To be blunt, Egham Town are not going to claim back their Step 4 status playing as they did yesterday against a dogged Cobham side who started the day in 14th place, two below Tony Choules’ men. Egham dropped down to 15th, and are now 11 points behind leaders Ascot United.
Egham had played well in removing Sheerwater from the Surrey Senior Cup on Wednesday, Anthony Thomas’ third hat-trick of the campaign (all away) securing a home tie against Frimley. Unfortunately the fluency of that performance was not repeated.
Midfielder Luke Maguire was key to the win at Woking’s Laithwaite Stadium, but was suspended. Amin Belaid is a dynamic player but cannot in any way be described as like-for-like. Had Thomas found the target with a 4th minute shot on the turn the outcome may have been different, as it might had referee Adam Jones spotted a clear handling offence in the Cobham box four minutes later. Harry Walker struck the foot of Egham keeper Luke Daley’s left post from 25 yards, giving warning that the visitors were a threat. When Monty Everett hit the junction of the same post and bar nine minutes later the ball was not cleared and Sean Bradley was free to poke the ball over the line. The ensuing somersault was more impressive than his goal. Less impressive was another handling offence in the Cobham area unseen or unpunished by the referee in injury time.
Three minutes after the restart Kiemon Robinson whipped in a corner that found Rory De Costa at the back post. His half-hot shot hit the same spot as Walker had in the first half. Two minutes later Jay O’Connell’s cross for Robinson, who hammered a cross shot that forced Cobham keeper into a full length save. Robinson was in the action again in the 68th minute as another corner found Craige Tomkins (on for Belaid), whose nod on found Sarnie skipper Tristan Thomas for a header that Norman had to tip over. In a spate of pressure Robinson was thrice called on to send in corners and was denied at the near post in the 78th minute when, after sidestepping Walker’s challenge he drilled in another powerful shot that Norman saved at the foot of the left post. His shots aside there were times when the Egham fans were frustrated by overplaying the ball in midfield and the ongoing issue of not just hitting the bloody thing. It’s not a new problem. Egham teams come and go but this as close to a constant as you can get. Unfortunately another is players with pace and ability not trusting either their gifts or their team mates and consistently choosing the wrong options, such as knowing they can beat the full back for pace and deliver crosses but deciding instead to turn inside and almost always lose possession. Perhaps another concern, as Egham lost for the third time in four games, is that, other than Thomas’ midweek hat-trick, which took his total to 15 so far, the Sarnies have not found the net since the 2-0 win at Guildford. In fact Thomas has scored Egham’s last four goals, which highlights his worth to the team while indicating the need for some support.
PROMOTION & RELEGATION TO/FROM THE CCL AT THE END OF THE 2019-2020 SEASON
1. Promotion from Step 5 (Premier Division)
a. Champion Club promoted automatically
b. Second placed clubs (excluding 3 Step 5 leagues in the North, where there will be automatic promotion down to 3rd place) will be ranked according to points per game, with the best 4 second placed clubs from the remaining 11 leagues being promoted automatically.
c. The remaining second placed clubs (seven of them) will face a single play-off match (away) against one of the clubs to have finished bottom of the seven Step 4 leagues. If the Step 5 club wins, they will be promoted. Otherwise the Step 4 club will retain their Step 4 position. Matches will be arranged on a geographical basis.
Egham make their first ever trip to Knaphill on Tuesday and their first competitive trip to Spelthorne Sports on Saturday.
EGHAM TOWN: Luke Daley, Ben Peden, Justin Thompson, Tristan Toney (Captain), Rory De Costa, Adam Humphries, Jay O’Connell, Prince Mbengui, Anthony Thomas, Amin Belaid, Kiemon Robinson. Substitutes: Costa Rodrigues, Jake Sobolak, Craige Tomkins (Belaid, 60), Andrew Whorms (Thompson, 57), Triston Thomas.