Merstham 1 Egham Town 1

FA CUP SPONSORED BY BUDWEISER
PRELIMINARY ROUND
SATURDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 2011
MERSTHAM 1 (1) v EGHAM TOWN 1 (0)
Egham Town scorer: Dale Marvell (78)

The FA Cup (with Budweiser) seems to be drawing the best out of Egham Town this season. Having got through the trip to Molesey with a 3-0 win the reward was a hop down the M25 to Merstham, one of manager John Hamsher's old haunts, but after a disappointing display at Hanworth Villa on Bank Holiday Monday there were doubts about how they would cope with a Ryman One South side, on their own turf, and with a decent start of one defeat in their opening four fixtures. For an Egham side missing striker Matt Grave, on family business, it did not start well. Merstham took the lead as early as the 7th minute as a Fabio Saravia free kick deflected under keeper Paul Borg via Town skipper Marcus Moody. With Sam Tucknott and Omar Foulkes showing up well for the home side it looked for a time as if they would run away with the tie, but Egham came to terms with the situation and hauled their way back into contention. Some decent runs from Ross White and Scott Todd kept the Merstham defence on their toes, and they were well supported by Dale Marvell, Moody, and occasionally full backs Jake Galbraith and Dan Hartlebury. There were some hairy moments, such as Ken During playing a square pass to Tucknott who then posed a threat with his pace, but During reacted superbly and raced back to cover and clear the danger, and Harry Ottaway beating Aarron Taylor-Ives to a bouncing ball but blazing his shot over the bar.

Home boss Andy Martin rang the changes in spectacular fashion with a triple substitution at half time, Roscoe D'Sane, Louis Clark and Jason Thompson coming on; John Hamsher made just the one, Scott Todd coming off for Brendan Matthew. After six minutes Marvell picked up a caution. From the free kick D'Sane raced clear but Borg covered his goal well and was supported by an excellent tackle from Taylor-Ives. The Merstham manager was not happy with referee Jon Hollier, and made a point of telling him, several times. Marvell and Moody had a go at testing home keeper David Wilkinson, who proved his credentials once Jamie Houghton had taken Galbraith's throw in and whipped in a cross that White met with a fabulous header. Unfortunately the save was every bit as fabulous. Taylor-Ives followed Marvell into the book for a foul, but it did not stop him getting up the Merstham bench's nose with some obdurate defending. For all that doggedness there was no real hint of a threat to the home goal, but then, on 78 minutes, Borg launched a punt down the middle, Matthew won the ball in the air and Marvell did what he has done so well this season. Facing Wilkinson one-on-one he sidestepped the outrushing keeper and slammed the ball into the bottom left corner. Egham had the ball in the net again four minutes later, a corner, won by Moody and taken by Marvell being headed in at the back post by Muldowney, but the officials said there had been a foul in the box. During was the third Sarnie to have his name taken in a a game that never degenerated into foul play; from the resultant free kick Thompson hit the ball skywards. With normal time running out Marvell shot tamely and Foulkes drove a low shot into the Egham area, looking perhaps for a kind ricochet to save a trip to the Runnymede Stadium on Tuesday. Egham scrambled the ball clear, and the final whistle was blown.
EGHAM TOWN: Paul Borg, Dan Hartlebury, Jake Galbraith, Ken During, Aarron Taylor-Ives, Luke Muldowney, Jamie Houghton, Ross White, Dale Marvell, Scott Todd, Marcus Moody (captain). Subs: Brendan Matthew (Todd, HT), Jake Joslin, Jason Boxx, Wayne Noad, Josh Henry.