CAMBERLEY TOWN 2 EGHAM TOWN 3

COMBINED COUNTIES LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
SATURDAY 13 APRIL 2013
CAMBERLEY TOWN 2 (0) EGHAM TOWN 3 (2)

Egham Town scorer: Jacob Lambe 3 (25 (p), 37 (p), 67)

Egham Town continue to pick up points, albeit in hesitant style, this win guaranteeing that even if the wheels fall off they will finish at least fifth. Of course that would represent a huge disappointment in a campaign in which they have held, lost, held, lost and held for some considerable time poll position in the CCL Premier Division. Chief among the clubs who can overtake Egham’s points tally thus far of 87 are, of course, Guernsey, who won 4-1 at home to Horley Town on Friday but whose home game against Farnham Town was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. They are also due to play Raynes Park Vale on Sunday. Guernsey have 67 points but have 14 games to play. South Park, in action on Tuesday in an EL Records Premier Challenge Cup semi final tie against surprise package Cobham, from Division One, can reach 90 points. Epsom & Ewell, who lie second and are Egham’s opponents on Tuesday in the same competition, can achieve 88 points, as can Cove. That means that a win on Thursday at South Park, whose win at Egham came on the day John Hamsher and Wayne Noad jumped ship to join Chipstead and is the Sarnies sole home defeat so far this campaign, would guarantee second place.
Jacob Lambe grabbed a penalty double and a fine third for his first hat-trick for Egham Town in a match dominated by decisions about spot kicks. Camberley’s pitch seems to be a safe bet for a match in most climatic conditions but cut up badly during almost constant rain. Egham were on top in the initial stages, Alex Rodrigues firing in a volley from a half cleared second minute corner, Matt Humphrey heading off the line. Egham then kept Camberley quiet for the next twenty minutes until Louis Chandler-Joseph’s break into the box was too good for Humphrey, who tripped him up and conceded a penalty. Egham don’t have a regular penalty taker, Reis Stanislaus, Jamie Read and Luke Muldowney all having been successful from the spot. Only the latter was on the pitch at this time, so it was perhaps expected that he would take it but up stepped Lambe to rifle the ball into the net for a 25th minute lead. Twelve minutes later Egham had another penalty, keeper Oneal Garness bringing down Brendan Matthew, at the cost of his further involvement in the match. Luke Turkington, a left sided midfielder, took over the shirt, and Lambe’s despatch of the kick was as confident as his first. Two up, against a side with nothing to play for, and with ten men, and with the substitute keeper of not exactly the greatest physical stature, against a side hungry for the league title. Surely a thrashing was on the cards. Nope. Despite the pace, power and height in the side Egham did little to threaten Turkington in the rest of the first half and almost all the second, a minute into which they were facing a penalty themselves. Camberley attacked down their slope from the restart, and got a tad lucky with a touch that maintained momentum for the ball to reach Aaron Agyeman. Paul Borg rushed out to try to get the ball but got the striker instead, and Nathan Turner converted the kick. On 53 minutes Kemo Maphela’s superb run led to a cross that found its way to Matthew, whose shot found the foot of the right post. Halfway through the period Egham went 3-1 up, a neat finish by Lambe finding the corner of the net after a brief goalmouth scramble. It should have been 4-1 but for a baffling decision by the referee, who halted play for an Egham free kick on the edge of the area as Jamie Read, on for hat-trick hero Lambe, was poised to score. With eight minutes left the referee failed to play ‘advantage’ when Read played a one-two with Matthew, instead giving a free to Egham again. Read took it well enough but it hit the bar and as the ball was cleared and came back into the box Turkington clawed the ball away. The home side then took advantage of some truly horrible defending for Nathan Turner to give the Krooner Park side hope of a draw that, given Egham’s recent results, would not perhaps have been that unlikely. The referee came to the fore again in injury time when he failed to give a penalty that looked at least as clear cut as the three awarded, Stanislaus, just on for Muldowney being clipped by Humphrey.
EGHAM TOWN: Paul Borg, Joel Jacobs, Alex Rodrigues, Arran Taylor-Ives, Jim Ward, , Luke Muldowney, Luke Craig, Tommy Hedges, Brendan Matthew, Jacob Lambe, Louis Chandler-Joseph. Subs: Reis Stanislaus (Muldowney, 91), Jamie Read (Lambe, 75), Steve Coultas, Kemo Maphela (Craig, HT).