AFC HAYES 4 EGHAM TOWN 1

EVO-STIK SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIVISION ONE CENTRAL
MONDAY 6 APRIL 2015
AFC HAYES 4 (1) Dujon Desagurante 28, Luke Baldwin 57 Mike Kinsella 70, Jordan Berry 78
EGHAM TOWN 1 (1) Luke Neville (6)

Thinking that Hanworth Villa v Spelthorne Sports would prove to be an entertaining Easter Monday local derby, a tasty hors d’oeuvre before Egham Town did the double over almost-certainly-doomed AFC Hayes, yours truly was in for a day of disappointment. The CCL Premier Division clash was a crashing bore, a retrenchment if one were needed of the belief that the standard of football in the league the Sarnies left two season ago is, frankly, awful. I am not a religious man so I beseech those Egham Town fans who are to pray to every god, deity or supreme being they know that we never get relegated back to Step 5. Seeing several Egham old boys playing at this level was the draw, and served to prove that Matt Grave is still a class act, albeit now in the right back berth. Of the others Dwayne Antonio looked a better player with us than he did for the Villans, and Dale Marvell a shadow of the goalscorer he was not so long ago. Jesse Atiase was lively and the most likely to break the deadlock. I had a short chat with erstwhile Egham boss Luke Muldowney (who did not come off the bench) after this dullest of goalless draws. “No game today?” he asked. “Hayes” I replied. “Relegation battle isn’t it?” I thought “Cheek” but said “Well, we can’t go down but we have been leaking a lot of goals lately.” Lately, and still…
Egham Town, running on a very small squad, turned up at AFC Hayes’ Farm Park missing skipper Troy Ferguson and with defenders Ben Hunter and Seb Castello named but crocked. Josh Andrew will be available and needed for Saturday’s trip to St. Ives Town on Saturday. That’s not to say that those named in the First XI were all fit and for some the mid-season break will offer the chance to recover from niggles and knocks. It cannot, though, be used as any kind of excuse for this. Egham took a sixth minute lead as Luke Neville saw his towering header off a Bajram Pashaj free kick fumbled on the line by home keeper Melvin Minter. As they did against Barton Rovers on Saturday they failed to build on their early dominance. Twenty minutes later Hayes were level, slack play in midfield allowing Dujon Desagurante to hit a well struck hook volley across and past Egham keeper Jamie Norris. Brendan Matthew had Minter worried with a 30 yard drive that was just wide of the target and at half time the teams went in for refreshment at 1-1.
Then Egham had one of their worst 45 minutes of this season. Hayes thought they still had a chance of avoiding relegation (they may still do just that, depending on Football Association deliberations) and played to their strengths, running hard, battling for the ball and getting it into the box at the first opportunity because that is where goals are scored. They had tried this in the first meeting between the sides on New Year’s Day but encountered an Egham line-up capable of dealing with the threat to the extent that the Sarnies prevailed 4-0. Their tactics here go some way to explaining goals three and four but not why the usually excellent Jamie Norris spilled Luke Baldwin’s 30 yard drive, giving Hayes a lead they only looked like relinquishing when Danny Bassett finally got the ball down, used his not inconsiderable pace and attacked the left back before whipping in a cross that Matthew met with a low shot that Minter parried. Egham were in need of leadership. Yinka Salami tried his best to organise from centre back even though Norris was named as skipper but the game was up with twenty minutes left once the home side had pressed the Egham defence again and forced a corner from which Mike Kinsella found far too much room and took full advantage. Saturday’s goalscorer Haluna Masembe replaced Reece Brewster in an effort to add more pace to the Egham front line but it meant nothing when Jordan Berry scored direct from a corner, again won simply by lumping the ball towards the Egham box. Masembe had a shot parried and the Pashaj-Neville link nearly worked again as the game petered out. (There, dear reader, I didn’t use the words “humiliation” or “ignominy” once! There is, though, a lot of work to be done before the new campaign.) Your scribbler did not have any more luck post-match. Getting home and changing station on the radio back from 5Live to Magic, what comes on? David Bowie singing “Sorrow”. Then Leeds take the lead, go 3-1 down, draw level but lose 3-4. And if that were not enough both the Southern League and Football Web Page sites gave the result as 4-0. The League eventually got it kind of right, misspelling Mr Neville’s name as “Meville” and adding two minutes. Happy Easter.
AFC Hayes were and are bottom, and after this win only some massively odd goal difference turnaround can prevent them or North Greenford United (both on minus 45 goals) from finishing in the bottom two. This is even more unlikely given that they face each other on 18 April, and comes in the light of Beaconsfield SYCOB defeating Marlow 3-1. How it all pans out once rumour hardens into fact is almost anyone’s guess. Since winning 4-0 at Daventry Town the Sarnies have lost 1-3 at Aylesbury (after taking the lead), 1-4 at Hanwell Town, 1-3 at home to Barton Rovers (after taking the lead) and this loss, with another lead mislaid. Egham go to St. Ives (0-0 earlier in the season) on Saturday and finish off with home matches against Leighton Town (3-0) and Bedworth United (0-1). All will be difficult. It would be nice not to finish the season without a point from the last seven games.
EGHAM TOWN: Jamie Norris, Danny Williamson, Mitchell Gutteridge, Wilson Gondwe, Yinka Salami, Luke Neville, Bajram Pashaj, Jordan Carter, Danny Bassett, Brendan Matthew, Reece Brewster. Subs: Haluna Masembe (Brewster, 71), Ben Hunter, Seb Castello, Jamie Cunningham.