half volley go wide and was then denied by the linesman’s flag as he was through on goal whilst Charlton saw a late effort clip the bar.

Another pleasing performance and It’s now four unbeaten in the league for Cropredy with 10/12 available points taken. They are back on the road next week at Garsington who are one place above in the league standings and It’s a chance to test how far Cropredy have come in recent weeks.

The team dedicated their win to team mate Will Dee who received some unfortunate personal news and was a late omission from the squad but stayed and supported the boys to three points.

Cropredy: Cutts, Coleman, Torego, Jefferies, Woodcock, Cunnold-Payne (Colombo 70), Reeves, Ulla Thomas, Welch (Dunham 63), Walters, Dineen. Sub Not Used: Fraser

Goals ⚽️

Walters 4
Luke Ulla Thomas 28,44,55

Man of the match ⭐️ Luke Ulla Thomas

Another positive performance to back up the one from last week from the team but Ulla Thomas stole the show with his hat-trick. Always dangerous attacking from midfield and providing a tireless engine in the middle or the park. An afternoon to remember for the midfield enforcer.