Musings are Back

Having been out of activity Musings wise of late, Tuesday evening, 1st December, fixture-wise offered followers of our wonderful League two Surrey County Senior Cup, Second Round, fixtures at Knaphill and Westfield which paired them with teams also from our League, namely Ashford Town and Chertsey Town respectively, to ensure two member clubs would progress through and, possibly subject to the 3rd Round draw, have a chance to pit their wits against clubs from higher Leagues which is always fun. Additionally Tuesday evening on offer were three Premier Division games to wet the appetite. Over at League leaders Hartley Wintney against Sutton Common Rovers, Hanworth Villa against Raynes Park Vale and, at Stag Meadow, where hosts Windsor welcomed AFC Hayes for the evening.

Due to a waterlogged pitch over at Sandhurst Town, their away Southern Combination Cup, First Round, tie which, due to would be hosts Horsley (Surrey Elite Intermediate FL) not having floodlights, had been switched to Bottom Meadow was called off.

So then folks, first up we call in at Knaphill to pick up on a match that produced seven goals on the night; four of which saw the hosts narrowly squeeze through. Dan Taylor put the 'Knappers' 1-0 up on twenty minutes however this slim lead lasted barely five minutes as Ashford Town pulled it back to 1-1 thanks to Mark Bitmead. Jamie Doble then restored the lead for the home side on 29 minutes and, five minutes after, slotted home a penalty to put the hosts 3-1 up. Eight minutes into second half play, Matt Morris made it 4-1 which looked, by then, to be curtains for the visitors. WRONG, though, as, on 68 minutes, Dan Fleming pulled it back to 4-2 offering the 'Ash Trees' slight hope. Ten minutes from time, the impossible looked possible though as Bitmead bagged his second and Ashford's third. Sadly, though, for them, the equalizer, despite great efforts, did not arrive meaning that, on the night, Knaphill secured a tremendous victory to secure further progress. Westfield eclipsed Chertsey Town with a couple of goals on home soil.

Current Premier Division leaders Hartley Wintney who, for the previous three Tuesday evenings, had failed to secure a League win. Finally, with a little help from Ross Cook who bagged a couple of early goals in their home encounter against Sutton Common Rovers who, despite Richard Smith pulling one back, were unable to stop the 'Row' ending this midweek tag that, during which time, saw them lose their 100% League start following a couple of draws, and then, more recently, their unbeaten League run. Hanworth Villa, despite commencing their home encounter against Raynes Park Vale later than originally scheduled due to their hosts arriving late, thanks to a couple of Steve Loveridge and Jack Buckle goals plus one from Kamaron English, secured a good 5-0 victory. Finally Tuesday evening, over at Stag Meadow, hosts Windsor, with less than twenty minutes played, found themselves 2-0 down against AFC Hayes thanks to Jordan Berry and Sam Saydee. Second half, they did, however, manage to pull themselves back on level terms thanks to Luke Brooks-Smith and Barry Dunbar only for Saydee to bag his second goal for the visitors to secure a good 3-2 victory on the night.

Three more Surrey County Senior Cup, 2nd Round, matches involving our member teams were played Wednesday evening resulting in elimination for Colliers Wood United following a 3-1 defeat being inflicted upon them by Whyteleafe (Isthmian FL). No joy for Redhill either as, in their home encounter against Tooting & Mitcham United (Isthmian FL), the visitors eased through having secured a 3-0 victory on the night. Better news from Croydon (Southern Counties East FL) though as Farnham Town, thanks to a Mark Corbett treble, eased through on penalties having initially led the tie only to score two late goals to force the shoot-out in which Farnham Town keeper Matt Petts slid home the winning effort.

Over at Bedfont Sports, the hosts and holders of the Grant-McLellan Youth Cup, overcame a good Molesey (Isthmian Youth FL) side 2-1 after extra time.