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Combined Counties League - Premier Division Match

MATCH REPORT

With Champaign goals aplenty emanating from the Combined Counties League’s top scorer, it is hard to understand how, when it come to pouring at the brown ale end of the dispenser, Chertsey Town’s John Pomroy can fail so easily at times. It happened again in Town’s surprising draw with struggling Guildford City. Just as in an earlier encounter this term at North Greenford United, Chertsey were awarded a penalty kick but failed to take advantage and ended up sharing points when a spot kick could well have set up a victory.

It is hard to criticise a player who has pulled winning goals out of the bag to earn Chertsey unlikely points but as Pomroy’s scoring record took a dent on Saturday, a young, very young, pretender, took the spotlight in pulling Town back from the brink with two late goals to salvage something from the earlier car crash damage inflicted by an abrasive opposition.

Sixteen year old Jack Mazzone came off the bench with twenty minutes remaining in game that was falling away for Chertsey. He was then one of three teenagers on the park, bolstering a restricted list of availabilities that manager Spencer Day had to address before kick off. Stuart Bamford, with a fractured ankle sustained in another bruising encounter the previous week, was absent.

Brother Gavin was also unavailable. Goalkeeper Liam Stone was out with a gashed hand and was replaced by last term’s regular Michael Lidbury who has made better claims at commanding his inclusion. To add to selection problems, Steve Goddard was suspended for one match. Andre DeLisser, absent for three matches returned to side and matters were also eased with the return to the club of Steve McNamara after starting the season at rivals Croydon.

Guildford City were obviously more enthusiastic from the start with a simple game plan of upsetting a purer Chertsey pedigree that should have produced better football than their opponents allowed. Guildford’s high balls into the heart of Town’s defence gave problems to begin with but a very strong performance by Dean Inman in the centre, that might have awarded him the man of the match accolade but was snatched by Mazzone for his match saving goals, have more assurance.

Although Guildford City provided the early energy, it was Chertsey who might have taken an early lead when a strong Pomroy strike was palmed over the bar by Anthony Hall in the Guildford goal. The visitor’s only reply in the first half hour was an unconvincing shot from Sean Rivers, countered by an equally unconvincing Lidbury save.

However, they took the lead on 31 minutes with Ben Rayner from the spot after Tommy Higgins, in his Alwyns Lane debut, instinctively protected his face when the ball was fired at him from the left wing at short range. Some penalties are given, some are not in such circumstances. This one fell into the former category. Ollie Treacher tried to snatch a goal back before the interval but Hall was well placed to keep his clean sheet.

Two Chertsey penalty appeals might have been successful, but did not impress the referee. First Pomroy and his marker fell to ground amid claims of a tug, then more likely success may have ensued when Tommy Tydeman got in a tangle with the ball off a far post cross when it hung suspiciously off the ground at thigh level, but on the blind side of all the officials and most spectators.

Town were third time lucky after the break when a tugged shirt in the same Tydeman quarter resulted in Pomroy falling when just about to deliver his shot. He regained his feet but not composure, for his spot kick was comfortably turned aside by Hall. Further dismay in the home camp was felt on 65 minutes when Jamie King hit a 25 yard shot into the corner of the Chertsey net to establish what looked increasingly like a winning day for the visitors.

Chertsey at last began to overcome the negative aspects of Guildford City’s tactics and, having made three substitutions, looked the fresher of the two sides. Pressure on the visiting defence began to build and reward came with the two Mazzone goals. The first came in the 75th minute with a cross from Kevin Lock that Pomroy miss hit but Jack Mazzone was in place to put the ball away from just a few yards out.

What looked a speculative lob forward into the right inside forward position four minutes from the final whistle, found Mazzone again and he chipped the ball into the far side of the net from what looked at distance an impossible angle to complete Chertsey’s rehabilitation. An incisive diagonal pass to Lock seconds from the end almost set up a Chertsey winner but the long ball was not quite good enough for the forward to beat a last defender’s tackle and so honours were, probably deservedly, divided equally.