POOLE TOWN 3 EGHAM TOWN 2

RED INSURE CUP SEMI-FINAL
TUESDAY 24 FEBRUARY 2015
POOLE TOWN 3 (0) Ben Close (51), Joe Quigley (69), Luke Burbidge (87)
EGHAM TOWN 2 (1) Gutteridge (28), Stanislaus (62)

Mitchell Gutteridge's first goal for the Sarnies and a worldy from Reis Stanislaus were almost, but not quite, enough to see off Premier Division Champions-elect Poole Town on their own patch in a superb Red Insure Cup semi-final.
Egham had taken confidence from a more assured showing on Saturday in their win against Uxbridge and were clearly in no mood to be Poole's whipping boys despite the division and a half gulf between the two clubs. On a very wide pitch the home side, not surprisingly, settled first and found lots of room on the flanks. When they did get the ball into the Egham box, they were thwarted by resolute and stout hearted defending. After five minutes home skipper Jamie Whisken rose to meet a corner and headed wide, and soon after Ben Hunter matched Jack Dickson for speed to concede a corner which was cleared. Halfway through the first period Poole tried walking the ball into the net and were denied by a mass of Egham bodies. My mind drifted briefly back to Rugby Town, where the first half was like the training exercise of attack v defence, but this is not the same group of players and this group have a different mindset. This time “defence” turned into attack, and although one of our watching number scoffed when I noted the returning Josh Andrew’s burst of speed down the right to force a corner after 23 minutes it did indicate that Poole might not have this all their own way. The hard work they put in was rewarded after 27 minutes. Troy Ferguson swung in a corner that home keeper Vinny Marques de Salve tipped over the bar, and from Ferguson’s next flag kick the Poole defence failed to clear and the ball fell for Mitchell Gutteridge to trap, turn and drive the ball past the keeper. If that was surprising, it should have been even better for the visitors. Hunter had made an unbelievable clearance off the line to deny Poole an early riposte and Poole’s Charlie Davis had earnt a yellow card for clattering into Haluna Masembe. With four minutes to the break Masembe skinned Lewis Tallack and whipped in a perfect cross from the left for Dan Read but the striker was millimetres off with his leap and the chance went begging. Who knows how it might have turned out had we gone two up?
Poole, one of whose committee had indicated before the match that there were five first eleven in the starting line-up and six “fringe” players, were in danger of underestimating Egham Town and were not happy with their performance in the first half. One of the fringe players, Will Spetch, was replaced by the regular No. 7 Luke Burbidge and it looked as if it might be the answer for the Dorset side. It took just six minutes for them to level with Ben Close forcing a shot home off Jamie Norris' legs after being fed by Joe Quigley, the home team’s massive centre forward. The home crowd now expected an onslaught but even though Egham faced a lot of pressure they shook the Dolphins when, on 69 minutes, Stanislaus, fully 30 yards out, unleashed an absolute screamer into the top right corner. It was a belter that left the keeper stranded and is almost certainly the best goal he has ever scored for us.
Poole had to find their way back into the game again. Tallack closed down Yinka Salami’s clearance and forced a corner which was again defended en masse by the men in green and black. The home side were more than lucky with their second leveller as Gutteridge was clearly fouled by Joe Quigley before the referee awarded the corner for which the big striker rose to head past Norris. Stanislaus’ goal had come after 61 minutes and Quigley’s seven minutes later, so that left the Sarnies a quarter of the match to grab another or at least hold out for penalties. Egham made substitutions, one being Brendan Matthew for Masembe, the replacement showing up well with two excellent crosses from the right. The others saw Salami replaced by Wayne Jackson and, late on, Harry Frost for Dan Read. Frost had made one appearance for us, at Bedworth United, and as a centre half, and has clearly decided to give it another go. His appearance, up front (probably because he is very tall), came after the Dolphins had struck the winner. With penalties looming (this competition does not do extra time) it was a Poole sub who sunk the plucky Sarnies. Charlie Davis had just tried his luck from distance then Luke Burbidge gathered the ball in midfield and was given time to advance before hammering in a low shot into Norris' bottom right corner, with only three minutes remaining. Egham’s reply came from our magnificent goalie. Marques de Salve had to turn a Norris free kick over the bar, so much did it catch the breeze, and the home defence cleared the subsequent corner, taken by Jackson.
Which is crueller, to lose to a late goal or take it to penalties and then go out of the competition in a spot kick lottery? Egham were brilliant, and deserved their night off training on Thursday. More please… Meanwhile, we hope now that Poole go on to win the final, because losing to the eventual winners just makes it feel less painful.
Finally, here perhaps is the other reason the home side won – their scorers have form. Ben Close is on loan from Portsmouth, Joe Quigley from Bournemouth and Luke Burbidge has played at Bournemouth.

EGHAM TOWN: Jamie Norris, Danny Williamson, Ben Hunter, Wilson Gondwe, Yinka Salami, Mitchell Gutteridge, Joshua Andrew, Troy Ferguson, Dan Read, Reis Stanislaus, Haluna Masembe. Subs; Brendan Matthew (Masembe, 79), Sebastian Castello, Harry Frost (Read, 88), Wayne Jackson (Salami, 73), Jamie Cunningham.