Egham Town 3 Croydon 0

COMBINED COUNTIES LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
SATURDAY 30 MARCH 2013
EGHAM TOWN 3 (0) CROYDON (0)

EGHAM TOWN SCORERS: BRENDAN MATTHEW 2 (74, 87), JAMIE READ (92)

Not long after this match ended Guernsey were about to start the match that ended their participation in this season’s FA Vase, losing 0-1 (1-4 on aggregate) at Spennymoor United. This means that the Channel Island side can now concentrate on catching up with the rest of the Combined Counties Premier League. Thirteen games behind Windsor and eight behind Egham Town they now have a punishing schedule just to get the league table unskewed. Such a workload – 20 games in, as currently scheduled, 35 days – would be tough for a professional side. However, the Islanders are clearly a talented squad so it was important for Egham to maintain their winning streak. This they duly did but it took a while to breach the Croydon defences.
Egham had followed their 4-0 win against Wembley in the League Cup quarter-final (they face Epsom & Ewell in a home semi-final, on a date to be decided) with a 3-0 success at Ash United on Thursday. (Luke Muldowney scored his first two goals this season after Reis Stanislaus’ opener.) Against Croydon there had been two notable results, a 2-4 defeat at their Arena home being followed by a 7-1 success for the Sarnies in the league cup. Egham boss Lee Pasmore again shuffled the pack which, rather than unsettle them just proved how they are capable of interchanging but still getting results.
The first half was, as at Ash, pretty sterile, with half an hour gone before I had anything of note to report. Brendan Matthew, Jacob Lambe and Kemo Maphela had been lively up front without prising open a stout defence. Matthew and the Croydon keeper Francis Ameyan then provided the highlight of the half with the Egham striker seeing his curling, dipping shot brilliantly turned over at full stretch. Had Karl Douglin’s shot, on the break, had been more accurate instead of striking the foot of Paul Borg’s left post on 57 minutes it would have given the game a very unwelcome turn. Matthew and Louis Chandler-Joseph, who were playing Youth football last season, combined for a decent chance but that was halfway through the second period and it was beginning as if Egham might get no more than their first league draw since the last game of last season. Top scorer Jamie Read replaced Lambe, which gave Egham more forward drive and finally the Trams’ defence succumbed to what had been almost constant pressure. Joel Jacobs, back in the side after injury, drove a corner kick to the back post where centre back Jim Ward got enough on his nod back for Matthew to meet with a cute header past the wrongfooted Ameyan. Maphela gave way to Reis Stanislaus with 13 minutes left and within a minute he delivered a magnificent through ball for Matthew to race towards the Croydon goal and score with great style. After Ameyan had denied Read with a fine save just into injury time the latter beat the former with a great lob, Ward creating the opening with one of his now regular pinpoint passes.
EGHAM TOWN: Paul Borg, Alex Rodrigues, Joel Jacobs, Arran Taylor-Ives, Jim Ward, Luke Muldowney, Louis Chandler-Joseph, Steve Coultas, Brendan Matthew, Jacob Lambe, Kemo Maphela. Subs: Reis Stanislaus (Maphela, 77), Jamie Read (Lambe, 68), Patrick Craig, Tim Pitt, Luke Craig.