Leacock thrilled with Town comeback
THATCHAM Town boss Jamie Leacock was proud at how his squad came from behind to beat Bracknell Town 3-2 in the Berks & Bucks Cup first round.
Former Kingfishers and Hungerford Town player Zidan Akers opened the scoring for the visitors and they held a 1-0 lead at the break.
However, back came Thatcham when a cross from Lewis Chapman was turned into his own net by Bracknell captain Anthony Cheshire.
Within minutes, youth team player Sam Riley came off the bench to fire Thatcham ahead and they soon added a third when Will Edwards headed.
Ex-Thatcham player Antonio Dembele reduced the deficit from the penalty spot, but the home side held on to reach the second round.
After the game, Leacock said: “We managed to give three youth team boys a game and that is what I am most proud of and as a club we can be really proud of the performance.
“We had the young players out there and some of the first-team players who haven’t have much game time.
“They came in and showed a lot of desire because we came from behind and I thought we looked livelier and we wanted it more.
“As a club we have to be really proud, we showed a lot of fight and it is really good for everyone.”
Despite being a goal down at half-time, Leacock was confident that his Thatcham side could turn the game around.
He said: “We spoke about things at halftime because we gave away a soft goal, but we didn’t feel they were better than us. “You can sink and concede again or you can be a bit brave and have some belief and we did that so it was brilliant.” Having had a lot of games in recent weeks, the Kingfishers boss was forced to make changes and he was proud they extended their unbeaten run.
“It wasn’t the first team – we made nine changes, but we wanted to keep this unbeaten run and for the boys coming in, they knew they had to carry on the record. It is a bit of pressure, but we now want to build more momentum.
“We had to freshen things up with more games to come.
“It is a good cup and we know the quality of this competition with teams like Reading and Wycombe in it, so why not go further?”
Thatcham’s next game is a cup tie in the Velocity Trophy on Tuesday, when they host Faversham Town.