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Combined Counties League - Premier Division Match

MATCH REPORT

Chertsey Town are going through a, second wind to the season, transition to its squad of players at present. Wayne Noad has been the latest departure, to accompany that of three others who have not commanded sufficient presence in the side for automatic selection. The result was, last Saturday, that three new faces featured in the starting line up along with the return of Gavin Bolger for his first appearance following injury in the first game of the season two months previous.
 
Too many cheap goals have been given away, mainly on the break over the past few weeks but this game saw a far more cohesive midfield and defence qualities following the recent signings of Nick Cossar, Martin Beard and Mark Waters. Despite this, Chertsey fell behind early on when a right wing foray by Arafat Kabuye paid dividends when his cross was tipped further on by Josh Lennie in goal, but the finger tip contact only passed the ball on to Kevin Terry who powered the ball home from eight yards.
 
Lennie was another of those new faces, all of whom had steady debuts and gave extra assurance in defence. His inclusion was generated following the injury to Paul Smith, sustained at Arundel the previous week. Smith himself was fitting in well which, on his return to full fitness will provide for a problem for Spencer Day's selection process.
 
Banstead provided the greater amount of energy in the first half and although they saw plenty of the ball, it was Chertsey that then came closest to finding the net when Paul Brooker was released on the right. He honed in on the Banstead goal but saw his firm shot hit the bar. The rebound just evaded the arriving John Pomroy who remarkably was subsequently unable to find the net for the first time in league football this season despite coming close after the break.
 
The half time came with no further score but with the Chertsey midfield looking stronger by the minute, and a couple of close efforts at the Banstead goal from Luke Muldowney and Mu Maan. Maan was one of the new midfield signings who made a useful debut contribution. Nick Cossar, deeper in defence, also looked assured and consistently won his aerial battles in a manner not seen so from a Chertsey central defender this term.
 
The second half began in explosive fashion with Chertsey bursting through before even a minute had elapsed from the restart. A throw in from the left was met by Marcus Moody. He latched on to a ball, slipped through a gap in the defence well inside the penalty area, then clipped it across the goalmouth where Brooker slid in and connected close in.
 
A little later, Remi Sellers was put away by Pomroy as Chertsey began to take increasing control but his shot was blocked by Steve Windegaard who had featured in some of Chertsey's pre-season matches. Sellers had better success just after the hour when he fired the ball home from eight yards through a posse of defenders after the ball had not been adequately cleared from a corner kick for Town's number two.
 
Sellers is still sharpening his fitness after a late start to the campaign after an extended foreign sojourn and was replaced by Gavin Bolger who was soon involved with a flicked header that hit the Banstead upright. This came just after Pomroy took possession from slack defending but was robbed by Windegaard, the last defender at that moment.
 
Kevin Cooper, now beginning to a assume a 'super sub' role, came on for Pomroy and was involved with Chertsey's third hammer blow on 81 minutes. Defender Steve Gibson released a deep pass out to Copper who was just inside his own half. With the opposition defence stretched, Cooper quickly knocked a 30 yard pass into the path of Brooker who ran in on goal and chipped with precision, over Windegaard to seal all the points and reverse Chertsey's recent downward direction to snake their was back up the league ladder.