EGHAM TOWN 1 NORTHWOOD 1

EVO-STIK SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIVISION ONE CENTRAL
SATURDAY 5 DECEMBER 2015
EGHAM TOWN 1 (0) NORTHWOOD 1 (0)
Ryan De Battista (86) Nico Muir (84)

A draw was the right result for two well-matched sides who are both capable of playing far better than they managed in gusty conditions at the Runnymede Stadium. There was to be no repeat of the goal feasts the last two times this fixture was staged, Northwood winning the first one 4-2 and Egham victorious last season by 4-1, including a goal from the half way line by the Sarnies’ Dan Pearse. After their midweek reshuffle against Godalming Town in the Red Insure Cup defeat Egham were back to a more recognisable starting line-up. There was a pattern to the game, with Egham mainly in the opposition half, but without anything like the penetration that saw them climb to the top of the table a few short weeks ago. The first chance for either side was barely a chance at all but Northwood keeper Berkeley Laurencin got away with belting a clearance against Egham top scorer Brendan Matthew and then seeing the ball drop on what was, for Egham, the wrong side of the post. Matthew needed treatment that would perhaps not have been required with the adrenaline rush of scoring his 17th of the season. After 33 minutes referee Elliott Howard awarded a penalty to the visitors for what he perceived to be a handball offence by Egham centre back Reece Yorke. Michael Murray took the spot kick and managed to mess it up even more spectacularly than Jake Cass at Corinthian Casuals and Aylesbury’s Ryan O’Toole. This one was not even anything like on target.
The second period was not a lot better in the entertainment stakes. It was not so much that the game lacked movement and a smattering of skill but that neither side did much with what possession they managed to wrest from the other. Egham had had a decent period of looking vaguely threatening with a breakthrough when, six minutes from time, a cross the like of which had hitherto been cleared without trouble this time found Nico Muir for a conversion that looked as if it would give the Middlesex side an unwarranted victory. However, the scoring imbalance lasted just two minutes. Ryan De Battista had replaced the hard working Chris Henry in the 79th minute and, as in the Aylesbury game, instantly enlivened the front line, but this time without the same immediate impact. This time it took him seven minutes and came from nothing. 25 yards out he advanced and then hammered an unstoppable shot that left Laurencin flat footed and gave the young forward his second goal in two games.
Egham now sit in 7th place, one behind Tuesday night’s opponents Kings Langley. The Herts side have been a strong addition to the division in their first season in the Evo-Stik Southern League and won at their Gaywood Park ground against Egham in August by 2-1.
EGHAM TOWN: Jamie Norris, Hassan Soloman, Ryan Phillips, Reece Yorke, Luke Neville, Kurtney Brooks (Captain), Chris Henry, Elliott Carey, Brendan Matthew, Jake Cass, Bajram Pashaj. Substitutes: Ryan Parsons, Callum Webb (Carey, 85), Ollie Jones, Tom Collins, Ryan De Battista (Henry, 79).