EGHAM TOWN 1 BARTON ROVERS 3

EVO-STIK SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIVISION ONE CENTRAL
SATURDAY 4 APRIL 2015
EGHAM TOWN 1 (1) BARTON ROVERS 3 (1)
HALUNA MASEMBE (10) / RUSSELL BULL (34), LOUIS PUTNAM (61, pen), BEN SAWYER (77)

When the season is over and Koo Dumbuya and Trevor Norris do an assessment of the 19 games for which they were in charge they will doubtless have a lot to chew over in preparation for season 2015-2016. One completely unknowable factor is which league Egham Town will be playing in, the rumour mill suggesting various options for 2015-2016, but irrespective of that there are other items on their agenda that need discussion, such as an improvement in home form and the ability to hold on to leads. Against fourth placed Barton Rovers it would be true to say that the Sarnies were, until Rovers levelled, the better side and ought to have had more than one goal to show for their early efforts.
The standard of officiating is, clearly, as much a “known unknown” as it ever was but Mr Nicholas Mackenzie did little to endear himself to either side with some odd decisions, in particular ruling out a Brendan Matthew goal eight minutes from time. Danny Williamson had come on to give the home side some much needed pep and did so with a fierce shot that Rovers keeper Kyle Forster dropped at the feet of Matthew, who did what he has been doing recently and put the ball over the line. Mr Mackenzie decided, wrongly, that Matthew kicked the ball out of Forster’s hands. Had it been allowed to stand it would have made the score 2-3 and, who knows, maybe given the home side the lift they needed to get something out of a match that had run away from them after Haluna Masembe had bundled the ball over the line in the 10th minute after an excellent break from midfield by Jordan Carter. Masembe’s goal doubled his tally for the Sarnies and he and Matthew were unlucky not to have got something out of the next attack, three minutes later, with the Rovers defence all over the place. Not long afterwards another Carter through ball to Masembe split the visitors’ defence but this time Masembe just failed to get enough on the ball to threaten Forster’s goal. The visitors looked to be in disarray and there for the taking, but to their credit pulled themselves together with Luke Neville having to clear Louis Putman’s shot away from danger. Egham stopped doing what they had been doing, threatening the visiting back line with their pace, and were punished in the 34th minute as Russell Bull caught the defence square and drilled in a low cross shot beyond the reach of Jamie Norris, the Egham keeper making his first appearance since the trip to Royston Town that saw him leave the pitch with a dislocated left thumb. (Jamie Cunningham had put in several impressive performances in his stead.) Wilson Gondwe blocked a Putman shot and Matthew had a run terminated by Ben Sawyer’s scything tackle that led to a Bajram Pashaj free kick curling towards the top right corner of the Rovers net before Forster made a comfortable save.
Egham were missing their skipper, Troy Ferguson, who limped off at Hanwell Town, his No. 4 shirt being taken by newcomer Reece Brewster, who had a very impressive debut. Sarnies’ boss Koo Dumbuya had been forced to make a substitution after the team sheets were swapped with Ben Hunter pulling up and replaced by Seb Castello. He in turn lasted until the third minute of the second half before having to come off, replaced by Mitchell Gutteridge. Five minutes later Rhys Hoenes broke down the Egham left and crossed for Putman, rising for a header but being fouled in the process by Yinka Salami. Putnam was making his third appearance against Egham this season in his third shirt, having played for Hanwell Town and Aylesbury United. He had not scored previously; this time he did. When Williamson came on it was for Danny Bassett. The substitution saw some reshuffling of the team, but fortunately it did not get in the way of Luke Neville giving another superb performance at the back, his shepherding of the dangerous Putman from the danger zone in the 72nd minute being particularly impressive. Alas, it did not stop Putman taking advantage of Egham losing midfield possession before whipping in a cross for Sawyer to head home. Had, therefore, Mr Mackenzie given Matthew his goal it would have seen the Egham striker bag his seventh in six games (sorry Brendan; five on the bounce isn’t a club record, as reported in local paper The Surrey Advertiser – Clayton Whittle scored in ten consecutive games in season 2001-2002) and perhaps set the scene for a grandstand finish that instead twice featured Rovers substitute Paul Barnes; a clear, blatant and unpunished dive in the box and then forcing an embarrassment-saving block from Norris after Gondwe lost control of the ball.
Egham travel to AFC Hayes, who are bottom of the table but still, with twelve points to fight for and nine from safety will be after revenge for a 4-0 drubbing Egham gave them on New Year’s Day. Of the four scorers that day (Josh Andrew, Dan Read, Reis Stanislaus and Dwayne Antonio) only Andrew is still at the club, and for him this is the last of his four game ban. He will therefore be available for the trip to St. Ives Town (9th) on Saturday and the remaining games, both at home, against Leighton Town (18th) and Bedworth United (6th) (18th and 25th April). Egham have 48 points; 60 will see them match last season’s haul and still, perhaps, see them finish in the top ten.
EGHAM TOWN: Jamie Norris, Wilson Gondwe, Seb Castello, Reece Brewster, Yinka Salami, Luke Neville, Bajram Pashaj, Jordan Carter, Danny Bassett, Brendan Matthew, Haluna Masembe. Subs: Ben Hunter, Mitchell Gutteridge, Danny Williamson, Jamie Cunningham (gk).