Ten-man Sheerwater slipped to a narrow 2-1 defeat at Thatcham Town in the Combined Counties Premier Division South.

The Sheers found it difficult to get going in the first half with Thatcham pressing the visitors at every opportunity.

In the early stages Thatcham put the Sheers under pressure with a number of long throw ins.

A Thatcham long throw in on 32 minutes caused problems, but the Sheers managed to clear the ball away.

Thatcham took the lead in first-half stoppage time when they awarded a penalty after a foul by Sheers keeper Roberto Silva. Callum Willmoth stepped up from the spot and scored his penalty to put the hosts 1-0 up.

There was still time for the Sheers to draw level before the break when a free kick just outside Thatcham’s penalty area was smashed into the top right-hand corner of the net by Harvey Valter to make it 1-1 at half-time.

The Sheers started the second half poorly and fell behind again in the 47th minute when Kaser Chowdhary headed home from a corner to put Thatcham 2-1 up.

Sheerwater pushed for an equaliser and went close when Kareem Foster shot over the Thatcham bar, before Emeka Okakpu’s overhead kick went over the bar.

Okakpu then chased a long ball down and played the ball to Valter, whose shot lacked the necesary power to trouble Thatcham keeper Ethan Wilson.

The Sheers were reduced to ten men on 69 minutes when George Mackie was sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity.

Sheerwater’s ten men almost equalised on 86 minutes when Daniel Watts’ long throw nearly led to an own goal.

The Sheers had one more chance to grab a leveller on 97 minutes when Thomas Whitby’s guided shot beat Wilson but went past the far post.

By Trevor Wenden