Another come from behind victory at Church Road on Monday night saw the Missioners move to within seven points of a third consecutive Allied Counties Premier Division title.

The home side started well and were only denied in the fourth minute by the width of the crossbar, Michael Bryan fired a cross in from the right side, Thatcham keeper Kane Roberts could only help the ball on to where Jack Rooney arrived but his header came back off the bar and was scrambled clear. Fifteen minutes had passed when an excellent Liam Hind run on the right saw the midfielder pull the ball back perfectly to Andrew Harewood who sadly skied his shot over the crossbar.

The visitors then began to find there feet and with some fluid passing began to create chances of their own, Charlie Moone worked an opening for Steffan Brown but John Peacock was equal to his shot and minutes later it was Thatcham's turn to miss a gilt edged chance. Tom Osbourne picked out his unmarked skipper Luke Mason perfectly from a corner but he managed to put his header over the bar.

The final action of the first period saw Brown and Moone again combine but Peacock dealt with the latter's volley comfortably and minutes later a Bryan run at the other end found Toby Little but his curling effort was caught by Roberts.

The second half started well for the visitors and after just seven minutes the deadlock was broken. A long punt forwards found Moone who managed to shrug off the attentions of Jamie Lindsay before curling a perfect shot around Peacock into the far corner of the Hayes net.

The lead didn't last long as the youngsters showed that you can come from behind. The ever impressive skipper Dave Thomas launched the ball forwards from the back only for a defender to hook the ball into the air, Matt Carroll headed it over Roberts only to see the ball come back off the crossbar but thankfully Little was on hand to head home his fifth in four games.

In the ten minutes that followed, Carroll twice came close to edging the Missioners ahead. Firstly his touch to an excellent Rooney cross was too faint and minutes later a Peacock clearance was helped on by Little but Carroll's effort was just too high.

Eleven minutes from time the crucial goal came the way of the Missioners, another long ball into the Thatcham area saw confusion reign and when the ball was only partially cleared a quick return to the area saw Little and Roberts challenge with the ball dropping loose to Bryan who coolly slotted into the net past the recovering defender.

Sadly the game ended on a sour note not befitting what had been an excellent game of football. An aerial challenge saw Thatcham striker Steffan Brown caught in the face by a stray arm, this incident drew a poor reaction from Thatcham's Tommy Chapman who aggressively threw the ball straight at the Hayes man. A minor fracas ensued before both set of players were calmed by their respective coaches. With our own John Peacock rushing half the length of the field and the aggression from Chapman it would not have been surprising if referee Skull had sent both from the field, only a yellow card was shown to each. It was somewhat mystifying to the Thatcham captain Luke Mason and many around when he was then red carded after Mr Skull took advice from his assistant, I can only assume he saw something we didn't in the melee.

The game reached stoppage time, of which there were to be eleven minutes, and the visitors almost pulled off a shock equaliser as the ball fell to substitute Richard Maltby but his snapshot dipped just over the bar. The final chance came seven minutes into stoppage time when Carroll broke away before squaring to Little but his hurried shot was too high to trouble Roberts who was well off his line.

Report by Kevin Watts.