Egham Town showed their improvement under Simon Lane with another decent showing and result against promotion chasing opposition. Having gone down 1-6 under previous management this hard working performance earnt the Sarnies a well-deserved point.
One measure of how entertaining a game is how many notes have been made by your reporter. Eleven lines over 90 minutes is not testament to an end-to-end thriller. Leon Cashman hit two weak shots at Egham keeper Matthew Nolan before the Sarnies had to replace Devante McKain with Mitch Wiseman in the centre of the defence. The home keeper had to make a decent stop at the foot of his left post as Cashman found room. The best move of the first half saw Michael Kalu and Josh Andrew open up the Dunstable defence but midfielder Stephan Hamilton-Forbes’ shot was off target, hitting a defender for a Kalu corner from which Andrew shot over the bar. In first half injury time Kalu won another corner, which he took, and when it was not cleared Hamilton-Forbes’ volley was wide of the mark.
The second half had even fewer openings as midfield became the centre of operations. With both sides lacking space for creativity it was perhaps not surprising that such close proximity led to some frayed tempers. Early on Ryan Frater went through the back of Kalu and there were a couple of scuffles and the cautioning of Dunstable’s Newman Carney for feigning injury after a tackle. The clearest chance of the half fell to Wiseman, who headed over off a Kalu flag kick in the 56th minute. There is no doubt the visitors came to the Runnymede Stadium in full expectation of leaving with three points; the two extra points would have seen them overtake Hartley Wintney for third place. They should be OK for the play-offs though, and with six games left they ought to be able to overtake Egham’s next opponents second placed Hayes & Yeading United, who have played 39. Egham made substitutions, Danny Julienne coming off for Georges Ehui, who made one particularly important intervention in front of the Sarnies’ back four, and Ryan Debattista replaced Hamilton-Forbes. Debattista was making his first appearance since being hospitalised with a stomach complaint, shortly after his last appearance, when he scored twice as Egham beat Hayes & Yeading United 2-0. Sarnies’ fans will be hoping the timing is propitious.
EGHAM TOWN: Matthew Nolan, Alex Nolan, Greg Haydon, Danny Julienne, Devante McKain, Joe Debayo, Stephan Hamilton-Forbes, Josh Andrew, Brendan Matthew, Ashley Lodge, Michael Kalu. Substitutes: Georges Ehui (Julienne, 74), Rhys Paul, Mitch Wiseman (McKain, 28), Ryan Debattista (Hamilton-Forbes, 89), Greig Stewart.

REMAINING FIXTURES
Sat 14th Apr A Hayes & Yeading United
Tue 17th Apr H Moneyfields
Thu 19th Apr A Aylesbury
Sat 21st Apr H Fleet Town
Tue 24th Apr H Arlesey Town
Thu 26th Apr H Beaconsfield Town
Sat 28th Apr A Chalfont St Peter