EGHAM TOWN 0 LEIGHTON TOWN 2

CALOR ONE CENTRAL
SATURDAY 26 APRIL 2014
EGHAM TOWN 0 (0) LEIGHTON TOWN 2 (2)

Egham’s boss Lee Passmore was unhappy with his team’s display… but reckoned it has made his decision on whether to keep certain players easier. “There’s no excuse for that performance”, he declared. “There’s a few already thinking the season’s finished which is kind of good for me to see that now because I take that into account. We want to finish as high as we can to give us a platform for next season. I will always back my players to the hilt but in the last couple of games it’s been embarrassing.” That is a quote from this week’s Egham and Staines News, as reported by Sports Editor Clive Youlton. Lee Passmore was being interviewed on Monday: “No disrespect to Ashford but if we can’t come here and win, regardless of how many we’ve played recently, there’s something wrong. I know there’s been a backlog of fixtures but that doesn’t excuse players lacking the desire to win games of football.”
All of the above most definitely applies to this match, so how does Mr Passmore get his head round what happened over a four day period this week? The newspaper is not published until Thursday morning so any communication from him to his squad must have been verbal, prior to Wednesday’s home game against Daventry Town. Whatever he said worked; a win for the away team would have put them back on top of Calor One, but Egham recovered from going 0-1 down to thrash them 4-1. Playing fast, incisive football goals from Mo Harkin and Reis Stanislaus bracketed a truly breathtaking double from Josh Andrew, firing home two powerful shots from distance, on the break.
Against fourth from bottom Leighton Town, therefore, all that should have been needed was something that resembled that performance. The players could have thanked the supporters who have, at not inconsiderable expense, trekked up and down the M1 and M40 to cheer them on this season, and who were busy considering where to cast their votes for “Supporters’ Player Of The Year”, with a final, dynamic display. Instead, we got a limp-as-last-week’s-lettuce, belief defying shambles. By now the paper could have been read. However, as these are all experienced players, the sentiments from the manager hardly needed expressing. But, thirteen minutes in, Leighton Town put together something that resembled forward motion, the back four failed in their duties and Gareth Chendik, not exactly unnoticeable as he is tall and thin, got something on the ball that diverted it into Jamie Norris’ net. Five minutes later they did it again, the spark coming from a bog standard pass from the left by Jerry Lyons, Chendik stuck a boot out and it was enough to put Leighton Town 2-0 up. In between the goals Ryan Lake’s free kick deflected off the wall, Ryan O’Toole had a golden chance to level and the ball ended up somewhere near the clubhouse. On 20 minutes Domenico Marsala fired just wide of the home goal. Later, Reis Stanislaus curled a shot wide, Joe Chandiram had a shot held and then just before half-time saw another squirm under the keeper before being cleared as it headed goalwards. In the half’s final minute another save by Matt Griggs in the visitors’ goal, again denying Stanislaus, promised a more vibrant second half showing.
Well, kind of. Were it not for a good save four minutes in by Norris from Shane Bush the gap could have been widened. In response, from an Andrew corner Chandiram headed a good chance wide, O’Toole tried his luck a couple of times before making Griggs save a low shot and Stanislaus stretched the keeper after a short solo run. The defence, though, was all at sea. A back four that saw Luke Muldowney replaced at half-time by Andy Crossley, with Andrew slotting in at right back (thus limiting his attacking forays) had on 62 minutes seen Ryan Lake replaced by Jim Ward. Marsala and Lyons found gaps to exploit; thankfully Marsala shot wide. Ward and Leighton sub Enzo Silvestri then flared up after the latter had gone in two-footed on the Egham man, with two minutes remaining. A final save by Griggs as Andrew fired in a shot after a good run was not, as it should have been, the last noteworthy incident, because unfortunately the match and the season ended not only with this awful defeat but also with a red card, as O’Toole, previously cautioned, talked himself into a second yellow card with the season three minutes into injury time.
So Mr Passmore now has decisions to make. How can a side that is more than capable of playing promotion contenders off the park then collapse so spectacularly against a side that, were it not for the travails at Ashford and Chertsey, would be fighting against the drop? To echo Lee, no disrespect to Leighton Town but if we can’t play them at home and win regardless of how many games we’ve played recently, there’s something wrong. From a side praised by a good crop of league opponents for their attacking flair and all round ability, there was not enough desire to win this game of football. This is the 10th home loss this season – no side is ever going to go up with a record like that. Too many of Egham’s 16 losses have been to merely functional sides, like Leighton, Aylesbury, Aylesbury United and St Ives (twice). Which players will be standing on that metaphorical platform next season? With rumours flying round concerning the structure of Step 4 for the next campaign Passmore and his assistants Jack McKinlay and Neerav Patel will have more than England’s World Cup progress to exercise them this summer.
EGHAM TOWN: 1. Jamie Norris 2. Luke Muldowney (captain) 3. Jake Galbraith 4. Richie Byrne 5. Ryan Lake 6. Mo Harkin 7. Josh Andrew 8. Joe Chandiram 9. Reis Stanislaus 10. Ryan O'Toole 11. Calvin Thomas Subs 12. Brendan Matthew (6/79 minutes) 14. Andrew Crossley (2/HT) 15. Ashley Quashie 16. James Ward (5/62).

Mark Ferguson