EGHAM TOWN 0 ST IVES TOWN 1

EVO-STIK SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIVISION ONE CENTRAL
SATURDAY 22 AUGUST 2015
EGHAM TOWN 0 (0)
ST IVES TOWN 1 (1) Jordan Jarrold (21)

One win and four defeats in the opening five falls well short of the form needed for Egham Town to justify boss Trevor Norris’ pre-season prediction of a top six finish. Sixth has been achieved, after a 3-0 home win against Hanwell Town, but thereafter three straight losses have seen Egham drop to 12th, then 15th and now 18th. Ahead of four sides who have yet to taste victory (Fleet Town, Hanwell Town, North Greenford United and Arlesey (who have lost all five)) they will turn their thoughts to making progress in the FA Cup next Saturday. They entertain Evo-Stik Southern South & West club Slimbridge, promoted after finishing third in the Western League last season. They lost 0-4 at home to Yate Town on Saturday, and, like Egham, find themselves in 18th place.
The game started late because St Ives Town were caught in traffic this side of Watford, a situation apparently not helped by stopping at a service station. The 3.10 kick off seemed to suit the Cambridgeshire side, abetted as they were by another slow start by the Sarnies’. Hack Higgs fired over after 8 minutes, then Egham started working some neat patterns in attack but with no real penetration Danny Bassett was showing up well but there was little to suggest an early breakthrough. The visitors had won 4-1 in midweek at Leighton Town, who had left the Runnymede Stadium the week before with a fluky late winner in a 2-1 win. That, and losing from 1-0 up at Kings Langley in midweek, seems to have affected confidence, a state of affairs not helped when right back Jordan Jarrold, left completely unmarked at the left corner of the Egham box, was afforded time and room to look up and leather the ball into the far corner of Jamie Norris’ net. Occasional flickerings from Haluna Masembe on the Egham left saw him shoot tamely at the keeper soon after the goal and towards the break jink to the byline before pulling the ball back into a box into which no other Egham forwards had run to support him. The Saints’ Danny Watson was denied by a decent save from Norris and Egham’s Brendan Matthew had a shot saved by Tim Trebes at the other end, then Egham put together their best move of the match, Larry Boateng passing to Josh Andrew, from whose pass Bassett shot over the bar.
Nothing so exciting happened in the second half. Matthew should have at least got a shot on target from Boateng’s pass after 58 minutes, and when Bassett evaded two tackles on a run down the right he failed to deliver a serviceable cross. St Ives were doing little to test Norris, seemingly waiting for mistakes to occur. If that were the case it nearly paid off on 71 minutes. Boateng took a free kick which bounced off the wall and caught Egham shorthanded at the back. Stuart Eason’s shot was cleared away by the hastily retreating Louis Chandler-Joseph. Jonathan Hippolyte replaced Bassett but the switch did little to suggest Egham would get back into the game. St Ives’ Ebey Marango’s shot was blocked by Mitchell Gutteridge and Higgs shot wide off the rebound. The only time in the second half Egham seemed likely to score came after a fabulous run by Andrew but from his cross Hippolyte was unable to get enough purchase on his diving header at the back post.
In winning this match all St Ives, who were another desperately ordinary side, had to do was what their manager told them and maintain their discipline. An Egham side lacking attacking flair and on-field leadership will have to return to league duties with some good answers to what already appear to be sizeable questions. The next league game could be at Beaconsfield SYCOB on Tuesday 1 September, depending on Cup results.
EGHAM TOWN: Jamie Norris, Louis Chandler-Joseph, Mason Welch-Turner, Larry Boateng, Mitchell Gutteridge, Luke Neville, Josh Andrew, Tarome Hemmings, Danny Bassett, Brendan Matthew, Haluna Masembe. Subs: Jonathan Hippolyte (Bassett, 73), Jordan Carter, Tom McGarry, Nadean Fosu (Hemmings, 50), Philip Appiah.