Chesham United Football Club

Chesham:

 

 

1.    James Beasant

 

2.    Michael Sharman

 

3.    Sam Ledger

 

4.    Matt Skinner

 

5.    Kieran Allen-Curry

 

6.    Kevin Cotton

 

7.    Mark Lambert

        (goal 70 mins)

8.    Dave Fotheringham

 

9.    Danny Burnell

        (goals 2, 11 (pen), 45, 53 - booked 42 mins)

10.    Adam Parker

        (goal 30 mins)

11.    Dom Marsala

        (goals 16, 90 mins)

 

12.    Danny Talbot

        (for Sharman 60 mins - goal 72 mins)

14.    Steve Cawley

        (for Cotton 66 mins)

15.    Tommy Higgins

 

16.    John Lawford

        (for Burnell 54 mins - goal 86 mins)

17.    Richard Hayward

 

 

This was a win that had everyone reaching for the record books.  Having looked for the previous record win and not found anything, I can only say that it appears to be the biggest win in Chesham's history.  Certainly nobody that I spoke to after the game can remember a win of this size.

 

Chesham originally made two team changes, both enforced with Matt Skinner replacing the injured Andy Keepence and Mark Lambert replacing Carl Bruce who has signed for Redbridge.  However a third change was necessary when Richard Hayward reached over the pitch surround to retrieve a ball during the warm-up, only to suffer a back spasm which led to him being taken off on a stretcher.  This meant a late change to the team sheet with James Beasant starting and Hayward being named as a substitute even though he was waiting to go off in an ambulance when the game started.  However that was the last of the bad news for Chesham as Danny Burnell set the team on their way with a goal after 90 seconds, finishing from 12 yards after a cross from Dave Fotheringham had been miskicked straight to him.

 

Things got worse for the visitors ten minutes later when Dom Marsala's corner was not cleared and Adam Parker hooked the ball goalwards only for Pete Boyle to handle on the line.  Boyle was shown a red card and Burnell buried the resulting penalty, then two more goals in quick succession ended the game as a contest after only 18 minutes.  Firstly Dom Marsala scored his first goal for the club when his left-wing corner sailed straight into the net, then two minutes later a cross from the right by Danny Burnell was turned into his own net by Nick Clayton.  Chesham were in total control and Dom Marsala shot just past the far post after a good build-up involving Parker and Burnell, then Dave Fotheringham shot wide from the edge of the area when Mark Lambert was totally unmarked in the middle.

 

Just when it seemed Malvern's day could not get any worse, Burnell broke clear and was hauled back by Clayton who was rightly shown a red card.  Malvern recognised that the game was over by bringing on an extra defender to try to keep the score down, but Dom Marsala's superb shot from the resulting free kick crashed against the bar and Adam Parker headed in the rebound to make it 5-0 with only half an hour gone.  Malvern were struggling when it was eleven versus eleven, so with nine versus eleven it was just a question of how many Chesham would score.  Danny Burnell was just wide from Dom Marsala's cross, then Malvern keeper Lewis Skyers produced a fine save when Burnell deflected a shot from Kevin Cotton.  Adam Parker netted from the rebound after another save from Skyers but was given offside, Burnell had a shot blocked by a last-ditch tackle by Andy Widdowson, then Skyers came out to save at Burnell's feet and caught Burnell in his follow-through which provoked a minor flare-up in which Burnell and Malvern's Simon Baker were booked.   However in first-half stoppage time Dave Fotheringham found Mark Lambert in space and Lambert's low cross was turned goalwards by Burnell, Skyers made another good save but Burnell converted the rebound to complete his hat-trick and make it 6-0.

 

Three minutes into the second hald James Beasant made his only save of the afternoon, stretching to turn away a cross from Bryan Craven that was curling underneath the crossbar.  Eight minutes into the half Skyers turned away a corner from Matt Skinner but Burnell hooked the rebound into the net from beyond the far post, only o be immediately substituted.  Chesham eased off but there always going to be chances against a tiring nine men.  Midway through the half a Dom Marsala corner caused chaos in the area, Adam Parker's shot was saved and the rebound fell to Sam Ledger but Malvern blocked the ball on the line.  However two minutes later Fotheringham found Mark Lambert who won a challenge to break clear and roll the ball past the advancing Skyers.  Two minutes after that substitute Danny Talbot collected the ball from a short corner, ran to the corner of the area and fired the ball past Skyers for Chesham's ninth.  John Lawford then had a goal disallowed for offside, but four minutes from time he turned on the edge of the area and curled the ball low into the corner of the net to put Chesham into double figures.  Malvern tried hard to stem the flow and substitute Aaron Drake performed heroics in their defence, but they were run ragged by the time Dave Fotheringham sent Dom Marsala clear on the right and he ran through unchallenged to slot the ball past Skyers for Chesham's eleventh in stoppage time.  Amidst all the records it was barely noticed that Chesham's defence kept a clean sheet for the fourth game running for the first time in eight years.