Egham Town 3 South Park 2

COMBINED COUNTIES LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
Saturday 18 February 2012
Egham Town 3 (0) South Park 2 (2)

Note if you will the figures in parentheses, indicating the headline feature of this remarkable game. Despite going in for the break two goals adrift Egham recovered their spirit sufficiently to grab a win that, combined with Windsor's remarkable reverse at Chessington & Hook, narrowed the gap between third and second place.
After the enforced meteorologically influenced rest of recent weeks both sets of supporters must have wondered if eagerness to get back into the fray or ring rustiness would be the dominant factor in early play; for Egham it seemed to be the latter, but thankfully not for keeper Paul Borg, who pulled off a superb save only four minutes in. Five minutes later Borg stood no chance as Chris Smith smacked in a rising shot from a chance created on the break. The same forward was being given far too much leeway and tested Borg with a well hit first time shot. By this time Egham could have been two goals down already. When Egham were able to go on the attack there was an old problem still apparent, namely the tendency to over-elaborate. South Park's defenders were able to close down Egham's forwards with relative ease because there was always the look for the extra touch or pass; the visitors eschewed such fancy-dan stuff by concentrating on hitting first time shots on target. The first time a man in red decided to hit the ball first time it was Enrico Rossoni who forced a fine plunging save from Kieran Lavery. Soon after Egham had conceded again, on the break, a well delivered cross from the Park right finding George Smith sliding in for a shot that hit the inside of the left post before crossing Borg's line. Before the break Borg flapped at a ball he could have left, conceding a corner from which he was fully stretched by a shot from Michael Stone, whose second shot, off the rebound, was belted off the line by Jake Galbraith. With George Smith and Stone having further chances to increase the lead, Stone again making Borg scramble with a well hit volley from the edge of the box, it was no surprise that talk at half time from the Egham support had two subjects; the good fortune that the Sarnies were no more than two goals down and the seeming unwillingness of the forwards to, as I have said before, “hit the bloody thing”.
At South Park, in his last game for the club, Marcus Moody's goal had given Egham a half time lead that collapsed with a poor second period performance. South Park may well feel that this game went in a similar way. There had clearly been some inspirational words said in the Egham dressing room (“Cry God Hamsher, for Egham and St. Pat”?), and a substitution that was not one that the casual observer may have expected, Rossoni being replaced by Brendan Matthew. Whatever it was, it worked. Egham were more focussed on getting the ball into the area and having a go, and eventually it worked, but it took a mighty struggle to wrest the three points back.
Six minutes into the second half a long pass by Galbraith released Tom Hedges for a chance that Lavery covered, and two minutes later the first of several scrambles in the visitors' penalty area gave some hope that Egham might get a goal back. That they did on the hour, Luke Muldowney seeing his cross from the right getting the treatment it deserved with a fine header by leading scorer Dale Marvell. The scorer nearly grabbed a leveller as a loose clearance was returned on target but cleared off the line. On 74 minutes Hedges, Jamie Houghton and Matt Grave all saw shots blocked, and when the ball came back into the box from Muldowney it found Matthew on the deck and a yard from the goal line, stretching desperately but without success, his studs just millimetres away from making the crucial touch. After Grave and Hedges had more shots denied there was a scare when George Smith broke free but Borg was alert, making another agile save. A foul on Houghton gave Egham their next chance. Marvell whipped in a trade mark free kick but saw the ball smack the face of the left hand post. Lavery saved at the feet of Hedges, who had been given the chance by Marvell's smart pass, and then finally the pressure on the South Park defence told as Matthew, Galbraith and Hedges linked with great skill, Hedges looking on as his pass to Marvell was swept in with a low, right foot shot. At 2-2 with two minutes of normal time left that would have been a superb final score in the circumstances, but a minute into injury time Hedges summoned up the energy for a last effort, winning a corner kick which Marvell placed onto the head of the inrushing Egham skipper Aarron Taylor-Ives, the ball crashing into the South Park net for a winner not even the most diehard Sarnie could have foreseen 45 minutes previously.
Egham have two away trips this week, against Camberley Town on Tuesday, and to Dorking on Saturday.
EGHAM TOWN: Paul Borg, Dan Hartlebury, Jake Galbraith, Ken During, Aarron Taylor-Ives (capt.), Luke Muldowney, Jamie Houghton, Enrico Rossoni, Dale Marvell, Matt Grave, Tom Hedges. Subs: Brendan Matthew (Rossoni, HT), Tom Brunton, Paul Bartholomew (Marvell, 90+1).