SOUTH PARK 4 EGHAM TOWN 4

COMBINED COUNTIES LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION

THURSDAY 18 APRIL 2013

SOUTH PARK 4 (3) EGHAM TOWN 4 (0)

EGHAM TOWN SCORERS: BRENDAN MATTHEW (62), JAMIE READ 3 (67, 88, 90 pen)

Two Egham Town’s played tonight at South Park, the first tired, over ran and dispirited, the second feisty, attack minded and ultimately thoroughly deserving not only of the point they gained but also of the luck that, up the road at Godalming Town FC, saw Badshot Lea snatch their own dramatic, late equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Guernsey.

Paul Borg was missing between the sticks, away at his sister-in-law’s wedding. George Ransom was his replacement, signed from Kingstonian. Apparently on one of the social media sites he had said he was “buzzed” to be playing for Egham tonight, a feeling that probably evaporated pretty quickly as the home side ripped Egham apart to take a 2-0 lead in the opening ten minutes. The first came from a home corner being left unattended, allowing Matthew Ward to score after two minutes. The yellow shirted visitors were being out passed, out thought and out manoeuvred, clearly showing the effects of a tiring season and Tueday’s hard slog against Epsom & Ewell in the League Cup semi. They had come to Whitehall Lane knowing that a win would all but guarantee second place, which could be a promotion slot, depending on factors like ground suitability (no problems there) and the points per game ratio. However, a quick break, finished by George Lavery, after Ransom had pulled off a good save from his first effort, seemed to have put paid to such ambitions. All Egham managed was a couple of off target shots, and then in the 45th minute, from an Egham free kick around the South Park box, the ball was moved at pace to George Smith for an emphatic finish from the edge of the box.

Going in 3-0 down with little prospect of anything other than a salutary lesson in playing the ball forward quickly on the horizon must have made the team talk difficult. Difficult turned quickly to bloody near impossible seconds after the restart. Ransom launched the ball forward, Reis Stanislaus backheaded the ball into the path of Luke Craig, whose fierce shot pulled a decent save out of keeper James Wastell, and from the corner it all got a bit messy. Egham were shouting for a penalty but Stanislaus, who had been playing in that mood where he wants to discuss, at length if necessary, any perceived injustice, got riled about a tackle on the byline and was sent off for violent conduct. Luke Craig gave way to Brendan Matthew, a commendably brave decision to take off a midfield player for a forward when 0-3 and a man short. It soon paid dividends. This was a test of the mettle of both team and management. However, Egham boss Lee Pasmore then had his job made considerably less painful when Jack Higgins decided that punching Patrick Craig off the ball was a good idea. With “Patch”being patched up Higgins was making his way across the pitch to the dressing room. Tim Pitt then gave way to Louis Chandler-Joseph. All this in the half’s first eight minutes… In the 58th minute Ransom made a crucial block with his feet off Charlie Smith’s shot. On the hour Tommy Hedges went off, and in the game’s decisive move, on came Town’s top marksman Jamie Read. Two minutes later Ransom kicked long, Jacob Lambe flicked the ball on and Matthew outpaced fullback Jerry O’Sullivan before slamming the ball past Wastell. Now there was hope. The loss of a man each side opened up the game, and Egham were showing signs of coping better with these new conditions. On 67 minutes Wastell put a Read shot out for a corner, which when not cleared fell nicely for Read to guide the ball over the line with his right instep. Well, at least it was a fight back. It looked like a fight back that would be quashed when Luke Muldowney’s square pass gave Lavery a half chance which he smashed past Ransom from outside the box. Two goals adrift again , there was clearly a collective thought of “Sod this, let’s get something”. Two minutes from time Patrick Craig was the last in a fine move before Read made it 3-4 with a hammered shot. With news from Weycourt coming in that Guernsey had been pegged back from 2-1 there was still drama at South Park, who lost another man, Lavery, to a second yellow after handling on the line. Once he had gone that left Read with all the pressure of having to equalise in the last minute. No worries, he scored another hat-trick with a powerful conversion and Egham had only their second ever 4-4 in the CCL. (The first was on 29 September 2007, at home against Banstead Athletic.) This was a truly remarkable, brave, wholehearted and spirit reviving performance . The dismissals of two home players to our one clearly influenced the match, but there was much to admire in the way Egham recovered from 1-3 and 2-4 down. The point means that if the wheels fall off South Park and Epsom & Ewell can, if they win all their remaining matches they can match Egham’s new points total of 88. That can’t happen though, because on 30 April they face each other. If Guernsey win all their games and Egham theirs then the Channel Islanders will pip Egham to the title by one point, 104 to 103. Guernsey have 11 games left, and have dropped five in the last three days. Finally… I like to listen to music as I drive to away games, and for this trip picked a CD I’d not played in ages – Prefab Sprout’s utterly brilliant “Jordan: The Comeback”.

Mark