Recap
Chesham made it through to the third qualifying round with a hard-earned win over their Combined Counties League opponents. At half-time Chesham were two up and looked to be cruising, but by the end they were hanging on after the home side fought back. After last week’s win at Merthyr there were two changes to the team, with Jordan Edwards and Josh Allen coming in for Zak Joseph and Shaquille Hippolyte-Patrick. T’Sharne Gallimore was on the bench after returning from international duty.
For the second week running Chesham faced a team with a 100% record in front of a crowd of over a thousand. The opening stages were largely uneventful with Chesham having plenty of the ball but failing to carve out any openings. Farnham had two early efforts from Harry Cooksley but Zaki Oualah comfortably saved the first and watched as the second flew well wide. On 21 minutes Chesham produced their first good move of the match and it brought the opening goal, when Ricardo German’s lay-off allowed Lesley Duru to cross to the far post where Josh Allen headed in for his first goal for the club. Seven minutes later a Harry Rush corner was cleared, Callum Adebiyi crossed back in and Josh Allen laid it off for Ricardo German to score from close range. Chesham comfortably saw out the half with the home side posing little threat.
Early in the second half Farnham began to come into the game more. There was an extremely optimistic shout for a penalty when the ball hit Avan Jones at point-blank range, but this did have the effect of bringing the crowd to life. From the ensuing corner Joe Jackson crossed and Ryan Kinnane side-footed wide at the far post. Farnham then made a double substitution which had an immediate effect, and shortly before the hour mark Zaki Oualah kept out a Shamal Edwards header and also saved Adam Liddle’s follow-up shot. In the next minute Chesham broke away and Josh Allen broke clear to shoot past the advancing keeper but also wide of the far post. Chesham were still looking dangerous but too often the final pass went astray and they were unable to kill the game off. Ten minutes from time Shamal Edwards crossed from the left, Owen Dean brought the ball down and fired past Zaki Oualah to give the home side some hope. With the home crowd finding their voice there was a frantic finish but Farnham were unable to create another chance. In the seventh minute of stoppage time Chesham broke away with three against two but once again the move broke down without a shot on goal.
Match Report
