ST IVES TOWN 1 EGHAM TOWN 0

EVO-STIK SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIVISION ONE CENTRAL
SATURDAY 11 APRIL 2015
ST IVES TOWN 1 (0) EGHAM TOWN 0 (0)
Ben Seymour-Shove (91)

On Grand National day Egham must feel they are under Many Clouds as they fell to a fifth consecutive defeat at St Ives Town, but at least this one did not involve substandard performances from the Sarnies. Your scribe, obeying his Super Duty to this Cause of Causes was not alone in thinking that this particular reverse was, genuinely, unlucky.
Egham were glad to have skipper Troy Ferguson back from injury, and Josh Andrew back from suspension. It looked as if they would be up against it early on when Will Mizuimbiri netted after only 8 minutes but a raised flag curtailed home celebrations. On a bone hard pitch and with a capricious wind chances were not easy for either side to create, those that were coming from Ferguson and Brendan Matthew combining for shots that went wide or did not trouble home keeper Tim Trebes. Egham were clearly more settled after the debacle at AFC Hayes, who proves their own credentials, even though relegated, as they beat play-off hopefuls Rugby Town 1-0. The return of Ferguson to midfield stiffened the spine and Andrew was able to use his speed to stretch the home defence.
The first effort that did threaten came from Andrew’s 57th minute drive off a Matthew pass, Trebes doing well to turn the ball over for a corner. The keeper had to perform similar acrobatics when nearly caught out by Mitchell Gutteridge’s free kick that, 45 yards from goal, was windborne and not far off target. Egham’s luck was even more out when Haluna Masembe shot from 30 yards and the ball hit the right post and the back of Trebes’ head before going out for a corner. That the fates were against the Sarnies was finally confirmed when, just into injury time, after a spell of Egham pressure that won a series of corners, The Ives broke away and Ben Seymour-Shove scored with a cross shot. There were a couple of minutes left and Egham keeper Jamie Norris came up for the last Egham corner but even this did not help to end the current depressing run of losses. The worst thing was that this never once looked like being the outcome. The first between these teams, on 6 December saw two well matched sides go toe-to-toe and ended goalless. Under the current circumstances a repeat of that result was the least Egham deserved.
EGHAM TOWN: Jamie Norris, Danny Williamson, Mitchell Gutteridge, Wilson Gondwe, Yinka Salami, Luke Neville, Josh Andrew, Troy Ferguson (Captain), Danny Bassett, Brendan Matthew, Haluna Masembe. Subs (none used): Chad Goulter, Reece Brewster, Wayne Jackson, Jamie Cunningham (kpr).