Recap
Chesham won for the third time in eight days, but they did it the hard way against a spirited Hendon side. Chesham were second best in the opening half but turned things around in the second period. There were five more changes from Saturday’s win at Poole – Avan Jones, Jack Connors, Kieran Murphy, T’Sharne Gallimore and Lucas Sinclair came in for Connor Roberts, Lesley Duru, Eoin Casey, Scott Shulton and Callum Adebiyi.
Chesham made a sluggish start and Hendon had already had one chance before taking an early lead. In the fourth minute Niko Muir broke away down the visitors’ left but his shot was part-blocked and Zaki Oualah was able to save, but two minutes later Chesham’s defence failed to deal with a Hamza Semakula corner and the ball dropped to Samuel Adenola who shot into the corner of the net from ten yards. Still the visitors pressed forward and Semakula shot over after Zaki Oualah saved a long-range effort from Billy Leonard. Gradually Chesham began to come into the game, Zak Joseph advancing to the edge of the area and setting up Ogo Obi whose shot was saved by keeper Matt Kerbey. Chesham managed to contain Hendon for the rest of the half but mustered few chances of their own. On 28 minutes Zak Joseph got to the by-line on the right and pulled the ball back for Ogo Obi who controlled and shot wide of the far post, then Ricardo German squared to Obi who shot high and wide.
Early in the second half Hendon again came close when Niko Muir’s first-time shot was deflected wide, then Ethan Light’s shot on the turn flew over the bar. However Chesham brought on Jordan Edwards up front early in the half and began to stretch the visitors’ defence. Shortly before the hour mark Ricardo German broke away down the left and crossed to Edwards whose shot was blocked for a corner, but the ball was cleared and Billy Leonard broke away to fire in a shot that Zaki Oualah saved. However Chesham came back and Ricardo German’s header was parried by Kerbey and Edwards tapped in the loose ball but was flagged offside. However on 65 minutes Ricardo German again found space on the left and crossed, Jordan Edwards laid the ball off and Zak Joseph fired past Kerbey to equalise. Shortly afterwards Ogo Obi broke clear and shot past Kerbey but the ball came back off the far post, rolled along the line and hit the other post before coming out. Hendon had one more chance when Blaise Riley-Snow shot just wide, but Chesham were now on top and scored the winner on 83 minutes. Zak Joseph got to the by-line on the right and crossed low to the near post, where Ricardo German tapped the ball into the net although the final touch came from a defender. Hendon pushed forward but without threatening and Chesham eventually held out for a hard-earned win.
Match Report
