Thatcham Town 2 Tooting and Mitcham United 3
Combined Counties - 04/10/2025
Report by: Ed Parlett
Match Report
Tooting & Mitcham showed heart and resilience to silence a boisterous home crowd and turn a two goal deficit into a valuable three points on the first Saturday in October.
Hosts Thatcham Town had followed us from the Isthmian South Central into Step 5, and had found the going a little tougher than they might have anticipated in the early weeks of the season. They seemed to be getting their act together here, though – racing into a two goal lead inside forty minutes through a brace from striker Henry Paxford, who was making his Thatcham debut. With six minutes gone, he seized onto a dropping loose ball and lashed home his first, then doubled the advantage seven minutes before the break with a deftly flicked header past Toby McKimm. With attacks sporadic, and chances almost non-existent, Tooting looked as if they were heading toward a first away league defeat of the season – and potentially a heavy one at that.
It was remarkable, therefore, that having looked totally out of it, the Terrors struck either side of half-time to find themselves on level terms. In the last minute of the first period, Taz Mahmoud – a revelation in his new position of wing-back in recent weeks – surged down the right flank and squared for Alex Cruickshank who calmly slotted the ball past home keeper Ethan Wilson; then, in the first minute of the second forty-five, Max Oldham struck a delicious free-kick in off the post to make it 2-2. All the momentum was with Tooting now, as the shellshocked home side seemed to wilt in the face of concerted forward pressure from the visitors, culminating in Jordy Ndozid’s first Terrors goal just past the hour which completed the comeback and sealed the three points. From a corner, Lewis Jackson rose majestically to power a header against the crossbar, and the ball fell nicely for Jordy to tuck it home from close-range. With the match fast slipping away from them, Thatcham made a couple of substitutions and found some sort of cohesion again.
Tooting hearts were in the mouths of players and fans alike when Paxford turned in sub Kye Wilson’s cross with eleven minutes left, but – thankfully – the flag went up, and although the decision was a tight one, you’d be hard-pressed to find a Terrors fan who disagreed with the decision, and Paxford’s hat-trick dream had disappeared along with his side’s hopes of a point.
