Egham Town 4 AFC Hayes 0

EVO-STIK SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIVISION ONE CENTRAL
THURSDAY 1 JANUARY 2015
EGHAM TOWN 4 (2) AFC HAYES 0 (0)
Dwayne Antonio (19), Josh Andrew (45), Dan Read (69), Reis Stanislaus (73)

Egham Town started the New Year with a comprehensive victory over bottom side AFC Hayes, taking their unbeaten league run to four games and putting them in good heart for the awkward trip on Saturday to Rugby Town. The Warwickshire side won 1-0 at divisional leaders Kettering Town and took advantage of a dreadful performance by the Sarnies to win 4-1 on 4 October. Egham will be hopeful of a better result at Butlin Road after despatching tricky opposition with four quality goals.
AFC Hayes came into this game with a dreadful run of results, losing their last nine games and scoring only one goal in that sequence. On Boxing Day their manager Ian Crane gave up the fight, and on 30 December they appointed Paul Palmer as their new boss. That in itself meant that Egham had no idea what they would be facing, given the recuperative effect a new managerial appointment can have on a troubled squad. In addition the Middlesex club had signed some new players who would also want to show their worth. That much was evident in the opening exchanges with Egham being penned back and thankful that centre-forward Max Walcott failed to make proper contact with a presentable chance for a header on Jamie Norris’ goal. They were passing the ball with confidence and looked better than some of the sides to whom the Sarnies have lost in this campaign; I’m thinking Potters Bar, Bedford, Godalming, Chalfont St Peter…
Egham rode that mini-storm and on 17 minutes took the lead. Josh Andrew raced down the right wing before playing the ball in to Reis Stanislaus, who moved the ball on to Joe Chandiram. Dwayne Antonio called for the ball, Chandiram flicked the ball into his path and Antonio drove home an exquisite volley past Sam Mazurek in the AFC Hayes goal. Egham’s defence, without Wilson Gondwe, who was under the weather, was holding firm as Hayes tried to level, and Seb Castello did particularly well with a timely challenge on Walcott as he was about to shoot. Sometimes football matches can be decided by one decision by one participant, and here the man in question was Hayes’ Jack Cass. With the first half nearing its end he had curled in an excellent corner kick that forced Norris to push the ball over the bar. Cass then decided to play his next flag kick short to Steven Richards, whose pass into the Egham box was blocked. Egham broke, Dan Read brought the ball under control on the halfway line and passed to Antonio, who in turn found Josh Andrew for a quite brilliant lob volley from the edge of the box. That two goal cushion all but settled which side was going to get the three points. Hayes could not cope with Egham’s pace, and Richards was lucky he was only booked for a crude flooring of Antonio on the edge of his side’s penalty area. What Egham wanted was a third goal, and it came through the speed and skill of Andrew, racing down the right before whipping in the perfect cross for Read to trap, turn and score from 16 yards; that’s a goal in each of the last three games for the Egham centre-forward. Four minutes later Andrew repeated the trick, and Stanislaus was found at the back post for an acrobatic hooked volley that bounced off the turf before finding the roof of Mazurek’s net. Hayes, to their credit, kept battling and Walcott made sure Norris was on his toes with a cross shot that the Egham keeper had to save at full length.
The trip to Rugby gives Egham the chance to improve on their only other visit, a 1-3 loss which saw them concede the dopiest and the best goals they let in all season. Rugby’s ground is the biggest, and most professional looking, in the division and at times the Sarnies seemed overawed, which they cannot afford to be this time. On Tuesday Egham face a shorter trip, to Evo-Stik Southern Premier strugglers Burnham for a Red Insure Cup 3rd round tie. The draw for the round is:

Red Insure Cup Third Round drawn on 28 November 2014

Biggleswade Town v Rugby Town
Burnham v Egham Town
North Greenford United v Chesham United
North Leigh v Stratford Town
Paulton Rovers or Frome Town v Truro City
Poole Town v Sholing
Royston Town v Corby Town
Swindon Supermarine v Shortwood United

The winners of Burnham v Egham Town could face, unless they come up against North Greenford United or Chesham United, a long distance midweek trip in the quarter-finals.

EGHAM TOWN: Jamie Norris, Danny Williamson, Seb Castello, Louis Chandler-Joseph, Luke Muldowney, Ryan Lake, Josh Andrew, Josh Chandiram, Dan Read, Reis Stanislaus, Dwayne Antonio. Subs: Wilson Gondwe, Wayne Jackson (Antonio, 79), Brendan Matthew (Read, 75), Ashley Quashie.