AFC Sudbury 4-1 Chesham United

[Simon N]

Chesham:
1. Michael Underwood
2. John Kyriacou (sent off 9 mins)
3. Sam Ledger
4. Nick Leach (booked 80 mins)
5. Ollie Adedeji
6. Mark Lambert (booked 75 mins)
7. Dave Fotheringham
8. Steve Wales (goal 17mins)
9. Leon Archer
10. Adam Parker
11. Danny Talbot

Subs:
12. Steve Obeng (for Adedeji 64 mins)
14. Danny Gudgeon (for Fotheringham 73 mins)
15. Chris Bangura
16. Phil Turner (for Parker 61 mins)
17. Jack Pattison


Chesham returned to league action after a three-week lay-off but still went down to their fourth consecutive away defeat. Chesham were always up against it after being forced to play 81 minutes with ten men after the early dismissal of John Kyriacou.

Michael Underwood returned from a loan spell at Tring Athletic to replace the suspended Richard Hayward in goal, Danny Talbot made a belated return in place of the departed Dom Marsala, and Adam Parker came in for Chris Bangura up front. Former Chesham defender Danny Brown was in the Sudbury line-up. Sudbury came into this game with a record of one win and seven defeats at home, which could possibly be explained by the state of their pitch, which was well-grassed but terribly uneven and made it almost impossible to play a passing game. Chesham had the first moment of note when Steve Wales crossed low from the right, Leon Archer mishit his shot but the ball fell kindly for Danny Talbot whose shot was beaten away by keeper Richard Wilmot. However in the next minute came the decisive moment in the game. A cross from the right caused a scramble in the Chesham area which ended with Danny Bloomfield putting the ball in the net, but instead of allowing the goal the referee awarded a penalty and sent off John Kyriacou for a handling offence that no home player appealed for. Gareth Heath scored from the spot and Mark Lambert dropped back into Kyriacou’s place leaving Chesham a man short in midfield.

Nevertheless Chesham came forward and Leon Archer got his head to Sam Ledger’s cross but could only head high and wide, but Chesham had a let-off soon afterwards when Craig Hughes and Stuart Walker combined to set up Bloomfield who lifted the ball over the bar from 15 yards with only Michael Underwood to beat. Sudbury paid for that miss in the next minute when Leon Archer challenged for a through ball in the home penalty area and the ball ran to Steve Wales who slotted the ball low into the corner of the net. Unsurprisingly the home team had most of the ball but Chesham still threatened on the break, and in the 26th minute Wilmot made a fine double save, first from Adam Parker’s shot then from Leon Archer’s follow-up. However in the 35th minute Sam Clarke’s through ball set up Danny Bloomfield who shot past the advancing Underwood from just inside the area to restore Sudbury’s lead. In stoppage time the home team were awarded a free kick 30 yards out and Heath lifted the ball over the wall and into the top corner of the net. Chesham needed to get back into the game and nearly did when Leon Archer’s lay-off found Steve Wales but Wilmot made another fine save to keep out the resulting shot.

With the game all but over as a contest Sudbury controlled the early stages of the second half, and eight minutes in Michael Underwood made a fine double save from a Sam Clarke header and Danny Bloomfield’s follow-up, although on both occasions the home player should have scored. Clarke curled a shot wide of the far post and Heath blasted wide from a good position, then in the 74th minute Craig Hughes scored Sudbury’s fourth with a low shot from just inside the area after Chesham’s defence failed to clear. Four minutes later Chesham were awarded a penalty when Leon Archer was wrestled to the ground by Matt Stace, and Steve Wales grabbed the ball ahead of Danny Talbot only to roll the penalty wide of Wilmot’s right post. Chesham should have had another penalty late on when Archer was barged over by Danny Brown but it was too late to make any difference to the result.