Egham Town 2 Sandhurst Town 1

COMBINED COUNTIES LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
SATURDAY 29 DECEMBER 2012
EGHAM TOWN 2 (1) SANDHURST TOWN 1 (0)
Egham Town scorers: Tommy Hedges (24) Jamie Read (80)
Combined Counties League top dogs Egham Town finished the year as they had begun the season, with a win against Sandhurst Town. The trip to the home of the Fizzers had seen Egham’s first ever opening day win in the CCL, and was achieved without undue difficulty, but this cannot be said of the return. Egham came into this encounter with seven straight wins, six in the league, but were facing opposition who themselves were boasting recent wins against Molesey, Dorking and Horley Town and on Boxing Day thrashed Camberley Town 4-1 at Krooner Park.
With all the appalling weather over the holiday period it is tribute to the hard work Danny Bennett has put into the pitch that the surface played superbly, even during a second half downpour. Lee Passmore had to make changes to his side with Jake Galbraith off on Far Eastern travels, North Greenford United man Joel Jacobs making a promising debut in his stead. Jamie Houghton’s back twinge and Reis Stanislaus’ illness ruled them out. On the bench was midfielder (from Hampton & Richmond Borough) Patrick Craig , no relation apparently to Luke Craig, Egham’s no. 11. Without a game in two weeks Egham looked a tad rusty and could have gone behind in the 8th minute when a dangerous cross from the right was narrowly missed by two inrushing forwards. Egham’s Brendan Matthew had had an early sighter and came close with a drive just past the right post before two inspired lobs gave Egham the lead. Alex Rodrigues spotted Tommy Hedges’ run through the middle and found him with a wonderful looping pass into the winger’s path, and in an instant Hedges clipped the ball over keeper Mark Appleby and just under the bar. Sandhurst started to get decidedly robust in their challenges, which was worrying, but not as much as the untidiness in Egham’s play that led to Paul Borg having to make a crucial save. Blocked shots from Steve Coultas and Jamie Read at the end promised a better second half but that did not fully materialise. From the restart the Fizzers were brighter and another decent save from Borg prevented a goal. Jacob Lambe replaced Luke Craig on 55 minutes, presumably to augment the attack but within three minutes Dan Thorogood smashed in the equaliser with an angled shot. Brendan Matthew was replaced by Louis Chandler-Joseph, which was to have later significance. With 68 gone Hedges picked up a caution for dissent after referee Mr Mawby blew for a foul by Read on Appleby; even the keeper said he had not been fouled. Steve Coultas then had his name taken for a foul and was soon replaced by Patrick Craig. Egham were struggling to break down a determined defence with Luke Muldowney having a shot headed off the line. Finally Egham got the vital second. Jacobs had whipped in a free kick that Read headed in but the linesmen was busy waving to alert Mr Mawby to some tussling in the box. From the retaken kick the same pair combined and Read was celebrating his 15th goal of the season as his header found the bottom left corner. Two minutes later, as the rain made the surface slippery, Chandler-Joseph was given a straight red (Egham’s first in about two years) for a foul that was no better, or worse, than the one with which Thorogood later flattened Hedges for the award of a yellow card. Mr Mawby had consistently shirked his responsibilities as Sandhurst flouted the laws concerning bench management and extended this, as he entertained the crowd with what appeared to be an Acme Thunderer solo, to a failure to punish Thorogood’s potentially limb threatening assault with the more appropriate red card. Lambe and Read combined in the last minute with Read shooting high.
Egham finish 2012 in fine fettle and will be aiming to carry on in similar vein as they start next year with a trip to the Croydon Arena next Saturday. That is followed by a trip on Wednesday 9 January to Imber Court for a Third Round Surrey Senior Cup tie against Metropolitan Police. Then comes the big one – Guernsey come visiting on the 12th. The Channel Islanders did not play – again. They have just six home league games under their belts and since 24 November their Footes Lane pitch has not been capable of staging games against South Park, Sandhurst Town, Dorking and, today, Hanworth Villa. In addition they had an away game at Epsom & Ewell postponed and are still in the FA Vase and the League Cup (at Rye United and Epsom & Ewell respectively). Next Saturday they go to Molesey; they don’t have a game at home scheduled until 2 February. It is hard to see how they will fit in their home games on Saturdays only with the season finishing on 27 April. That is one headache for the league to contend with. Egham have to concentrate on tightening up for their promotion push. This win against Sandhurst was harder than it ought to have been and this was in large part due to sloppiness all over the park, a fault that will almost certainly be punished by better sides.
Away from the Runnymede Stadium, Chipstead losing 0-2 at home to Leatherhead and slipping to 13th place in Ryman One South helped improve Egham’s day, but it was as nought compared to seeing that Staines Town were thrashed 0-6 at home to Maidenhead United in Blue Square South.
EGHAM TOWN: Paul Borg, Alex Rodrigues, Joel Jacobs, Arran Taylor-Ives, Jim Ward, Luke Muldowney, Tommy Hedges, Steve Coultas, Brendan Matthew, Jamie Read, Luke Craig. Subs: Louis Chandler-Joseph (Matthew, 67), Patrick Craig (Coultas, 73), Jacob Lambe (Luke Craig, 55).

Mark Ferguson