Molesey 0 Egham Town 3

FA CUP SPONSORED BY BUDWEISER
EXTRA PRELIMINARY ROUND
SATURDAY 20 AUGUST 2011
MOLESEY 0 (0) EGHAM TOWN 3 (1)
Egham Town scorers: Scott Todd (33), Dale Marvell (56), Matt Grave (75)

It has come to my notice that my somewhat hasty critique of the second half of our game at Badshot Lea upset quite a few people. Sorry for that; no such fears of me stepping on any toes, though, for this write-up. This was bloody excellent, once the first goal had gone in. That was the turning point, after 32 minutes during which Molesey certainly had the upper hand. Then it all began to go very right for the Sarnies.
Egham's boss John Hamsher was hit by some no-shows, off (no Wayne Noad). He could name only strikers Matt Grave and Brendan Matthew, alongside Josh Henry and John Hamsher, whose participation was never really anticipated, to watch from the bench. Ross White made his first start, on the left wing, a slot usually taken by skipper Marcus Moody, who found a place in the middle as Lee Pasmore was unavailable. Hamsher perhaps could have done with the former Egham men lining up for the home side; Chris Ellis is now a classy centre back with a massive throw for the Walton Road side and Charlie Muldowney, whose presence was apparently much wanted by the Moles against his old club, was on the bench, with no pre-season training under his belt. Sitting in the stand for the first half was one Steve Baker, now coaching under Steve Webb. Egham do have, though, a signing who, it is hoped, will be a hugely positive factor this season. Scott Todd made three appearances at the Runnymede Stadium in pre-season. The first was for Ashford Town, in a 2-2 draw. The next was for Egham in a 1-1 draw with Uxbridge, and finally against Met. Police in a 2-1 win. Ashford fans will know of his attributes better than we do, so far. It is perhaps unlikely that he dreamt that his debut for his new team would be so dramatic.
What Messrs. Baker and Webb saw initially would have given them cause for hope. Ellis headed wide when unmarked only four minutes in, Sam Lampard forced a superb tip over from Paul Borg with a thumping half volley three minutes later and Emmanuel Quarshie was as wasteful as Ellis with only nine gone. Egham had not got themselves going, but then from a corner Dale Marvell whipped in a corner that Aarron Taylor-Ives saw cleared off, or not far from, the line. Some loose passes in defence created half chances for Molesey, particularly a surging left wing run and cross by Ellis. Egham were trying to get a firmer grip on proceedings but Webb's charges were chasing down the ball in midfield, covering superbly and certainly looked the more likely to score. Then it all changed.
Egham had just their second corner, again Marvell took it, again Taylor-Ives found the elevation to head the ball goalwards, but this time Todd found room for a low drive from six yards to give the Sarnies a barely warranted lead. The change in Egham's demeanour was remarkable. Marvell and skipper Marcus Moody linked for Moody to cross to Taylor-Ives, and his knock down was met by Todd, whose shot was cleared. In the 37th minutee Todd forced a great save from Wester Young with a 30 yard drive and Marvell hammered in a cross that beat everyone in the area. Molesey were restricted to a Joe Pratley-Jones free kick that hit the wall.
Egham's record at Walton Road has been poor in recent years; the last win there was by 1-0 in the Surrey Senior Cup Third Round on 18 January 2005. (I can remember it was bitterly cold; I can remember the goal; the scorer's name eludes me.) Once Borg had smothered a James McShane run and Lampard saw a cross shot narrowly miss the right post six minutes into the second half the question was whether or not this would continue. Then White fashioned a wonderful pass off the outside of his right foot, at speed, which the Moles defence cleared for a corner. From it Jamie Houghton headed narrowly over. Almost immediately full back Jake Galbraith ran at the defence, and passed to Marvell, whose low drive was saved superbly by Young. Maintaining the pressure Todd went on a run before a shot that was hastily cleared. After 11 minutes the pressure told, as another Todd run opened up the defence for a pass to Marvell, who in an instant switched the ball from his right foot to his left and in the same movement hammered his angled shot into Young's bottom left corner. Egham did not let up, as yet another scintillating run from Todd tore the home rearguard apart and his precision pass was met by Marvell, whose shot flashed inches wide of the left upright. Molesey managed a shot by Ellis - I hope that Molesey found that ball – and a more dangerous Quashie effort that Ken During did well to cover.
Todd had done his bit, and was replaced by Matt Grave. Once Egham get Todd, Marvell, Grave, Moody and Brendan Matthew all firing this could turn out to be a damned fine season for the Egham faithful, but back to the narrative that finds White ripping another hole down the Molesey right before an exquisite first time pass, again off the outside of the right boot, to the inrushing Grave who rammed the ball in from close range after 75 minutes. Young Mr Matthew came on for Marvell as Egham saw the game out. Molesey had calls for a penalty for handball waved away by the referee, who served the home side well as Quarshie, with a different official, may have had harsher punishment for what he said to the assistant when flagged offside. Instead Mr M Parsons did what he had done throughout the game, handling any difficult situations with authority, calmness and common sense. With Marvell off the pitch White took a 20 yard free kick that Young could not hold at the first attempt, and, having come on with not a lot of time left, Charlie Muldowney tried to create a consolation goal with a run and cross that Quarshie and Lampard missed. On my way out Steve Webb had the grace to wish Egham good luck in the next round, which is an interesting tie away to Merstham, who are among John Hamsher's former clubs.
On Tuesday Egham will be looking to carry on from this excellent performance as they entertain Wembley, who on Friday made history, along with their hosts Ascot United, in featuring in the first ever FA Cup tie to be streamed live on Facebook. The Londoners will be in good heart after their 2-1 win, and will want to avenge the 7-1 hammering Egham gave them last season. On Saturday Guildford City come calling, after suffering a shock Cup loss at Farnham Town. City are the current champions but were denied promotion because of ground grading issues. Not letting that get to them, they currently top the table again, with four wins out of four.

EGHAM TOWN: Paul Borg, Dan Hartlebury, Jake Galbraith, Ken During, Aarron Taylor-Ives, Luke Muldowney, Ross White, Jamie Houghton, Dale Marvell, Scott Todd, Marcus Moody. Subs: Matt Grave (Todd, 69), Brendan Matthew (Marvell, 78), Josh Henry, John Hamsher.