EGHAM TOWN 2 LEIGHTON TOWN 2

EVO-STIK SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIVISION ONE CENTRAL
SATURDAY 18 APRIL 2015
EGHAM TOWN 2 (1 ) LEIGHTON TOWN 2 (2)
HALUNA MASEMBE (12), DANNY BASSETT (59) Phil Draycott 2 (77, 90+4 (p))

Don’t be fooled by this result – even though they stopped the rot of five consecutive defeats, this 2-2 draw against a poor Leighton Town side will please almost no-one at the Runnymede Stadium. The Sarnies were punished for not taking their chances against Leighton Town and although both of the Bedfordshire side’s goals sprang from two egregious and risible errors from referee Andreas Anastasiou and his associates Stewart Beekman and Neo Neophytou the fact is that Egham had opportunities to rack up a decent win in this their penultimate game of the season.
Egham were in front after only 12 minutes as Haluna Masembe took Yinka Salami’s clever pass in his stride before drawing out keeper Zaki Oualah and sliding an angled shot into the Leighton net. Six minutes later skipper Troy Ferguson won the ball outside the box, passed forward to Josh Andrew and looked on as the Egham winger broke through two tackles before finding the foot of the right post with a thumping shot. A free kick from Leighton full back Mark Bunker gave home keeper Jamie Norris some cause for concern, as did a shot by Danny Watson a little later, but the visitors seemed more interested in giving the Egham players injury concerns before their last game, next Saturday at home to play-off hopefuls Bedworth United.
Egham’s second goal came four minutes into the second half thanks to a wonderful run and finish from Danny Bassett, cutting in from the left off a pass by fellow forward Brendan Matthew. Egham fans were not sure about Bassett’s “dancing Swans” celebrations from the former Staines Town man, though! Then came what proved to be the first turning point. Andrew ran from midfield as the Leighton defence retreated but decided to pass up on the opportunity to have a shot and passed sideways to Matthew, who did shoot, with the inside of his right foot, the ball almost inevitably rising over both bar and stand. A more decisive attempt, or at least one on target and who knows? [If Mr Bassett is reading this, that is why I shouted what I shouted. Egham are not, as yet, a team good enough to pass up such openings. There is an old Egham habit, irrespective of who is in charge, or who the players are, of trying to walk the ball into the net. Sometimes, as we witnessed in the horror show at AFC Hayes, just hitting the bloody thing is the best option.] After the mild diversion of Wilson Gondwe trying his luck from the halfway line Aaron Morgan tried a 20 yard shot that missed the Egham goal by not much. The Leighton defence did not like the pace of the Egham attack and were on the back foot again as Andrew hooked a pass on for Matthew, whose shot was well hit but also well saved by keeper Oualah. The next game-turning pivot came when Andrew took the second of two corners in a minute and neither of the two available officials spotted that it was a blue-shorted defender, not Matthew, who had headed the ball out for what should have been another Egham flag kick. Reprieved, the visitors went on the attack and scored. There is no gainsaying the quality of the strike, a powerful, angled shot by Phil Draycott that fizzed past Norris, but the opportunity would not have been there had the officials done their jobs properly. The same could be said of Egham up front though, Andrew whipping in a cross that Mitchell Gutteridge headed wastefully wide. In the last five minutes Andrew was through on goal again, Oualah saving well from his shot and, as the defence failed to clear, Matthew saw his goal bound effort cleared off the line. Four minutes into the injury time racked up by Leighton’s midfielders continual (and too often unpunished) fouling of home players a hopeful pass was played into the area for Draycott, and Norris jumped to punch the ball clear. It happens in every game at every level and yet this time Mr Anastasiou decided that in this particular instance the Egham keeper had committed some kind of offence. He hadn’t. He jumped up and punched the ball clear. He did not touch the forward closing in on him. The only person in the ground who thought it was an offence was Mr Anastasiou. The only offence was the award of the spot kick. Draycott converted. Egham left the field knowing they had the chances not to be in that position. If such moments can help forge this group of young, skilled, promising players into a more battle-ready side able to tackle the challenges of next season then it will have been worth it. The final game is against a Bedworth United side who lost 1-2 at champions Kettering Town and who have their spare game, at Northwood United, to play on Tuesday. That they are one behind is down to an abandonment of the original game, after Greenbacks’ striker Danny Dubidat had put the visitors ahead and later got sent off. Disagreements ensued and the referee decided to end proceedings somewhat earlier than originally planned. Mr Dubidat also saw red against Egham, seconds after being named MOM. His was the only goal of the game, after Jamie Norris had saved the home striker’s penalty kick. The Midlanders need one win from those two games to guarantee a play-off place, with Rugby Town one place and two points behind them, but with a better goal difference of 29 to Bedworth’s 28. Two wins could see them finish second, ahead of Royston Town, who finish with a trip to Rugby.
EGHAM TOWN: Jamie Norris, Danny Williamson, Mitchell Gutteridge, Wilson Gondwe, Yinka Salami, Luke Neville, Josh Andrew, Troy Ferguson, Danny Bassett, Brendan Matthew, Haluna Masembe. Subs: Jordan Carter (Ferguson, 70), Reece Brewster, Seb Castello (Bassett, 82), Chad Goulter, Jamie Cunningham (kpr.)