Chess'n & Hk 3 Sarnies 8

COMBINED COUNTIES LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
TUESDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2011
CHESSINGTON & HOOK UNITED 3 (2) EGHAM TOWN 8 (3)
Egham Town scorers: Matt Grave 2 (15, 33), Ken During (26), Jamie Houghton (61), Marcus Moody (68), Dale Marvell 2 (73, 88 pen), Max Galbraith (90 + 4)

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John Hamsher was a happy man with a beaming smile at the final whistle after this extraordinary match at Chalky Lane last night. Egham Town lifted themselves to 3rd place in the CCL Premier Division before their mini break which will allow players some respite before their FA Vase 2nd Qualifying Round tie against Mole Valley SCR on 23 September. Unfortunately the squad will not include Paul Bartholomew, who has suffered a badly cracked skull after a clash of heads on Sunday in a kick around with some mates. We all wish this talented and wholehearted young man a full and speedy recovery.
Egham signed exciting winger Tom Hedges from Mole Valley SCR on Saturday and gave him his debut. He fitted in immediately and will clearly be a valuable addition to the squad. Another new signing, Max Galbraith, also made his bow, in dramatic fashion late on. He is the younger brother of Jake, our stalwart left back. Brendan Matthew was, perhaps surprisingly, the one to give way for Hedges despite his two goals against Banstead Athletic on Saturday, and was joined on the bench by Lee Pasmore, back from suspension, and youngster Tom Brunton, who had his first team debut on Saturday.
On the Chalky Lane slope Egham had a tricky first half that saw them dominate possession yet still go in for tea just one goal clear. They showed their attacking intent from early on, Matt Grave firing wide eight minutes in after Egham had spent most of the preceding time pushing a home defence which had collapsed against Camberley Town on to the back foot. Camberley had prevailed here with an 8-2 win, but the home side, at least initially, looked unlikely to fall apart. When Egham took the lead it was with a Grave goal, the striker converting an inch perfect square pass from Jamie Houghton with a side foot finish from six yards on the quarter hour. Eleven minutes later Ken During rose at the front post for a powerful header from a Dale Marvell corner. During's first goal for the club seemed to herald a comfortable win but then the referee gave Chessinton & Hook a penalty kick for a During foul that was, for those who could see the line markings, some way from the penalty area. Kyle Green converted. Egham just got on with it, which was pleasing to see, and some excellent footwork by Grave earnt him space for a fantastic finish into keeper Mark Daniels' top left corner. Then some lax defending let the hosts back in to the game, and Green fired home to make the half time score 3-2 to Egham. It could have been 4-2 but in the final minute a short pass from Grave to Houghton was met with a fierce shot that Luke Fontana defended with a fine interception.
Egham were struggling a little to break C & H down for the first third of the second half. There was a solo run by Hedges, his shot unfortunately underpowered, and a fine flying save by Daniels to deny Marvell. Then a small piece of luck came Egham's way as Dan Hartlebury's cross for Marvell was met with a mistimed header that presented an unmissable chance for Houghton to volley in from eight yards. Moody chose to pass when a shot would perhaps have yielded more reward, Hedges shot over and Daniels had to react quickly as Houghton charged in to try to punish a wayward back pass. Given that Egham had been ahead by two goals twice already, only to concede, the fifth goal was important, and it was Moody who scored it. Marvell started the move with a pass to Grave, who shifted the ball on for Houghton to set up the Egham skipper for a neat finish. Goals six and seven added to Marvell's already impressive tally, on a night when it looked as if he wouldn't find the mark. When a fly hack by Daniels to clear the ball from Moody fell to Marvell on 77 minutes there was the small matter of him being 35 yards from goal to consider but with great composure he took aim and found the target. His next goal was from the spot, after a foul on Grave, but between those strikes there had been team changes. During and Moody went off for Brunton and Pasmore, and Max Galbraith, two minutes later, replaced Houghton. Daniels nearly punched a Marvell corner into his own net, and both Galbraiths had been fouled in the box within seconds of each other, but when Fontana had a nibble at Grave the referee finally awarded Egham the spot kick which Marvell slammed in.
Then I opened my big mouth, telling John Hamsher that five years ago we had won 7-3 at Chalky Lane. As the score now was 7-2 it seemed a safe thing to say, until Green grabbed his hat trick with a fine finish into Paul Borg's top right corner bang on full time. Then Fontana failed to see that the foul he had committed on Grave was a foul and instead of keeping his mouth shut got himself sent off. From the free kick Marvell looked as if he was going to have a pop from 30 yards but instead played an exquisite pass down the inside right channel for Hedges, and his square ball into the danger zone found Max Galbraith, eleven minutes into his Egham career, free to tap the ball in.
Last season we had departed from the C & H slope on the wrong end of a 6-5 scoreline but last night the defending was better, if not yet perfect, as Wayne Noad noted after the match.

EGHAM TOWN: Paul Borg, Dan Hartlebury, Jake Galbraith, Ken During, Aarron Taylor-Ives, Luke Muldowney, Jamie Houghton, Matt Grave, Dale Marvell, Tom Hedges, Marcus Moody (Capt.)
Subs: Brendan Matthew, Lee Pasmore (During, 78), Max Galbraith (Houghton, 80), Tom Brunton (Moody, 78).