Egham Town 0 Godalming Town 1

Egham Town 0 (0) Godalming Town 1 (1)
Scorer: Jack Mazzone (31)

The August Bank Holiday has not been good for Egham Town. Two winnable games have come and gone with no goals and no points. Crucially, in neither game did the Sarnies really do enough to win because in neither game did they do enough to threaten the opposition goal to the extent that they would be able to overturn, for the third game running, a 0-1 half time deficit. For the first of those games, at Beaconsfield SYCOB, there seemed to be a unity of purpose that led them to a thoroughly deserved 2-1. However, at the end of that game centre forward Reis Stanislaus needlessly got himself a straight red card which perhaps contributed to a pair of listless performances at Potters Bar Town and in this match. The losses of Richie Byrne in the centre of defence, skipper Luke Muldowney at right back and Dan Read up front are easily identifiable candidates for reasons why Egham have lost their spark, but whatever lies behind these two defeats needs to be sorted out damn soon. 19th place is not where this club wants to be after six games, with only two games won. Saturday next sees the potential for a very large banana skin in the shape of an FA Cup Preliminary Round tie at Hellenic League Abingdon United. The Oxfordshire side are second from bottom of the Premier Division, having today been thrashed 1-5 at home to Oxford City Nomads but will be looking at entertaining an out of sorts Southern League side as a chance for a shock. Questions begin to be asked when your side has just six points out of 18 at the start of a league campaign. A run of four losses and two wins in six games when, say, you have accumulated 50+ points in the middle or towards the end of the season is annoying but can be taken in one’s stride as relegation is all but unlikely and, unless it threatens a promotion push, can be handled if it does not preface a massive decline in results. At the start of the season, though, it sounds alarm bells and perhaps begs other questions such as team stability, player availability and/or suitability, or even if some players are so sure of their places they know that a diffident performance will not perforce result in relegation to the subs bench.
Whatever the reasons for such a meagre return in the opening 1/7th of the league programme, one truth, at all levels, is immutable. If you don’t take your chances you don’t win games, and one such chance fell to Scott Weight, stand-in skipper in the absence of Muldowney, and it came to his head, 13 minutes in from a Joe Chandiram corner and Weight, standing unmarked at the back post really should have done a whole lot better than nod over the bar from three yards out in front of an open goal. He missed similarly at Potters Bar Town previously. Godalming, though, had one chance in the first half and scored it. Egham keeper Garry Aulsberry kicked the ball upfield, the “G’s” Nick Hutchins outjumped striker George Gould and the ball dropped behind the home rearguard and into the path of the speedy and, crucially, in form forward Jack Mazzone, who, one-on-one with Aulsberry, was not fazed and finished easily.
Josh Andrew replaced Calvin Thomas at half time and seven minutes later Matt Grave was on for Mo Harkin. The substitutions gave some impetus to Egham’s forward venturings, and on 57 minutes Ricky Farnden and Reis Stanislaus created a chance that Weight scuffed . Godalming did not appear to be unduly perturbed and were more dangerous with their chances, Will Hutton getting his shot on the break on target and forcing Aulsberry to save. Gould went off, Dwayne Antonio his replacement. Stanislaus forced a save from the hitherto under-tested Richard Ossai and Antonio fashioned a cross from which Weight headed over. The sight of Andrew going down hurt as the game was played out just added to the woes currently besetting Lee Passmore and his team.
Should the game against Abingdon United require a replay it will be on Tuesday 2 September.
EGHAM TOWN: Garry Aulsberry, Lee Morley, Jake Galbraith, Ricky Farnden, Ryan Lake, Scott Weight, Calvin Thomas, Joe Chandiram, Reis Stanislaus, George Gould, Mo Harkin. Subs: Matt Grave (Harkin, 52), Josh Andrew (Thomas, HT), Dwayne Antonio (Gould, 68), Luke Muldowney.

Mark