Hanwell Town vs Chesham United

Recap

A fine first-half performance from Chesham proved to be in vain after the referee abandoned the game at half-time due to heavy rain. Chesham fielded four debutants in goalkeeper Cian Moore, full-back Connor Roberts, central defender Callum Adebiyi and midfielder Harry Rush.

The game was played in damp conditions after persistent rain, but the pitch was in good condition and presented no problem to the players. Chesham were soon into their stride, and in the third minute Shaquille Hippolyte-Patrick and Jack Connors combined on the left and set up Ricardo German whose shot was blocked. Shortly afterwards German won the ball close to the home goal and shot, but the ball bounced away off home keeper George Legg. However Chesham continued to dominate and took the lead in the ninth minute, when a neat move down the right involving Harry Rush and Jordan Edwards ended with Edwards striking a well-placed shot past Legg and into the far corner of the net. Two minutes later German seized on a mistake in the home defence and went for goal but his final effort was blocked for a corner. Chesham then had a scare when a loose ball allowed Temi Akinbusoye to break clear, but T’Sharne Gallimore got back and put in a great saving tackle.

Hanwell began to come into the game but Chesham were still a threat at the other end, Connor Roberts playing a one-two with Jordan Edwards and shooting wide from the edge of the area. Chesham had another scare when a loose ball in the area fell to Kweku Lucan whose shot came back off the bar. However in the 27th minute Ricardo German set up Shaquille Hippolyte-Patrick, who ran into the penalty area only to be upended by a despairing challenge from Legg. It was a clear penalty which German despatched to make it 2-0. Hanwell began to put on some pressure, but as the game moved into stoppage time Chesham made it 3-0 with a similar goal to the first. This time Jordan Edwards played a one-two with Shaquille Hippolyte-Patrick and ran on to shoot past Legg into the same corner as for his first.

During the interval the rain became heavier although there still didn’t seem to be any danger of the game being called off. However the referee went out for an inspection just as the second half was due to start and called the game off with the rain still coming down heavily but there was no standing water on the pitch. A few minutes later the rain eased off, then stopped altogether and the sun came out but it was too late.