EGHAM TOWN 7 SOUTHALL 1

SATURDAY 12 SEPTEMBER 2015
EGHAM TOWN 7 (2) SOUTHALL 1 (0)

Egham Town scorers: Bajram Peshaj (20), Danny Bassett 2 (28, 79), Andrew Harewood (47), Brendan Matthew (52), Atri Allist (58), Darren Caesar (77).

Gary Meakin’s tenure as Egham Town manager got off to a gentle stroll with a hastily arranged friendly against Southall on Saturday afternoon. Southall are currently members of the Spartan South Midlands League Division One and agreed to come to the Runnymede Stadium to help Meakin run his eye over a good proportion of his squad and a some triallists. As a whole the exercise worked, the only injury worry apparently Bajram Peshaj’s groin pull in the second half.
It took a good reaction save by the Southall keeper to prevent Danny Bassett putting Egham ahead after nine minutes. Soon afterwards Bassett hit the bar. With 20 minutes gone Peshaj and midfielder Atri Allist combined well for Peshaj to find the net from 20 yards with a beautifully struck shot. A Brendan Matthew header pulled a great save from the keeper, who pushed the ball onto the post. The only time Jamie Norris in the Egham goal had to be alert was from a well hit 20 yarder that had to be steered out for a corner. Almost immediately Egham went down the other end, Matthew shot, the ball flicked off a defender onto the left post and Bassett pounced.
A few changes at the break didn’t affect the one-sided nature of the game, and only two minutes in it was 3-0. Matthew took advantage of the keeper leaving his box to try to clear, charged the ball down and Andrew Harewood tapped in from two yards. Matthew then scored five minutes later at the end of a wonderful move that saw Norris throw the ball out to Mason Welch-Turner. To see the one-two that he played with Harewood you’d not have known they were strangers before the game, and Welch-Turner drilled in a cross for Matthew to turn in. Peshaj’s short corner to Atri Allist (same one) and the (hopefully) new man’s exquisite low cross shot made it 5-0. The poor right back for Southall was being taken to the cleaners again and again, and from Harewood’s cross Darren Caesar added another. The seventh was created by Ivan Kumanda, who won the ball in midfield, ran out to the left wing and from the last of a series of excellent crosses Bassett added his second to take the score to 7-0. A somewhat soft penalty gave Southall what is usually called “a consolation goal”. Caesar’s strike against the post ended the action.
As the Southall manager called out to his players as his side was being overrun it was not about the scoreline, and the same goes for Meakin’s men. It would have been less than impressive had Egham not posted this kind of scoreline given the two division gap but the real work starts next week at Barton Rovers. The chief absentee for today’s game was Josh Andrew, who scored his only Sarnies’ hat-trick in the 5-4 win on the opening day of last season at Sharpenhoe Road.
Egham’s next home game is against Potters Bar Town on 26 September.