Match 28. Egham Town v Potters Bar Town

Saturday 25^th January 2014 @3pm

Southern Football League Division 1 Central

EGHAM TOWN 6-0 POTTERS BAR TOWN

Runnymede Stadium, Wards Place, Egham

Admission: £6

Programme: £1

Attendance: 92

Refreshments: Guinness, £3.20. Cheeseburger, £3.00

 

After my chosen games were called off in the morning, I hunted around for a possible new tick and by the time I got myself into gear, I didn’t leave home until 1.15. I dropped the girls off at Windsor so arrived at the ground at 2.55.  The ground has a selection of cover on all 4 sides of the ground. The turnstiles are behind the near goal where there is also covered standing.  Behind the opposite goal line also has a section of standing cover. To the right touchline there are 3 separate sections of cover.  The left hand side has the main seated stand with the dugouts either side. The tea hut and toilets are to the side of the main stand.  The burger was burned crust on the outside and I only ate it as I was starving. The clubhouse is outside the ground and has a pool table, 2 dart boards and unusually about 8 sofas in front of the TV screen. The car park has several pot holes which turned into ponds during the match.

  

Egham went a goal up after just 3 minutes when a cross was knocked in by Anthony.  The match was mostly a midfield battle but the speed of the 3 attacking midfielders supporting the Egham no9 was the difference between the sides.  The second goal arrived on 20 minutes when a cross was only cleared to the edge of the area where Crossley was waiting to hit on the half volley into the net.  Thomas added Eghams third just after half an hour when he attacked down the left wing, cut inside the goal line and curled a beautiful shot into the far top corner.  Just before half time, Crossley found himself on the left hand side of the goal.  The keeper ran out to cut him off but got stranded, lost out in the tackle and Crossley in a copycat of the 3^rd goal, chipped into the far corner.

 

Potters Bar had hope as the Egham no3 got sent off in the first minute of the second half for a studs up challenge. This gave the visitors their best 15 minutes of the match and actually had a shot tipped over the bar.  With a couple of subs put on by Egham, they added to their lead on 68 minutes when a weaving run by no7 allowed Andrews to toe into the net.

 

The skies darkened and shortly after, at 4.25 we were met with torrential rain, hail, swirling winds, thunder and lightning. We all scurried to the back of the main stand to stay dry and the players and officials just carried on playing.  By the time the storm had passed there was 5 minutes remaining and all on the field were dripping wet. It was surreal watching the play with their heads down, hunched shoulders, trying to protect themselves from the hail and rain in an open field.  Fair play especially to the away side, being 5-0 down the visitors didn’t moan about the weather and just got on with it.  A penalty in the last minute just gave Egham a more flattering scoreline, as there wasn’t much between them apart from the attacking options.  I enjoyed this old fashioned ground, a bit rough around the edges but the pitch is in good condition.  Found my car via various deep puddles, likened to a game of hopscotch.