BOSTIK LEAGUE SOUTH CENTRAL DIVISION
SATURDAY 17 NOVEMBER 2018
UXBRIDGE 3 (2)
Mitchell Wiseman (6), Luke Maguire (27), Matthew Woods (72)
EGHAM TOWN 1 (0)
Brandon McCarthy (76)

Visits to Honeycroft when Egham played Uxbridge in the Southern League guaranteed departure with something positive to look back on: 5-0, a 3-1 with a forward in the Sarnies’ goal, a 7-0, a 1-0 league cup win and two 1-1 draws. Only six minutes into this match the chances of that run continuing were seriously diminished when a deep free kick found Mitchell Wiseman (last season’s Egham’s player of the year). He trapped the ball and fired in an angled shot for an early lead. Some of the feelgood factor after a goalless draw with Marlow (now top after a 2-1 win against Hayes & Yeading United) was already slipping away. There was good news, with Merrick James-Lewis recovering from what had looked like a nasty injury in the Marlow game, and the addition of nippy winger Ryan Hill, who has Stoke City on his CV. He was certainly the best player for the Sarnies, and tried tirelessly to provide the bullets for others to fire. One man can’t do it all though. Egham were lucky not to be in deeper trouble when keeper Matt Nolan came out of his area for a tackle that earnt him a caution then, with 27 minutes played, Wiseman rolled a free kick to Luke Maguire down the inside right channel. Maguire looked up and rifled in a cross shot with the Egham defence caught on the back foot.
Shots from Hill early in the second half forced Uxbridge keeper Paul McCarthy into a pair of decent saves before Tochukwu Okolo stopped Egham three down with a saving tackle on Maguire. Nolan and Curtis Ujah both had to clear from the goal area between Egham taking Mason Tunbridge off for Sean McCarthy, then Brandon McCarthy for Rhys Rabess. Egham were pushing Uxbridge back, but only fitfully, and without penetration. That Matty Woods, who started off last season superbly for the Sarnies before a long lay-off after an injury at Ramsgate, scored the home side’s third, pouncing on Nolan’s parry of Matt Sinclair’s shot only darkened the Sarnies’ horizon. Egham were bottom again, and stayed there until Bedfont Sports’ Matt Harris scored the only goal of the game at South Park in the 86th minute. When a side is a long way behind in a match and then score that scenario attracts the cliché “consolation goal”. While there was pleasure in watching Brandon McCarthy hammer a shot past his goalkeeping namesake the harsh reality is that that was only the ninth league goal Egham have scored this season, 408 minutes after Ashley Lodge scored in the 1-7 Bracknell humiliation. Signing a decent striker cannot happen soon enough. Cutting out defensive errors would be pretty useful too. Three dozen goals in the GA column after 13 games, with 25 left, points to treble figures at season’s end, and inevitable relegation.
Molesey’s 2-2 draw with FC Romania moved the Walton Road side four points clear of the Sarnies, who face a visit from 5th placed Cheshunt next Saturday. By then Cheshunt could be third, if they beat second placed Bracknell midweek. Uxbridge play Molesey on Tuesday while Egham visit Hellenic Premier neighbours Virginia Water in a Specsavers Surrey Senior Cup first round tie. Waters won 2-1 at Gloucester side Longlevens on Saturday. The tie will be at Windsor’s Stag Meadow ground.
EGHAM TOWN: Matt Nolan, Bradley Pearce, Tochukwu Okolo, Merrick James-Lewis, Darren Abbey, Curtis Ujah, Rhys Rabess, Charlie Malin, Kezie Ibe, Mason Tunbridge, Ryan Hill. Subs: Alessandro Sancese, Harry Tucker, Ashley Lodge (James-Lewis, 53), Sean McCarthy (Tunbridge, 58), Brandon McCarthy (76).