Burnham 2-1 Chesham United

[Simon N]

Chesham:

1. Richard Hayward (booked 19, 84 mins – sent off)
2. John Kyriacou (booked 90 mins)
3. Sam Ledger
4. Nick Leach (goal 16 mins)
5. Ollie Adedeji
6. Mark Lambert
7. Dave Fotheringham
8. Steve Wales
9. Leon Archer
10. Chris Bangura (booked 58 mins)
11. Dom Marsala (booked 45 mins)



Subs:

12. Adam Parker (for Bangura 76 mins; booked 77 mins)
14. Phil Turner (for Adedeji 90 mins)
15. Lewis Laws (for Marsala 84 mins)
16. Danny Gudgeon
17. Alex Duffy



For most of this game it seemed as if Chesham would put an end to their recent run with a win against one of the teams above them in the table. However a disastrous last quarter handed Burnham an unlikely win.

The only change to the starting line-up saw Leon Archer return from suspension in place of Adam Parker. Burnham included former Chesham goalkeeper Paul McCarthy plus Joe Hatcher, who played for Chesham against Maidenhead two weeks ago but joined Burnham last week. Chesham started the match looking the more threatening team, and created their first chance in the seventh minute, when a cross-field pass from Dom Marsala put Steve Wales through but his shot across goal ended up closer to the corner flag than the goal. Burnham were struggling to make any impact on the game, and Chesham had much more possession, and the visitors took the lead in the 16th minute with a well worked set play. Chesham won a free-kick 30 yards out, which was played in by Marsala and then headed into the danger area by Sam Ledger and the ball dropped to Nick Leach, who finished with a left-footed, first-time effort from 12 yards out. However, Chesham nearly surrendered their advantage two minutes later, when a through ball was played towards lively forward Ryan Bird and goalkeeper Richard Hayward came charging out of his goal and brought the player down. Luckily for the Generals the offence took place outside of the penalty area and the referee thought that other defenders would have got back and gave Hayward a yellow card. The game then became very open, with both teams looking able to create chances, and the next chance fell to Burnham when a right-wing cross was played towards Bird and his effort was just over the bar. In the 34th minute Chesham had a great chance to extend their lead when the ball was played forward towards Leon Archer, and Dave Tilbury’s headed back-pass beat McCarthy but Hatcher got back to clear.

Chesham made their usual slow start to the second half and there were barely 12 seconds on the clock when Craig O’Connor was given a free shot from the edge of the area which he put just over. In the fifth minute of the half Burnham had a double let off when Dom Marsala’s free kick was headed goalwards by Nick Leach, McCarthy touched the ball onto the bar and Chris Bangura got to the loose ball first but his header also came back off the bar and was cleared. With the pitch cutting up good football was difficult but Chesham produced what little football there was against a home side who seemed to have run out of ideas. Midway through the half Mark Lambert’s long ball saw Leon Archer get ahead of the defence but McCarthy came out to block. However shortly afterwards Burnham were awarded a free kick 30 yards out and Paul Coyne lifted the ball over the wall and into the net past Hayward’s right hand for the equaliser. Hayward needed treatment after colliding with a post but was able to resume. Chesham brought on Adam Parker whose evening could have lasted only a minute but the referee let him off with a yellow card after a nasty foul on Coyne. Suddenly Chesham looked vulnerable and Craig O’Connor broke free on the right but elected to pass instead of shoot and the chance was gone. Six minutes from time O’Connor chased a ball down the middle which Richard Hayward caught but stepped out of his area in doing so and walked off without waiting for the second yellow card. Sam Ledger went in goal and immediately made a fine save to keep out Ben Hudell’s free kick, but in the next minute Burnham scored their unlikely winner. Coyne pumped a free kick into the box from five yards inside the Chesham half and the ball eluded everyone and dropped into the far corner of the net. In the next minute McCarthy dropped a long free kick but Adam Parker and Nick Leach both had close-range efforts blocked. In stoppage time Hayward needed more treatment for his injury in the dressing room and John Kyriacou was shown Chesham’s sixth yellow card of the game.