EGHAM TOWN 4 COLLIERS WOOD UNITED 1

CHERRY RED RECORDS COMBINED COUNTIES LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
TUESDAY 07 AUGUST 2012
EGHAM TOWN 4 COLLIERS WOOD UNITED 1 (H.T. 3-1)
EGHAM TOWN SCORERS: JAMIE READ 2 (9, 12) JESS ATIASE (41) JUNIOR WRIGHT (90)

This match took place in the wake of the bad news concerning defender/midfielder Lee Pasmore, who suffered a broken leg and badly damaged knee ligaments at Sandhurst Town on Saturday. Lee had been looking very sharp in pre-season games and the club hope that his recovery will be complete, and swift.
In Pasmore’s place came Matt Smith, who had replaced him during the match at Bottom Meadow, with Louis Hedges filling the vacant bench slot in a starting line-up otherwise unchanged from Saturday.
On a less than summery August evening at the Runnymede Stadium Egham Town triumphed comfortably enough against a Colliers Wood United side who, as ever, are the stock definition of the words “robust” and “rugged”. The scoreline suggests a thumping, but before Jamie Read netted in the 9th and 12th minutes the home side had looked decidedly ropey in defence and were grateful that the speed of thought and movement up front got them out of what threatened to be a rather annoying hole. Certain aspects of last season’s less efficient performances still lurk, and had Wood forwards Nathan Taylor and the ever-troublesome Mario Embalo been sharper then this may not have turned into a second win in two for season 2012-13. Fortunately Embalo lobbed the ball over Paul Borg and his net in the 8th minute; not long after Shane Graham and James McShane forced open the visiting defence before Read turned up at the left post to drive the ball past Daniel Burnett. A goal on his debut, and his home debut turned into three in two for former Spelthorne Sports man Read with an impressively calm conversion of Jess Atiase’s pass from inside right. Borg dealt well with Andrew Clarke’s 20 yard free kick, turning the ball over the bar and McShane came close off Graham’s pass. A foul on Graham in the box went unheeded by referee Andrew Conner who missed a lot and made some really odd decisions, which is chiefly why Sarnies v Wood briefly threatened to become mighty feisty. Scott Lawson failed to convert an Embalo cross, which had the visitors cursing their luck but that luck held after their skipper Samuel Mead was not penalised for a foul on McShane in the box, but perhaps the Egham man’s incisive run would have been better rewarded with a square pass to the unmarked Read, hoping for a hat-trick. Read had another chance for a treble but Atiase nipped ahead of him to steer a McShane pass beyond Burnett for 3-0. The loss of a goal to the combative Embalo immediately afterwards was a pain, giving as it did the semblance of a platform for Wood to mount a comeback.
The half-time replacement of the excellent Graham at half-time gave Charlie McCarthy the chance to shine. Aarron Taylor-Ives, the home captain, was booked for doing his job – defending – as, later, was Junior Wright, a midfielder, for tracking back alongside an opponent. In separate passages of play horrible lunges on Matt Smith and Tom Hedges were missed completely, and Luke Muldowney was booked for allegedly kicking the ball away. He didn’t. Wright had come on with Robbie Burns, former scourge of Egham Town in the blue and white hoops of Epsom & Ewell, with Atiase and Read going off. The two subs combined well for the game’s final goal, Burns’ accurate long pass finding the pacy Wright in on Burnett before he rammed his goal in from close range. As no performance is ever perfect the loss of the goal at 3-0 will not sit well with Messrs. Hamsher and Noad but the discipline shown in the face of some ugly challenges and the clear desire of this rejigged side to attack promises much for the new campaign.
Westfield come to the Runnymede Stadium next, for an Extra Preliminary Round FA Cup tie on Saturday. With Egham sitting in second place in the fledgling table and Westfield atop the Division One standings after wins at AFC Croydon (2-0, Saturday) and at home tonight against Cobham the stage is set for an entertaining tie.
FA CUP

EXTRA PRELIMINARY ROUND
Sat 11 August – WESTFTIELD
PRELIMINARY ROUND
Sat 18 August – MOLE VALLEY SCR or BADSHOT LEA v Egham Town or Westfield
FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND
Sat 8 Sep – EGHAM TOWN or WESTFIELD or MOLE VALLEY SCR or BADSHOT LEA v Herne Bay or Folkestone Invicta

EGHAM TOWN: Paul Borg, Josh Andrews, Jake Galbraith, Aarron Taylor-Ives, Luke Muldowney, Matt Smith, Jess Atiase, Tom Hedges, Jamie Read, Shane Graham, James McShane. Subs: Junior Wright, Charlie McCarthy, Robbie Burns, Louis Hedges, James Walters.