Egham T 1 Dunstable T 2

CALOR LEAGUE ONE CENTRAL
SATURDAY 12 OCTOBER 2013
EGHAM TOWN 1 (0) DUNSTABLE TOWN 2 (0)
Egham Town scorer: Brendan Matthew (90 + 4)
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author, Mark Ferguson, and not necessarily those of Egham Town FC Ltd or anyone involved with Egham Town FC.

One incident overshadowed this match, and it came at the end of a generally lifeless first half. Home skipper Luke Muldowney lofted a pass down the inside right channel to striker Shane Graham, who had beaten the last defender with his pace, Dunstable Town keeper Jamie Head raced out of his penalty area, flattened the Egham man and then feigned injury as Graham needed treatment. Referee Ollie Davis not only misread the foul, he failed even to caution the keeper and gave Dunstable the free kick. Head walked back to his area with a huge grin on his face; one hesitates to use the word “cheat” but…
Before this, Dunstable had generally had the better of what notable play there was, after home forward Ryan O’Toole had belted a second minute chance over the bar. Lee Roach forced a fine save from Egham keeper Gary Ross soon after, then after Kyle Anthony headed a Mo Harkin corner over the bar the game became somewhat sterile, only a 25 yard Joe Chandiram shot, held by Head, livening up proceedings until the flooring of Graham.
The second half was a spritelier affair, both teams presumably having had a “get your act together” type of team talk. Egham were the first to threaten, but Josh Andrew ended an enterprising run down the right with a shot that flew over the bar. Jake Galbraith tried from 20 yards but his shot deflected wide. After 66 minutes Dunstable took the lead as Roach headed a corner back across goal for the huge, and therefore decidedly visible, Tony Burnett had a free header that he put away easily. Christopher Marsh’s angled header forced Ross into a good save as Dunstable pressed for a second, a task made all the easier when Andrew clipped Roach’s heels as the forward broke free, and the Egham man was already heading for the dressing room by the time Mr Davis was showing the red card. This was the 4th time Egham have had a man dismissed this season, and this is not a dirty side. The loss was felt, as a scramble in the area allowed Darren Pickering to plunder a goal on 79 minutes. With time running out for even a consolation O’Toole gave way to Brendan Matthew, and it was the sub who got on the end of one of Chris Ellis’ trademark long throws, denying Dunstable a clean sheet. Egham, whose loss in midweek by 0-2 at leaders Daventry Town had seen a drop to 7th now lie in 9th place.
Next up are two sides from the Calor One South and West division, as Guildford City visit on Tuesday in the Red Insure Cup First Round and Cirencester Town come from Gloucestershire for an FA Trophy First Round Qualifying tie. Guildford, whom Egham beat 4-1 in pre-season, have had a trying season, and are third from bottom and Cirencester are 7th.
EGHAM TOWN: Gary Ross, Josh Andrew, Jake Galbraith, Kyle Anthony, Chris Ellis, Luke Muldowney, Mo Harkin, Patrick Craig, Shane Graham, Ryan O’Toole, Joe Chandiram. Subs: Louis Chandler-Joseph (Harkin, 80), Jamie Houghton, Jacob Lambe, Brendan Matthew (O’Toole, 84 ), Arran Taylor-Ives.

Mark Ferguson