Third Time Is The Charm

Kempston Rovers made it three wins from three at Egham Town on Tuesday night with a resolute away performance on a difficult pitch. This fixture had already been postponed twice and the recent weather had certainly left its mark on the playing surface, meaning anything even remotely resembling passing football was out of the question. The match was played against a back drop of smoke from a bonfire that had been burning for some time within the ground perimeter – no one at Egham seemed particularly alarmed by this, so we must assume they were in control of the situation, but the smoke persisted throughout the game and well into the night.

Rovers took the lead early on through a Seb Simpson goal after Egham failed to deal with a corner. The defender smashed home from fourteen yards with the keeper helpless after a Benjamin Acquaye knockdown. Shortly before the half hour, the lead was doubled as Jake Newman flicked on a long ball to Acquaye, who was able to race clear and slot past the advancing keeper at the near post for his first Rovers goal on his first start for the club. Newman and Saturday’s hero Luke Heneghan had efforts well saved by the Egham keeper as the half wore on, Egham’s keeper blocked Newman with his feet and was able to parry Heneghan’s long range stinger. Late in the half, Alex Collard proved his worth with a manful block from very close range at the feet of Wiseman.

After the break, Egham mounted more pressure but rarely threatened the goal seriously. Their first effort on target resulted in them pulling a goal back, as Brendan Matthew took advantage of a poorly cleared corner to get his side back in to the game. For all their pressure and possession, Egham didn't really threaten an equaliser and as the game wore on it was Kempston that looked the more likely to add to their lead. Deep into stoppage time, sub Munashe Sundire played Jake Newman through on the counter, the forward had the freedom of the entire half to plan his finish and he duly obliged with his twenty sixth goal of the season to wrap up an effective, if not spectacular, away performance from Rovers where the only negative was not keeping a clean sheet.

The victory takes the club to within six points of the play off places with nine games of the season to go. Egham remain in fourteenth place with this defeat and judging by the cat-calls from the stands, it has not gone down well with the locals. Next up for Kempston is the short trip to Barton Rovers on Saturday.