CHERRY RED RECORDS COMBINED COUNTEIS PERMIER NORTH
SATURDAY 12 OCTOBER 2024
HILLTOP 1 (0)
Jibril Mahdi (90)
EGHAM TOWN 3 (2)
Luke Heneghan 2 (18, 33), Kyle Brooks (82)
Att: 35 Position: 1st

Egham Town held on to the top slot in CCL Premier North with this convincing success at Hilltop. With North Greenford breathing down their necks, beating Ardley United 3-2, the Sarnies needed to win to stay in pole position. Hilltop have a reputation for playing fast and attractive football, but were not given the chance to flex those muscles by visitors who had to cope without their skipper, Reece Yorke recovering from injury while being suspended. Right side winger Bradley Clayton was also absent, recalled by his parent club Chesham United for an FA Cup tie against Yeovil Town. The mixed news is that Clayton came off The Generals’ bench to whip in the corner for the winning, and only, goal of the game. The Egham squad has become used to filling in gaps, Soul Hale excelling again at left back, as Kyle Watson was crocked. Samad Kazi took the skipper’s armband.
The man who initially took the small crowd’s attention was Hilltop’s Benet Hashani, who thrice tangled with Zac Hawker before going off injured. Egham were dominant, but finding some trouble getting shots in on goal until Jordan Brown slipped the ball to Luke Heneghan, whose 25 yarder hit the bar. Soon after that spectacular effort Heneghan was on target with a more difficult shot, angling in a thumping free kick from the right side of the home area across the goal and into the far corner. Heneghan has scored some eye-catching goals this season, and sought to add to his tally with a 21st minute drive that won a corner. His 33rd minute one-two with Ronan Hutchins was more prosaic, but just as valuable as his low shot clipped the inside of the right post, leaving keeper Hansel Coelho flat-footed. The scorer was hungry for a hat-trick, and nearly got one when a clearance from a Kazi corner landed nicely for him. Unfortunately, the ball cannoned off a team-mate and went out for a goal kick.
It took Hilltop 55 minutes to give Egham keeper Tyler Tobin anything remotely dangerous to contend with, Mohamed Ali’s shot more butterfly than bee. (Sorry!) Hilltop began showing more of the type of football that destroyed Egham at the fag-end of last season, the 5-2 win seeing some remarkable interplay from Beaconsfield Town’s tenants. Good defensive work kept Hilltop, whose spiritual home is in London NW10, at arm’s length. The Sarnies extended their lead with eight minutes left, Brown racing to the byline before firing in a cross that was only cleared as far as Kyle Brooks. His thunderous shot, his first goal for the club, brooked no argument. The loss of a goal at the death niggled. A corner was headed goalwards by towering centre-back Kieran Marshall, Tobin saving well but at the expense of another flag kick. The ball fell at the feet of Jibril Mahdi, who netted. The last action saw Egham almost restore the three goal lead, Brown teeing up a shot for Harlem Hale, back after injury. For the second time in the game the ball walloped a cross-bar.

Egham Town: Tyler Tobin, Alex Nolan, Samad Kazi (C), Ben Peden, Soul Hale, Tyrique Tekasala, Zac Hawker, Ronan Hutchins, Luke Heneghan, Joshua Williams, Jordan Brown. Substitutes: Kyle Brooks (Williams, 76), Marley Anderson-Richards (Hawker, 54), Ayoub Igozouln (Hutchins, 63) Harlem Hale (Heneghan, 57).