Egham Town 3 Chessington & Hook United 0

COMBINED COUNTIES LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISON
SATURDAY 5 NOVEMBER 2011
EGHAM TOWN 3 (2) CHESSINGTON & HOOK UNITED 0 (0)

Egham Town scorers: Matt Grave 2 (29, 63), Tom Hedges (89)

With an impressive 3-0 win over a robust Chessington & Hook side Egham Town rose to the top of a league table for the first time since 20 November 2005, when, under Keith Levett, they headed Ryman Division Two. The surprise of the previous leaders Guildford City going down to their first league defeat on Friday night, at Colliers Wood United, by 4-2, gave Egham an opportunity that they did not want to miss, and against opposition whom they had trounced 8-3 at Chalky Lane in mid September they produced a disciplined display with some excellent attacking coupled with doughty defending.
Chessington set out their stall early with a foul on Aarron Taylor-Ives, playing at right back with Dan Hartlebury suspended, in the first minute. Sean Bradley hooked a half chance over the Egham bar soon after, but in the same minute Jamie Houghton was also upended and Andrew Heath had his name taken. It was two cautions for C & H in the first ten minutes after Harry Smart clattered Egham skipper Marcus Moody. In the face of this Egham showed commendable calm, and should have got an answer in the right manner through Tom Hedges but he finished a slaloming run with a shot just off target. Just before the half hour Egham got their noses in front, a superb run down the left flank by Hedges being matched not only by the excellence of the pass but also the clinical precision of Grave’s low finish from ten yards. Soon after the goal Chessington’s Aaron Leacock had his name taken for a foul on Houghton.
Early in the second period Smart turned inside Taylor-Ives and produced a decent shot that drew a fine save from keeper Paul Borg, and as the visitors decided to start playing instead of fouling it took a desperate, last ditch clearance off the line by Ken During to prevent an equaliser from Bradley’s cross shot. Egham settled after those scares and had very strong appeals for a penalty, after Matt Ellis had pulled Moody down just inside the box. Then two more went into the book, Bradley and Chris Davidson, but again Egham took the finest form of revenge. Hedges skinned Barry Goodon, the right back, and from the byline pulled the ball back for Grave, whose second execution was the equal of his first, and took his season’s tally to 15. A good save by Chessington keeper Dan Fisher prevented Taylor-Ives converting a Dale Marvell corner, and Fisher was in action again soon after to turn Houghton’s fierce drive to safety. Marvell, in the follow up play after the visitors failed to deal with one of his flag kicks, forced Fisher to kick the ball clear off an 18 yard shot. With the referee inexplicably failing to send Smart off after a second, clearly cautionable, offence and similarly turning a blind eye to Haywood pushing Grave over by using both hands into the small of the Egham marksman’s back, despite standing only five yards away, it was refreshing to see such provocation (and iffy officiating) ignored in pursuit of a third goal. That came as Grave won a block tackle and slipped the ball down the middle in for Hedges, who evaded a couple of challenges before scoring his sixth since his move from Mole Valley SCR. Egham managed to keep a clean sheet as time ran out, Chessington’s last chance for a goal falling to Kajetan Rykowski, whose drive was cleared for a corner kick.
Egham manager John Hamsher was understandably delighted with the win, and the climb to the top of the table. A man of few words, he was in no doubt about who should get the Man of the Match award. I asked him if it should go to the man who scored two and made one or the man who made two and scored one: “Ken” was his reply. No real argument there; Mr During had superbly marshalled a defence which stood firm, Lee Pasmore coming back in alongside him with Taylor-Ives at right back. Having reached first place the hard work starts now for Egham, because staying there will not be easy. Next up is a trip to Croydon, where last season, in the run of matches following the change of management, Egham had just 11 men and lost by the only goal. With the Egham Town youth team providing excellent support for the firsts, and sitting top of their division of the West Surrey Youth League there is no chance of that embarrassing manpower shortage on Saturday.

EGHAM TOWN: Paul Borg, Aarron Taylor-Ives, Jake Galbraith, Ken During, Lee Pasmore, Luke Muldowney, Jamie Houghton, Marcus Moody, Dale Marvell, Matt Grave, Tom Hedges. Subs: Brendan Matthew, Tom Brunton, Louis Chandler-Joseph, Enrico Rossoni, Max Galbraith.

Results for CCL Premier Clubs: Friday 4 Nov 11 – Colliers Wood United 4 Guildford City 2. Saturday 5 Nov 11 - Badshot Lea 0 Mole Valley SCR 3, Banstead Athletic 0 Dorking 2, Camberley Town 4 Epsom & Ewell 0, Hanworth Villa 4 Sandhurst Town 1, Raynes Park Vale 3 Cove 0, South Park 2 Farnham Town 1, Wembley 1 Croydon 0, Windsor 3 Horley Town 2.