EGHAM T 0 KETTERING T 3

CALOR LEAGUE DIVISION ONE CENTRAL
THURSDAY 17 APRIL 2014
EGHAM TOWN 0 KETTERING TOWN 3

Promotion chasing Kettering Town came to the Runnymede Stadium today and left with, presumably, some hearty thanks to the referee for his controversial dismissal of Egham Town midfielder Marcus Moody at a time when Egham were showing distinct signs of clawing their way back from a 0-1 deficit.
The recent spate of games pretty much every other day had obviously meant players getting tired in mind and body so Lee Passmore had no option but to reorganise again. Despite this the Sarnies forced the sixth placed Poppies on to the defensive in the opening exchanges and just past the quarter hour Brendan Matthew hit a first time shot that visiting keeper Jamie McAlindon could only parry for a corner. Kettering responded and Ryan Lake had to clear off the Egham goalline. After 27 minutes they took the lead with Andy Gooding tapping in from a driven cross that should have been cleared. Two minutes before the break Egham fashioned their best chance of the game when Reis Stanislaus chased a long ball, beat the right back and found Josh Andrew. He in turn then ran parallel to the penalty area before unleashing a fierce shot that sorely tested McAlindon.
The hopes Egham might have had of getting the goal back all but disappeared nine minutes into the second half. Egham had come out with clear determination to do to Kettering what they’d done to Barton Rovers but once referee Paul Johnson deemed an utterly innocuous challenge by Moody worthy of a yellow card the die was cast. Moments later an equally harmless challenge by Calvin Thomas was not punished by a yellow card and Moody, although not wanting a caution for his team-mate, expressed bewilderment – and got a red card for his pains. Now, had the referee not made a stupid decision in the first place… Having not exactly endeared himself to the home side he went on to make another bad call. A not great clearance by Jamie Norris in the Egham goal led to a scramble in his box, ended with Elliott Sandy shooting wide. A corner and another bit of not exactly calm home defending saw Dubi Ogbonna pass to Josh Moreman, whose angled drive forced Norris into a tremendous save. The trouble was that Norris, on landing, temporarily blanked out, during which time Mr Johnson seemed to tell him to get up. He did, but only after two minutes treatment. He then carried on, as he had wanted to do agains t Barton Rovers before being subbed by Ryan Lake with 15 minutes to go. Egham dug in and made the one man deficit look irrelevant with a battling display. Tests of McAlindon’s custodial skills came from a Joe Chandiram shot and, later, a free kick before Stanislaus forced his way through and fired in a shot that hit the keeper on the knees. Then came the coup de grace as Moreman raced from the halfway line to roll the ball past Norris with 88 minutes gone, and six minutes later James Jepson finished off another break.
EGHAM TOWN: 1. Jamie Norris 2. Louis Chandler-Joseph 3. Jake Galbraith 4. Richie Byrne 5. Ryan Lake (captain) 6. Marcus Moody 7. Josh Andrew 8. Joe Chandiram 9. Reis Stanislaus 10. Calvin Thomas 11. Brendan Matthew. Subs: 12. Luke Muldowney 14. Andy Crossley (2/79 minutes) 15. Jim Ward 16. Arran Taylor-Ives 17. Jack McKinlay.