Egham Town 4 Croydon 0

COMBINED COUNTIES LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
EGHAM TOWN 4 (2) CROYDON 0 (0)
Egham Town scorers: Tom Hedges 2 (30, 54), Lee Pasmore (41), Maurice Harkin (90+2)

If only more people had been here to see this! Egham Town recorded a league double over a Croydon side who played their part in a hugely entertaining game; not “played their part” as in rolling over and letting Egham run all over them, as the scoreline might suggest, but play their own enterprising and brand of football but, happily for Egham, with little in the way of a cutting edge.
Egham had new blood in midfield, Maurice “Mo” Harkin signing on Monday with a good deal of higher level experience under his belt; Kingstonian was his last club, I was told. Matt Grave, who had left the field on Saturday with a slight knock, was on the bench from the side that had beaten Horley Town 2-1.
Egham had won 3-2 at the Croydon Arena in a match that the hosts dominated for most of the second half, so John Hamsher knew his side would be in for a serious examination. The Trams are in a comfortable mid-table slot, and had the better of the attacking momentum in the opening exchanges of the first half, but were well policed by skipper Aarron Taylor-Ives and his defence. Egham had the first decent shot, Dale Marvell being denied his 24th goal of the season when Francis Ameyan dived full length to save a 20 yard curling shot. The breakthrough came with half an hour gone as Egham put together their best attack of the game, after a period in which Croydon had had plenty of possession around the Egham box but without finding the killer ball. For the home side that killer ball came from Jake Galbraith, drilling a low cross to Tom Hedges, who almost nonchalantly bent a first time shot round Ameyan's dive to see the ball settle in the bottom left corner. Four minutes from the break Marvell whipped a corner kick onto the head of Lee Pasmore, the centre back's thumping header beating Ameyan for pace on its way in. Apparently this is not the first time Mr Pasmore has scored for us, but there is certainly a very sizeable gap between his last one and this.
The new man had not shown much in the first half, apart from evidence of good close control and a strong tackle. In the second half he began to show what he can offer Egham Town. Enrico Rossoni had seen a chance to improve the scoreline further in a one-on-one, but Ameyan reacted smartly to take the ball of his toes. It took a superb piece of skill from Hedges to make almost certain that Egham would get the three points, and it came from the right wing. Skipping beyond the tackles that tried to delay or abort his progress from fully 35 yards from goal he cut inside and, as Ameyan advanced, lifted the ball over him and into the net. Ameyan, who must have the choice for Croydon's MOM, denied Marvell from a free kick and then in another one-on-one, and then fell to his left to stop a Rossoni shot at his right post. Harkin moved into the centre of midfield as Jamie Houghton was forced to limp off, and used that new slot to show that he could use his experience and fit into a team intent on playing smart, one-touch football. Croydon were still trying to do the same and had a lifeline when Pasmore was penalised for holding forward Claudio de Almeida in the box after 77 minutes. Mark Cecil took the spot kick, but Borg dived to save not only the kick but Cecil's shot off the rebound as well. That made it two penalty saves in three games for the Sarnies' custodian. Rossoni was subbed by Brendan Matthew, for something a little different to tease a Croydon defence that was subjected to more pressure as the minutes ticked by. Luke Muldowney tried a 25 yarder off Marvell's feed, but Ameyan turned the ball away for a corner kick that Marvell saw create trouble in the visiting ranks, allowing Harkin to test the keeper with a fierce drive. Next it was Hedges, looking for a second hat-trick in Sarnies' colours, and there were loud but unsuccessful appeals for a penalty for what looked like a foul on Grave. It is usual for managers to bung a sub on in the dying seconds to eat up time, especially with a game already won, but this time the decision added some extra gloss to what had been a scintillating performance already. Louis Chandler-Joseph came on for Marvell, and instantly used his pace to unsettle an already discomfited defence, and within a minute he triggered a move that had the ball played at pace by the young midfielder, Grave and finally Harkin, who capped a damned fine debut with a crunching shot for a final 4-0 scoreline. Croydon accepted their defeat with grace and I only wish I had noted the name of the referee who played his own part by being unfussy in game that saw no hint of a bad tackle and, happily, no flashing of yellow cards. At the final whistle John Hamsher hugged Wayne Noad in celebration of a good win in a good match, played with flair and invention.

EGHAM TOWN: Paul Borg, Dan Hartlebury, Jake Galbraith, Lee Pasmore, Aarron Taylor-Ives, Luke Muldowney, Jamie Houghton, Maurice Harkin, Tom Hedges. Subs: Paul Bartholomew, Louis Chandler-Joseph (Marvell, 90+1), Brendan Matthew (Rossoni, 82), Matt Grave (Houghton, 71).

Other results for Tuesday: Cove 1 RPV 4, Dorking 1 Windsor 1 (that is presumably the same Dorking whose manager walked after they got tonked 0-9 by Camberley on Saturday), Farnham 2 Hanworth Villa 1, Sandhurst Town 1 South Park 7, Wembley 1 Chessington & Hook United 0, Epsom & Ewell 0 Molesey 6.
On Saturday we entertain Badshot Lea, who beat us 3-1 at Godalming Town early in the season. We took the lead with Dale Marvell whipping a corner straight in early in the first half, but Badshot Lea hit us with goals in the second half. They currently sit in 16th place.

Mark