Egham T 3 Windsor 1

CHERRY RED RECORDS COMBINED COUNTIES LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
TUESDAY 13 NOVEMBER 2012
EGHAM TOWN 3 (0) WINDSOR 1 (1)

Egham Town scorers: Jim Ward (53), Bradley Fraser (80), Jamie Read (95)
In a match re-arranged from Boxing Day Egham got a cracker of a result in the local derby against Windsor. The achievement of (probably) the first double any Egham side has done over any Windsor side since the 1974-5 Athenian League Division Two title winning season had a strange symmetry about it. In both games the best Windsor player was the striker Ben Harris, who equalised twice for his side at Stag Meadow before being sent off, for deliberate handball on the goalline, with the score at 2-2 before Egham won 8-2. Tonight he picked up his first caution for a string of fouls in the first half before an ugly challenge on Junior Wright saw him pulling his shirt over his head as he walked off, without even bothering to see the red card wielded by referee Jack Ohene. The score was, again, level, this time at 1-1, and again it turned the game. You know you get referees who like to be seen? This one didn’t, refusing to make any changes to either the Windsor kit or his own to differentiate his own black kit from the very dark blue uniform of the Berkshire side. It made seeing where he was quite difficult, and apparently he spurned the assessor’s suggestion that a change of socks at least might make visibility easier. I expect he’ll get a letter on this sometime soon.
Egham were not that worried because they had troubles of their own. With a side showing from the start only the change of Luke Craig on the bench for the incoming Bradley Fraser after the win at Molesey the standard of the performance at Walton Road was surely a platform for an assured display against a side in 16th place and trying to recover from a 1-5 drubbing at home by South Park. Instead Egham were nervy in the extreme, unable to get the ball forward with any regularity and thankful for Paul Borg making a crucial save in the 10th minute from Robert Lazarczuk. On the quarter hour Tommy Hedges fired in a rocket that Oliver Brown did well to turn round his post but before the half was halfway done a quick break saw Harris take advantage of some defensive uncertainty and cut in to fire home an angled shot. Then Jake Galbraith had to give way to Junior Wright after getting a knock, but Egham can now at least be sure that there is quality on the bench to cover. On 38 minutes Harris got his first yellow. With five minutes left Egham bestirred themselves; Reis Stanislaus saw a half chance that Brown did well to keep out and Hedges, from the wing, tried his luck but Brown turned a superb, dipping shot over the bar.
With the second half barely five minutes gone Egham skipper Luke Muldowney saw yellow for a pair of mistimed challenges, with Windsor howling for something more. On 53 minutes Egham were level. Tom Kemp tripped Hedges, and Fraser whipped in a deep free kick that left Windsor’s defence helpless, Jim Ward thumping in the equaliser with a powerful header. Then it was Ward’s turn to see a card for a foul on Chris Ellis, who had gone off in the first half and returned, and did the same in the second despite being carried off. The tide seemed to be turning Egham’s way, the forward momentum building, and as Stanislaus again saw a half chance his pass to Hedges was met with a close range, stumbling effort that hit the foot of the left hand post. Harris’ 68th minute dismissal was followed in short order by Muldowney leaving for Steve Coultas. Windsor screamed for a penalty as Borg and Dan Hicks went for the ball at a corner but Mr Ohene was not moved. Ten minutes remained when Egham got the crucial second. Alex Rodrigues passed to Read, who headed the ball on to Hedges. As Hedges advanced Brown sprinted out of his goal towards the winger, advancing down the inside left channel, but Hedges was too smart for him and aimed his cross onto the head of the incoming Fraser for his second goal in Egham’s colours. Fraser was rewarded for his efforts by being subbed, which initially looked odd but he had worked extremely hard down the right flank all night. Hedges did the running deep and crossing thing again but Stanislaus was crowded out as he tried to score, and Brendan Matthew, who had replaced Fraser, was brought down in full flight by Brown’s ludicrous attempt at a tackle. The keeper was lucky to stay on the pitch. Egham were glad he did; on the Windsor bench was sat Rob Bullivant, a far better keeper but this was his first game since his return. It was no surprise when Hedges was provider again as Egham sealed a win that restored them to the CCL Premier summit on a night when Cove and South Park were drawing 1-1. The nippy winger passed to Matthew, Stanislaus had a go at scoring and the ball broke to leading scorer Read, who was probably at least a little bit offside when he hammered the ball home.
In the league Ash United lost 0-2 at home to Raynes Park Vale and Epsom & Ewell, whose defences Egham could not breach recently, went down 2-6 at home to Croydon.
EGHAM TOWN: Paul Borg, Louis Chandler-Joseph, Jake Galbraith, Jim Ward, Alex Rodrigues, Luke Muldowney, Tom Hedges, Jamie Houghton, Reis Stanislaus, Jamie Read, Bradley Fraser. Subs: Luke Craig, Jacob Lambe, Brendan Matthew (Fraser, 81), Junior Wright (Galbraith, 26), Steve Coultas (Muldowney, 70).