EGHAM TOWN 1 AYLESBURY 0

EVO-STIK SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIVISION ONE CENTRAL
SATURDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2015
EGHAM TOWN 1 (0) AYLESBURY 0 (0) Brendan Matthew (60)

A remarkable match which featured Egham losing two men, have a perfectly good goal ruled out, see a former player miss a penalty and yet win with another Brendan Matthew goal entertained the crowd at a cold Runnymede Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Aylesbury had come to this match with their last three games showing a WDW record, to the Sarnies’ LDL. On the opening day of the season the Moles had won 1-0 with virtually the last kick of the match, the winner being set up by erstwhile Sarnie marksman Ryan O’Toole. He and another former Egham man, centre half Kyle Anthony, lined up from the start against an Egham starting XI more familiar to fans than that which opened midweek proceedings in the Surrey Senior Cup at Corinthian Casuals, a tie that saw Bajram Pashaj level for 1-1 before Egham lost 2-4 on penalties.
O’Toole created the game’s first chance as he cut in from the left and found room for a shot that Jamie Norris pushed away. Egham’s first brush with officialdom came in the 19th minute as Matthew rose to head on Norris’ drop kick for Chris Henry to run on to. The flag was raised, despite Henry standing the right side of two defenders. Egham were getting some momentum going with Matthew wide with a header of Henry’s cross and Henry forcing a decent save from James Weatherill after Pashaj had ventured forward. Ryan Phillips, son of assistant manager Greg, and signed from Uxbridge, made his debut last weekend and already looks a fixture at left back. His cross was perhaps aimed at Pashaj but Matthew did what strikers do and tried to take advantage, and sent the ball skywards. So, more spectacularly, did Henry by the left post and from point blank range from Matthew’s drilled low cross. Just before that miss Ollie Jones, in central midfield, had picked up a yellow card and shortly after he did it again, apparently for “aggressive intent”. It seemed harsh. Even harsher was that Aylesbury right back James Dobson, just booked for a foul, didn’t get the same treatment for a blatant push into Matthew’s back barely a minute later. Egham’s sense of injustice increased massively when Reece Yorke ran on to a Phillips free kick to guide a header into the bottom left corner but had their celebrations cut short by an upraised flag. It was difficult to see how, given that Yorke made his run after the ball was kicked. Former Beaconsfield man Elliott Carey, who made his bow midweek, replaced Phillips towards the end of an entertaining half that ended with the visitor’s Aston Goss flattening Matthew, then kicking the ball away, both without official sanction.
Bafflement continued in the first exchange of the second half as Matthew went down under a challenge by Anthony but somehow conceded a free kick. Five minutes in O’Toole fell dramatically as Norris came out to collect a dangerous forward pass. O’Toole took the penalty. I doubt he knew about Jake Cass’ skybound effort on Tuesday but almost certainly would have made the Egham midfielder feel a whole lot better as the Aylesbury man sent an even more horrendous penalty sailing over the clubhouse. Soon after O’Toole would have made amends but for a magnificent saving intervention at full stretch on the line by Reece Yorke. A handball in his area by Goss went unflagged by an inattentive assistant before a crucial substitution for the Sarnies. Ryan De Battista, on for Pashaj, has a decent pedigree behind him already for a young man and showed that he can be a real asset as, seconds after coming on, he worried a corner out of keeper Weatherill. Henry took it, and it looked a bit scuffed but was half-cleared only as far as Matthew (pictured), who neatly steered the ball into the bottom right corner from 15 yards. O’Toole forced a great block from Norris and then Egham were down to nine men after Mason Yorke was dismissed for a two footed challenge on Ben Bateman. Egham boss Gary Meakin withdrew Henry for the more defensive Tarome Hemmings as his side faced 21 minutes of an unscheduled attack v defence workout. Grant Fryer got away with a foul on Matthew as Egham were still looking for a decisive second but Egham were then penned back, not surprisingly. What followed was the home players found a reserve of dogged bloodymindedness that did them immense credit. Ben Stevens’ late volley found its way through for Norris to catch comfortably but he saved the best to the very last, putting the seal on his personal battle with O’Toole as the forward stretched for a shot and the keeper stretched even further to pull off a magnificent stop at the foot of the left post. Then the final whistle was blown, and Egham had risen to 5th, which is just reward for an extremely trying afternoon’s work. They have to do it again next Saturday, against Northwood, who are five places but only two points adrift of the Sarnies in an incredibly competitive division. They follow that with a game the following Tuesday at home to league newcomers Kings Langley, currently one place behind Egham on goal difference. This coming Tuesday Egham are home to Godalming Town in the second round of the Red Insure Cup and face two more former colleagues in Danny Bassett and Haluna Masembe.
EGHAM TOWN: Jamie Norris, Salomon Hassan, Ryan Phillips, Reece Yorke, Luke Neville (Captain), Mason Yorke, Ollie Jones, Jake Cass, Brendan Mathew, Bajram Pashaj, Chris Henry. Substitutes: Tom Connor, Callum Webb, Elliott Carey (Phillips, 40), Tarome Hemmings (Henry, 70), Ryan De Battista (Pashaj, 57).