Thame United scraped through their Oxfordshire Senior Cup quarter-final in a dramatic penalty shoot-out against old rivals Witney Town at Windmill Stadium last night.

Never-say-die Thame twice came from behind in normal time with skipper Martin Brown forcing a last-minute equaliser.

And with no further goals in extra time, the Ryman League Division 1 leaders edged through 5-4 on penalties.

Alex Minton, Neil Greig, Chris Fontaine, Brown and Mick Swaysland were on target from the spot for Thame with Mark Jones and Rob Smith missing.

For Witney, Mike Cook, Tom Radcliffe, Dominic Dunton and Steve Tavinor netted, while Gary Murphy, Richard Bourne and Tom King were off target.

It was a gallant effort by Witney, who fielded a weakened squad due to a string of injuries and then lost key midfielder Jason Caffel after just ten minutes to be replaced by Paul O'Hare, manager of Witney Academy.

To add to their problems, the Dr Martens Eastern Division outfit also had Gary Swann sent off for two fouls in two minutes early in extra time.

Witney had taken the lead when Dunton scored from the penalty spot after Bourne had been brought down.

Geoff Neville then blasted over a great chance to increase Witney's lead before half-time.

Thame levelled after 68 minutes when King misjudged a cross from Jones and dropped the ball in front of Greg Williams, who tapped the ball into an empty net.

But Witney were back in front in the 75th minute when Swann collected a backheel from Bourne, rounded his marker and hit a sweet shot into the far corner.

Swaysland headed over from two yards out with King beaten, but Brown scored from close range following a corner at the death to force extra time.

Thame Utd: Moores, Jones, G Williams (Potter 78), Brown, Bradley (Greig 116), Avery, Smith, Minton, Swaysland, Mitchell, Fontaine.

Witney Tn: King, Dunton, Radcliffe, Cook, Murphy, Tavinor, Hendra, Caffel (O'Hare 10), Bourne, Swann, Neville.