Egham Town 5 Eversley 1

EL RECORDS PREMIER CHALLENGE CUP SECOND ROUND
TUESDAY 4 OCTOBER 2011
EGHAM TOWN 5 (3) EVERSLEY 1 (0)
Egham Town scorers: Marcus Moody (3), Matt Grave 3 (18, 29, 67 pen), Brendan Matthew (59)

Egham Town made smooth passage into the third round of the League Cup against Eversely, currently in second place in CCL Division One. Starting with Lee Pasmore in for Aarron Taylor-Ives in central defence and Brendan Matthew for the unavailable Dale Marvell, Egham showed from the off a determination to get this tie out of the way without too much hassle, and took the lead in the third minute. Matt Grave advanced and shot, and from the rebound, with Jamie Houghton screaming for the ball, skipper Marcus Moody showed great close control in the penalty area as he turned James Reeves and rolled the ball into the net. Eversley were keen to get back in the game but saw Brad Cann's cross shot cleared off the line by Ken During. After 18 minutes Egham's lead was doubled with a wonderful lob by Grave over keeper Richard Shelly, and just before the half hour Egham were firmly in the driving seat as Grave netted again. The move was started by During, coming out of defence, and passing to Houghton. Tom Hedges then moved Houghton's pass on to Grave, who hit probably the slowest shot he has scored with in all his time with Egham, leaving Shelly out of position. Shelly made a decent block from Matthew to stop Eversley turning round with a four goal deficit. Grave, twice, saw goalbound efforts blocked and Gavin Evans denied Houghton with a clearance off the line as Egham ended the half in dominant form.
The second period had barely started when Jake Galbraith's long pass found Matthew, who was hurt by Enrico Rossoni's tackle. Evans' error presented Moody with a chance, but from his fierce shot Shelly made the save of the game to turn the ball over. Taylor-Ives replaced Pasmore in defence on 57 minutes later, not long before a fine run by Moody laid on a gift of a goal for Matthew, taking the score to 4-0. Off came Houghton and Matthew for Tom Brunton and Max Galbraith, and initially the changes did not make much of a difference. When Shelly clumsily, and as last man, clattered into Moody on 67 minutes he was dismissed by referee Jon Singh, whose career has included a long stint at Football League level. Asen Agov (I recognise that name; was he at Ash?) came on but could not prevent Grave registering his hat-trick with a thumping penalty conversion. It was then that Egham started to get a bit sloppy, Taylor-Ives slipping to give Eversley a half chance that Joshua Wright, who looked offside, took for what is in these circumstances habitually, and ludicrously, described as a “consolation” goal. Grave, from a cross by Hedges, managed somehow to hit the bar with a presentable opportunity for his fourth, with 77 minutes gone. Another defensive slip let Wright in; a challenge was made, Eversley's management team howled for a penalty, unsuccessfully. That was with four minutes remaining, so the difference would have been important only to statisticians.

Egham go to Colliers Wood United on Saturday, and then to Horley Town on Tuesday.

EGHAM TOWN: Paul Borg, Dan Hartlebury, Jake Galbraith, Ken During, Lee Pasmore, Luke Muldowney, Marcus Moody (Capt.), Jamie Houghton, Brendan Matthew, Matt Grave, Tom Hedges. Subs: Tom Brunton (Matthew, 60), Max Galbraith (Houghton, 60), Aarron Taylor-Ives (Pasmore, 57).