BOSTIK SOUTH CENTRAL
SATURDAY 23 FEBRUARY 2019
EGHAM TOWN 0 (0) MOLESEY 2 (1)
MARLEY HAMILTON 2 (5, 62)
MOM MARLEY HAMILTON (MOLESEY)
ENTERTAINMENT 1/5

Is this the match that sees Egham Town wave goodbye to Step 4 football, after promotion in 2013? Following the heroics of the 1-1 draw with runaway leaders Hayes & Yeading United in their previous game this was but a pale shadow, a non-performance of mind-numbing predictability against a side who, once gifted an early advantage, showed the discipline and determination that the home side sadly lacked. On taking control at Runnymede Stadium manager Dickson Gill was asked by Clive Youlton of the Surrey Herald if he thought he could guide Egham to safety. He replied that he “would not be here if he thought he couldn’t.” P11 W 0 D2 L 9 F 5 A26 Pts 2 is not a record to cherish. After this horrible loss Egham are a massive 8 points below Molesey, whose result yesterday mirrored that at Walton Road on 3 November. Egham are 11 points adrift of South Park, who visit on 23rd March. By that time Egham will have travelled next Saturday, on the back of 14 straight away league defeats, to Marlow (5th, and hoping to do better than the 0-0 they left Egham with in November). Then two home games (Uxbridge and Bracknell Town, 9th and 12th March respectively) precede a trip to Cheshunt, who will want to avenge being the only side other than Westfield to leave Runnymede Stadium having lost. That happened on 24 November. In a subsequent interview with the Surrey Herald (18th January) Gill bemoaned the lack of experience he had at his disposal. Since then we have seen the coming and going of striker Perry Coles (one shot on target in three games) and the arrival of experienced goalkeeper Josh Bramwell, man of the match against Hayes & Yeading. Other players crop up on the team sheet, only to disappear again. For the league games and one County Cup tie Gill has signed a remarkable 41 players; the season total is now 95! (At this rate sports therapist Toby Wellington is the front-runner for Player of the Season.) This week has seen changes in the management team, with Ashley Carew coming on loan from Dulwich & Hamlet to make his debut and take over as assistant manager, and to replace former South Park boss Mick Sullivan, who has left the club. Dean Lodge, like Carew, made his debut, signing from Chipstead (who visit on the last day of the season). Carl Palmer has been taken on as assistant coach. This is where I would usually drop in a drumming reference (I am that old!); what is certain is that Egham can do with some ELP.
Lots of preamble like this tends to mean the match was rubbish, which it was. Egham looked flat from the off, nervous and skittish enough to let the first corner of the match fall kindly for Marley Hamilton to poke the ball over the line as early as the fifth minute. In the match at Walton Road a ricket by keeper Matt Nolan gave the Moles an early lead, on to which they hung without undue fuss. They then scored late on. This was pretty similar. It was clear early on that Brandon McCarthy had the beating of Joe Yeates for speed, but only used his pace intermittently, not least because the back four were seemingly intent on playing fancy stuff instead of getting the ball further up the park. It was that messing about that led to the second goal, losing possession in midfield and letting Hamilton through for an angled shot that left Bramwell stranded. The closest Egham came to scoring was when Carew curled a free kick from 20 yards on to Alex Kozakis’ bar in the 63rd minute. Had that gone in, who knows? In the 89th minute Danny Campion curled in a free kick that McCarthy tucked away, but there was a raised flag. Molesey’s hopes are now raised; Egham’s are flagging. The screaming frustration of this is that had Egham played with anything even close to the intensity they mustered against Hayes & Yeading they would surely have got something out of this. Neither of the returning former Sarnies, Reis Stanislaus and Ashely Lodge, did anything special. Molesey are a very poor side. Before Moles’ supporters get all aerated about that comment, their league position supports it. The trouble is that Egham were markedly worse.
There are 11 games between safety and the prospect of playing in the Combined Counties League again. Chairman Pat Bennett said some time ago that he wanted to see the Sarnies in the (then) Conference. It is not quite as ridiculous-sounding as neighbours Staines Town’s new owners expressing a desire to reach the Football League in 10 years. For both clubs the wait goes on…

As a matter of interest, the only two times we have been relegated we had these end of season records:

1997-98 ISTH-2 42 9 5 28 47 101 32 21/22

2004-05 SOUTH-W 42 6 4 32 25 97 22 22/22

EGHAM TOWN: Joshua Bramwell, Luke Randall, Temi Oladejo, Joe Morrison, Tristan Toney, Akheem Belford, Ibrahim Kehinde, Samir Bajja, Brendan McCarthy, Ashley Carew, Dean Lodge. Substitutes: Danny Campion (Bajja, 63), Jonathan Millar-Annor (Kehinde, 38), Joseph Adoo-Peters (Dylan Randall, Jack Hatcher.