EGHAM TOWN 4 BEACONSFIELD SYCOB 3

EVO-STIK SOUTHERN CENTRAL
SATURDAY 20 DECEMBER 2014
EGHAM TOWN 4 (1) BEACONSFIELD SYCOB 3 (1)
Josh Andrew (44), Dan Read (50), Luke Muldowney (51), Reis Stanislaus (85)
Alex Murray 2 (19, 80), Ashley Keplynack (61)

Beaconsfield SYCOB must have been kicking themselves for losing this match after dominating the first half and pegging back Egham from 3-1 to 3-3 in the second. For Egham Town the pressure was certainly on, going into the game goalless in their last four games and sliding down the table to 12th with the certain knowledge that a loss would see that situation worsen. Facing a side in 20th place and five straight away league defeats the opportunity was there for Egham to find their feet again but it was the visitors who had the better of the early play. Ashley Keplynack stretched the home back line with a cross that forced a corner and Wilson Gondwe had to clear off the Egham line from Ollie Jones’s shot before, on 19 minutes, a deep free kick found Alex Murray unmarked by the back post for a thumping header past Sarnies’ keeper Jamie Norris. Egham were offering nothing up front until leading scorer Reis Stanislaus raced in on SYCOB keeper Lee Howarth to close down a clearance. Nothing came of it but at least it showed some fighting spirit which had hitherto been missing. Denilson Vincente would have put Egham two down had his clever run onto Jonny Gray’s through ball not been met by Norris’ outstretched left foot. The block was crucial. Just before half time Norris launched the ball upfield, Josh Andrew got the ball under control and steered the ball past Howarth and the goal drought clock stopped at 474 minutes.
It was clear that the equaliser galvanised the Sarnies and by the 51st minute they were 3-1 up. Norris could claim his second assist with another punt up the park and as the ball fell into the Beaconsfield box Murray got caught in two minds as Dan Read challenged. The Egham forward did well to control the ball, spun round Murray and with Howarth now exposed he finished superbly. From the restart Egham moved forward, SYCOB transgressed and Joe Chandiram whipped in a free kick from which Egham player-manager Luke Muldowney powered in a scoring header. That goal, Muldowney’s firs since early last season (the first at Aylesbury), should have seen the Sarnies push on to a big win but SYCOB refused to buckle. Just past the hour Keplynack took the ball down the inside left channel, seemed to have gone too wide but then fired in a cross shot that found its way into the Egham net. With ten minutes to play Egham did not clear a corner and Murray was on hand to level at 3-3. Five minutes later Egham scored four in a league match for the first time since 9 September, with Dwayne Antonio the creator. He had come on for Brendan Matthew and, as always, gave a sharper cutting edge to Egham’s play than Matthew’s more measured approach. The sub took the ball down the right wing and sent in a cross that evaded Read but found Stanislaus running in to smack the ball home. The win, Egham’s first double of the season after a 2-1 win at Holloways Park on 18 August, sees Egham climb to 9th with a trip to 10th placed Godalming Town on Boxing Day to end the year. 2015 starts with a home game against AFC Hayes, who are bottom and on a run of eight straight defeats. Given Egham’s patchy form this season nothing should be taken for granted.
EGHAM TOWN: Jamie Norris, Danny Williamson, Seb Castello, Louis Chandler-Joseph, Luke Muldowney, Wilson Gondwe, Josh Andrew, Joe Chandiram, Dan Read, Reis Stanislaus, Brendan Matthew. Subs: Ryan Lake, Dwayne Antonio, Chris Smith, Nassim Dukali, Wayne Jackson.
P.S. Given that Egham don’t have an extensive history of player-managers well done to Jimmy Hughes for remembering the last time one scored. It was Steve Baker, a 40 yarder down the slope at Chessington & Hook United in a Surrey Senior Cup tie not enough to see us through in a 2-2 draw after extra time. We lost 5-6 on penalties. The date was 21 October 2008.