Chesham United FC

Chesham just did enough to secure a win that keeps them on top of the table. On a difficult afternoon marred by two red cards in the first half, Chesham retook the lead early in the second half and hung on as Weston put on the pressure. After the defeat in the County Cup in midweek Chesham reverted to the side that beat Farnborough last week with one exception – Billy Adcock returning after three months in place of Adam Martin who was missing due to work commitments. After heavy rain the pitch was eventually passed fit as both teams wanted to play although there was a very wet patch in one corner.

Weston’s Nick McCootie shot wide in the second minute but Chesham soon found their form.  Mark Kirby got his head to a Jeanmal Prosper cross but home keeper Luke Purnell saved well, but in the eleventh minute Zak Joseph opened the scoring with a fine dipping shot into the top corner of the net from 25 yards.  However the lead was to last only three minutes, as Scott Laird cut in from the left and shot across Ben Goode and into the far corner of the net.  Both sides moved the ball well although Chesham were slightly the better side at this stage.  Just after the half-hour mark Bradley Clayton cut in from the left and shot across the face of the goal, then at the other end Laird shot over from a Brandon Barnes cross.  However shortly before half-time Nick McCootie kicked out after a challenge from Dave Pearce and was shown a straight red card, while Billy Adcock was shown a second yellow after the flare-up that followed.  Chesham regrouped and Zak Joseph shot just wide after Mark Kirby laid off a Jeanmal Prosper cross.

Early in the second half Chesham scored the winner, after Dave Pearce’s right-wing corner was headed out and Jeanmal Prosper scored with a rising drive from the edge of the area into the top corner.  Weston came back and Dan Martin squared to Jacob Cane who blazed well over, then at the other end Bradley Clayton’s left-foot drive flew wide.  Home full-back Jake Mawford then came forward and shot but the ball flew across goal.  Midway through the half Romario Hart came on to plough a lone furrow up front with Eoin Casey dropping back into midfield, as Chesham concentrated on keeping the home side out.  Weston poured forward, but a Brandon Barnes long shot was comfortably saved by Ben Goode and another Barnes shot flew well over.  The home side’s best moment of the half came on 77 minutes, when a Dan Martin cross-shot was pushed out by Ben Goode straight to Brandon Barnes who could only knock the ball over the bar from close range.  That was the last moment of danger as Chesham ultimately saw out the rest of the game without any further alarms.