Focused Moneys keep play-off hopes alive

Curtis Da Costa, Sam Pearce, Joe Briggs and Dan Woodward fired the Copnor club to within eight points of the play-offs with a game in hand on sixth-placed Chalfont St Peter.

Manager Dave Carter felt it was a great result and keeps them in with a chance.

He said: ‘It was just the result and performance I wanted from my team.

‘We were very intense, focused and played with a good tempo.

‘This was a good, solid performance and we took the game to our opponents from the start.

‘While it was disappointing when we conceded, we didn’t let it faze us.

‘It leaves us with eight cup finals to play between now and the end of the season.’

An incident packed opening half-hour began with Steve Hutchings sending a lob narrowly over the top for Moneys.

The hosts, needing to win to keep their play-off hopes alive, got the boost they needed after 10 minutes.

Da Costa saw his header saved but was alert enough to knock the rebound into the net.

Moneys then stretched their lead 10 minutes later through Pearce.

Marley Ridge burst out of midfield and Pearce swept his cross into the bottom corner of the net.

The two-goal lead did not last long, though, with Thame hitting back when Moneys failed to deal with a right-wing cross.

The home side had a chance to grab a third before the break – when Briggs nicked the ball away from the Thame keeper and was brought down for a penalty.

However, Hutchings saw his spot-kick saved by the stopper diving to his left.

Moneyfields stretched their lead in the opening 15 minutes of the second half.

Briggs picked up a short corner and his shot deflected off a defender into the roof of the net.

Boosted by the goal, the home side began to pass the ball around with confidence.

And substitute Woodward sealed the win for Moneyfields when he found the net with a fine shot from the edge of the area.