Combined Counties Premier North
With two matches planned for Easter Monday and the first game of the double header involved a trip to Stag Meadow for an 11.30am kick-off, to see Windsor & Eton in their pursuit of the top spot in the Combined Counties Premier North. Finally, I had a trouble-free journey and was met with a friendly welcome from all at the club.
Windsor went into the match sitting in fourth place and buoyed by a 6-0 away win at Virginia Water on Saturday, eight points behind leaders Ashford Town (Middx) but with four games in hand. Wokingham Town for their part were sitting mid-table with no chance of promotion or relegation so could go into the game and play without any pressure.
Finally, I had a trouble-free journey and was met with a friendly welcome from all at the club. Entry to the ground was £7 for adults and included in that price was an excellent free printed programme. There was a pleasant atmosphere around the ground as the sun shone and it was nice to see people wandering around in short sleeves after the rigours of the winter!
The pitch looked in excellent condition as the game kicked off and it was Windsor that created the first opportunity. A corner from the right was headed clear but recycled by the hosts wide to Leo Decabo, his cross was flicked on by Ben Catt but could only find the side netting.
A long ball down the left picked out James Beauchamp who ran on and slotted the ball past Finley Purcell in the Windsor goal only for it to be ruled out by a linesman’s flag.
Enzo Pashaj had the next chance for the home side, he turned nicely on the edge of the box and fired a shot low towards the bottom corner with Sumas keeper Jake Simpson getting down well to parry the ball away and Jack Mullen was there to clear the rebound.
Wokingham have a real weapon with Ty Moorcroft’s long throws. He hurled one into the six yard box which was cleared off the line, the ball returning out wide and crossed back in but was defended well.
Back came Windsor and a long ball from their own half was missed by the visitors centre back leaving Pashaj in the clear. He delayed his shot slightly which gave Catt the chance to make an important block to clear away for a corner. From the corner the Wokingham defence failed to clear the initial cross with the ball falling to Luke Appleton who stroked the ball into the corner of the net. 1-0
The Sumas almost got an instant reply when a headed clearance from a corner fell to Sean Moore and his beautifully timed volley rattled the top of the crossbar and flew over.
Catt was in the thick of the action again, getting on the end of a floated free kick inside the box but could not direct it goalwards and it sneaked wide of the post. Next a break down the right set Pashaj free again and he fired a ball across the six yard box which was just too far ahead of both Decabo at the near post and Tremayne Woolliscroft at the far post.
The last action of the half saw a throw into the area being flicked on and Nick Thumwood coming it at the far post, stooped to head goalwards only the see his effort hit the base of the post and spin away for a goal kick.
H-T: Windsor & Eton 1 Wokingham Town 0
Wokingham came out for the second half fired up and started taking the game to a strangely subdued Windsor side after the break, winning most of the battles early on.
After 67 minutes they scored a deserved equaliser, another bomb of a long throw from the right from Moorcroft into the box flicked off the top of a Windsor head and nestled into the far corner of the net. 1-1
Windsor tried to regain the initiative, a free kick from 30 yards out was punched away by Simpson diving full length to his right. The hosts fashioned a chance from a throw of their own, Catt finding space in the box only to see his header hit the woodwork and bounce away to safety.
Another long throw from Moorcroft again caused panic inside the box but Purcell did well to claim the ball under pressure.
Windsor’s last chance to win the game came and went when a nice interchange between Luke Phillips and Morrison Hashi made a shooting chance for Bruno Dos Santos only for him to drag his effort wide of the post.
F-T: Windsor & Eton 1 Wokingham Town 1 Att: 434
A decent game with a sharing of the points probably the fair result on the day. The home side made plenty of chances in the first half and could have been further ahead but Wokingham rallied well after the break and, in a battling performance, deserved a share of the spoils.
This result piles a bit more pressure on Windsor for the league run-in, leaving them seven points behind the leaders with three games in hand. Still doable but now without the margin for error. Wokingham can look forward to two home cup semi finals in the Aldershot Senior Cup and the Cherry Red Records Premier Challenge Cup. Wishing the best of luck to both teams for the remainder of the season.
A shout out for the referee Levi Gray, who I thought had an excellent game.
It was good to catch up with a whole host of familiar faces at the game, Andrew Batt, Mark Ashwell, Harry McBain, Cathy Corr and the Twitter groundhopping legend that is Kev @londonkro taking in something like his 160th game of the season! Give him a follow if you don’t already.
Click here to visit Andrew Batt’s photo gallery from the game.
Next it was a 20 minute bus ride to Ascot for my second game of the day…