Chesham United Football Club

 

Chesham:

 

1.    Richard Hayward

 

2.    Mark Lambert

 

3.    Sam Ledger

 

4.    Jordan Bostock

 

5.    Andy Keepence

 

6.    Danny Talbot

 

7.    Kevin Cotton

 

8.    Adam Parker

       (booked 68 mins)

9.    Danny Burnell

       (goal 4 mins (pen), booked 25 mins)

10.    Sammy Winston

 

11.    Dave Fotheringham

 

Subs:

 

12.    Dom Marsala

         (for Cotton 45 mins)

14.    Michael Sharman

 

15.    John Lawford

         (for Winston 80 mins)

16.    Matt Skinner

 

17.    Simon Ellis

 

 

Chesham brought an end to Evesham's winning run of nine games with this draw.  While not as one-dimensional as in the return fixture, Evesham are top of the table by being the most muscular and physical side in the division and Chesham matched them in that respect, but on the other hand the game was played in a fast and furious style which suited Evesham better.

 

Chesham made one change to the starting line-up, with fit-again Dave Fotheringham coming in for Steve Cawley and Dom Marsala returning to the bench, and Mark Lambert playing in a more withdrawn role in a return to 4-4-2.  Evesham may have won nine in a row but had scored only ten goals in the previous seven, so the game was likely to likely to be a tight affair and Chesham were given a great start with a soft penalty in only the third minute.  A ball into the area from the right went under Adam Parker's foot and Sammy Winston went for it only to fall over under Steve Luckett's challenge.  From the stand it certainly looked like a push although Winston had his back to the goal at the time, but the referee was close to the incident had had no doubts.  Danny Burnell tucked away the penalty for his 22nd goal of the season.  However having been given a gift Chesham failed to take full advantage and the lead was to last only seven minutes.  Mark Owen worked some space on the edge of the area and Richard Hayward blocked the resulting shot, but the rebound fell to Steve Lutz who drove the ball into the corner of the net.

 

Shortly afterwards Sammy Winston beat the offside trap to collect Kevin Cotton's through ball but short straight at keeper Nathan Vaughan.  Lutz then beat the offside trap and lobbed Hayward but the ball clipped the bar, then in a similar incident at the other end Danny Burnell set up Winston whose chip clipped the angle of post and bar.  Evesham had more of the possession but Chesham were coming to terms with their battering-ram style, and the only other noteworthy incident of the half came on the half-hour when a neat pass from Burnell to Cotton resulted in a shooting chance for Dave Fotheringham who shot straight at Vaughan from the edge of the box.

 

Kevin Cotton, who had been injured after a foul that brought a booking for Danny Hodnett, was forced to go off at half-time.  Early in the second half Richard Hayward tipped over a drive from Paul Bonar that was going over anyway, and the game continued in the same pattern with little goalmouth incident.  On 57 minutes Chesham produced the one moment of quality in the half when Danny Burnell sent Dom Marsala away down the left, and Winston got on the end of Marsala's cross at the near post but could only turn the ball over the bar.  Midway through the half the game threatened to boil over when an Evesham official was sent to the stand for hurling abuse at a linesman, then Lutz elbowed Adam Parker right in front of the referee who somehow failed to spot it, then in the next minute a fired-up Lutz was rightly booked for a nasty foul on Jordan Bostock and had to be calmed down by his own team-mates.  However the incident passed and the remaining minutes were largely uneventful.  Evesham continued to bang the ball long at every opportunity but without looking likely to score, but Chesham were largely restricted to containment which they eventually managed quite comfortably.