Match 25. Chertsey Town v Hanworth Villa

Saturday 21^st February 2015 @3pm

Combined Counties League Premier Division

CHERTSEY TOWN 4-2 HANWORTH VILLA

Alwyns Lane, Chertsey

Admission: £7

Programme: £1.50

Attendance: 103

Refreshments: Can of Somersby cider, £2.50. Chicken Soup £1. Walkers Crisps, 60p.

I was going to a match in the EOFL but after the previous wet evening the games were falling fast so I decided to head west on the quiet M25 for a revisit to Alwyns Lane.  This ground I last visited on 7 December 1996 when the hosts played in the Icis League Premier against a pink kitted Yeovil Town where they lost 2-0 and that goalscoring machine Warren Patmore were playing for the Glovers.  Today I had another goalscoring machine, John Pomroy, who was on 299 goals before this game.

I arrived with an hour to spare so walked around the small but pretty little town and had a chicken bap from the local bakery, and small refreshments at the award winning Thyme at the Tavern and the quirky The Olde Swan with its bygone age memorabilia and furniture. The former had 5 hand pumps in use.

I don’t think the ground has changed in the near 20 years since my last visit. There is small standing cover behind both goals and also cover alongside most of the terracing on the far touchline. The main focus of course is on the main stand with wooden steps and faded blue plastic seats but certainly a one off design with a press box table area in the middle of the stand.  The tea bar is behind the near goal and the clubhouse and changing rooms are next to the main stand.  The clubhouse only serves refreshments from bottles or cans from a fridge (no draught).

Chertsey are struggling a little this season in the lower mid table but Hanworth Villa are having a bad season, sitting next to bottom of the division.  The first quarter of the game was evenly matched on the heavy but playable pitch.  Chertsey then started to dominate and got a deserved penalty on 33 minutes when the attacker was tripped after playing a neat 1-2.  After several minutes of protests by the away side, Pomroy got his 300^th career goal as he drove the ball just of centre to the despair of the diving goalkeeper.  The referee, who was inadvertently slowing the game down played a good advantage a few minutes later when continuing play after a bookable foul and the ball went forward into the path of Salako who shot into the net under the keepers’ body.

The second half began with Chertsey on the ascendancy and scored three minutes in when Pomroy got his 2^nd goal with a delightful lob over the keeper into the corner from 20 yards. The visitors then decided to stop the verbal and play which gave them 2 chances which were saved well by Adam Faith, the new Chertsey keeper.  Into the last quarter of the game and Hanworth began a comeback when a freekick on the edge of the box was rocketed beyond the keeper. Hanworth sensed a jittering home side and took the match to them. They added a 2^nd goal on 89 minutes when a counter attack found the defence short on numbers and a tap in made the 5 minutes stoppage time nervous for the home fans but Chertsey made the game safe in the 94^th minute when a Wadmore shot went in off the post.  At the end there was applause and a player guard of honour for John Pomroy, 301 goals and counting.