Beaconsfield SYCOB 3 Egham Town 2

CALOR LEAGUE DIVISION ONE CENTRAL
MONDAY 19 AUGUST 2013
BEACONSFIELD SYCOB 3 (2) EGHAM TOWN 2 (1)
Egham Town scorer: Jamie Read (24, 77 pen)

Another narrow defeat for Lee Passmore’s men, against another pre-season favourite, was hard to take after a decent performance. An even opening 15 minutes saw home forward Yashwa Romeo and Egham’s Jacob Lambe come close at each end before the visitors went behind with a deft finish from Will Sturgess, capitalising on some loose defensive work. To their credit Egham went looking for a reply, Jamie Houghton slamming in a shot from Jamie Read’s pass, but keeper Derek Lewis parried and the ball was cleared. After 24 minutes Houghton took a corner which Richie Byrne came close to converting and when Beaconsfield failed to clear their line Read made them pay with a drilled, low shot for 1-1. Unfortunately Egham could not make it to half time with this scoreline, the experienced Romeo finding room for a clear shot past Egham keeper Gary Ross.
Early in the second half Ross pulled off a fine, diving save to prevent Romeo adding to the score, but after 63 minutes Sturgess was again given too much room and took full advantage. Andy Crossley replaced Houghton and had the ball in the net with his first touch after Luke Muldowney hammered in a shot that Lewis could only push out to Egham sub, who headed in – but the flag was up. The assistant said Crossley was in an offside position when Muldowney shot. I couldn’t argue; I was standing behind the goal so was in no position to judge. Egham did pull one back, though, as Read was held down by Lewis, Egham’s top marksman having controlled Jim Ward’s long pass. Read tucked away the penalty without any fuss, but that was that. The remaining 13 minutes passed by uneventfully and Egham were left wondering what they have to do to get their first points in this league.
Egham Town travel to Aylesbury FC on Saturday. Like Egham they are a promoted side whereas the two sides the Sarnies have played thus far have established themselves at this level.
EGHAM TOWN: Gary Ross, Josh Andrew, Jake Galbraith, Richie Byrne, Jim Ward, Luke Muldowney, Patrick Craig, Jamie Houghton, Reis Stanislaus, Jamie Read, Jacob Lambe. Subs: Luke Craig (Patrick Craig, 72), Brendan Matthew (Lambe, 60), Joel Jacob, Andy Crossley (Houghton, 63).