Banstead Ath 1 Egham T 3

COMBINED COUNTIES LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
TUESDAY 10 JANUARY 2012
BANSTEAD ATHLETIC 1 (1) EGHAM TOWN 3 (1)
Egham Town scorers: Jamie Houghton (37), C Muldowney (74), Hedges (86)

Egham Town's astonishing run of success at Merland Rise continued on Tuesday night with a hard fought 3-1 over hosts Banstead Athletic. Since Egham joined the Combined Counties League for season 2006-7 they have never lost there, against Banstead or, until last season, Epsom & Ewell. For those interested the results are at the bottom of this report.
Egham boss John Hamsher missed the win at Wembley and was away again for this match, but he will return with the side in good form. There was a reshuffle needed with right back Dan Hartlebury out injured so Paul Bartholomew filled in for him, and skipper Aarron Taylor-Ives regained his centre back berth. In midfield Enrico Rossoni swapped places on the bench with Matt Grave. Initially Egham looked as if they were to take control and Charlie Muldowney was not far off target with a hooked volley from Grave's pass. Banstead, though, were a better side than that beaten 4-0 at the Runnymede Stadium earlier this season and in Luke Gay had a centre forward who was causing several problems, the worst of which was the header that gave Athletic a 31st minute lead. That was the kick up the rear end Egham needed because after their early promise there seemed to be a lack of drive throughout the team. However, when Tom Hedges' excellent run and cross for Jamie Houghton was met with a superb volley that flew in off the inside of keeper Colin Harris' right post six minutes later, and Paul Borg denied Gay with a fine save, the run looked more secure.
Matt Grave was subbed by Rossoni ten minutes into a second half that started slowly but warmed up just before the hour with Hedges again showing that pace is telling against a slow back four. He set up Houghton for another volley, which this time went wide, and when Houghton was a tackle by the Banstead bench several home players took umbrage for some reason and a small knot of them surrounded the Sarnies' midfielder armed with sharp words and, in the case of Sam Hewitt, something a little more physical. He got booked for his pains, which made him even more vulnerable to the pace of Charlie Muldowney and Hedges. Dale Marvell saw a free kick and a shot both narrowly miss the target; when Jordan Cheadle headed wide for Athletic from a free kick there was an increasing worry that missed opportunities would prove costly. Then on 74 minutes Hedges used his pace again to outwit the defence and shot, the ball bounced off Harris' left hand post, and Charlie Muldowney pounced to strike the ball into the bottom left corner with Harris stranded. He felt even more alone four minutes from the end when Hedges tried his luck from outside the box. Harris made a mess of his attempt to save it, fumbling the ball and seeing it roll over the line. Charlie Muldowney gets the assist for that one; between the goals the two of them had kept Banstead penned back in their own half. Other half chances came and went, with Banstead a well beaten side by the final whistle.

EGHAM TOWN: Paul Borg, Paul Bartholomew, Jake Galbraith, Lee Pasmore, Aarron Taylor-Ives (Capt.), Luke Muldowney, Jamie Houghton, Matt Grave, Dale Marvell, Charlie Muldowney, Tom Hedges. Subs: Ken During (Bartholomew, 84), Tom Brunton, Josh Henry, Louis Chandler-Joseph, Enrico Rossoni (Grave, 55), Brendan Matthew (Muldowney, 90 + 3).
Those results:
2006-7
Epsom & Ewell 6-1
Banstead Athletic 2-1
2007-8
Epsom & Ewell 1-1
Banstead Athletic 8-2
2008-9
Epsom & Ewell 3-0
Banstead Athletic 4-1
2009-10
Epsom & Ewell 4-3
Banstead Athletic 5-1
2010-11
Epsom & Ewell 2-2
Banstead Athletic 3-2.

Mark