Sutton Common Rovers are currently 12th in the table and sit comfortably in mid-table. After four successive defeats, they bounced back in style last weekend with a 3-0 win over play-off hopefuls Tadley Calleva in which Jacob Bancroft found the back of the net. Bancroft played for our rivals Hungerford Town in the Southern League Premier Division earlier this season, and made 3 appearances for Thatcham in 2019. Then in midweek SCR won 1-0 at Epsom & Ewell through a Harlem-Lee Bouchez strike.

Meanwhile Thatcham are not yet mathematically safe from relegation. If either of Eversley & California or Camberley Town lose one of their remaining fixtures then that will confirm the Kingfishers’ safety - but one further Thatcham win will seal it.

The two sides played alongside each other in the Isthmian League South Central Division from 2021/22 to 2023/24, and Town finished above Rovers in each season. In 2021/22 Sutton Common completed the double with 1-0 and 2-0 wins. The following season Sutton won 2-1 in Berkshire, while Izzy Kaba’s late equaliser in Surrey snatched a 2-2 draw and ended Thatcham’s losing run - with Rovers ultimately avoiding the drop that season after winning their relegation play-off.

In the 2023/24 season Mo Ceesay (2) and David Nyarko scored in a 3-1 away win for Thatcham, after a small delay while several pairs of football socks were hurriedly purchased from a local sports shop. The home fixture was the final game of the season and Thatcham won 1-0 thanks to Will Gutierrez Ramirez’s winner. Town received the bombshell of a lateral transfer into the Southern League D1 South just a few weeks later.

Sutton Common round off their season with a trip to Tadley Calleva next Saturday. Meanwhile Thatcham go to Tooting on Bank Holiday Monday before concluding the season with a trip to Chipstead next weekend. Following today’s home game the club are hosting a Race Night, starting from 6pm.

Ahead of the game Town manager Cameron Philbey said,

“Relegation is still a possibility and it would be naïve to think we are safe. We are still very aware of the threat and that makes us more determined to work hard and get a positive result this afternoon. We want to get over the line with three points in front of our supporters and put smiles on their faces – if we do our jobs then we’ll be safe.

In our last 4 games we have picked up 4 points which hasn’t quite been good enough and the league table doesn’t lie. Against Balham I thought we were poor and a draw was probably the fair result. We didn’t perform like our usual selves and although the commitment was there against Horley we lost that one.

At Alton we were not at our best but managed to get a crucial win after falling behind thanks to a gritty performance. At Abbey Rangers last weekend I thought we played reasonably well and the result was harsh. We were on top and maybe got a bit greedy – sure, they scored a well worked goal to win it, but we could have ran down the clock and been a bit smarter. We have a young squad and perhaps need to learn to not lose, if we’re not able to win it.

It has been a tough season and we’ve faced a lot of challenges. Some of our problems don’t solve themselves overnight but the club is healing and we’ve had meetings to plan ahead. Over the summer I hope we can retain a lot of the squad but we also know we need to get stronger.

Andy Matthews remains a doubt this afternoon but Levi will be back bringing his spice and grit into the middle of the park. Thank-you for your support this season and enjoy the summer.”