Chesham United 2-0 Aylesbury United

[Simon N]

Chesham:

1. Richard Hayward
2. John Kyriacou
3. Sam Ledger
4. Nick Leach
5. Danny Talbot
6. Mark Lambert (booked 55 mins)
7. Dave Fotheringham (goal 27 mins)
8. Steve Wales
9. Leon Archer (goal 24 mins)
10. Chris Bangura
11. Danny Gudgeon

Subs:
12. Adam Parker (for Bangura 73 mins)
14. Liam Farrell
15. Ollie Adedeji
16. Kevin Cotton (for Wales 82 mins)
17. Steve Obeng (for Gudgeon 80 mins)


Chesham beat Aylesbury for the first time in six meetings, but this was a hollow victory against opponents who are well adrift at the bottom of the league and who played like it. Having gained control of the game with two easy goals in the opening half-hour, Chesham strolled through the rest of the game and the result was a highly forgettable encounter, summed up by the fact that the visitors got through the entire 90 minutes without managing a single shot on target.

Chesham’s team was unchanged for the third consecutive game. Chesham took control of the game from the start and in the second minute Danny Talbot’s corner was headed down by Sam Ledger to Nick Leach who hooked over, then John Kyriacou and Leon Archer combined to set up Steve Wales but Aylesbury keeper Jack Sillitoe came out to deflect the resulting shot behind. It was clear from early on that the visitors carried no threat up front, but it took until the 24th minute for Chesham to break through and the goal was something of a gift. A long cross from wide on the left from Chris Bangura totally eluded Sillitoe and the ball may have been going straight in at the far post but Leon Archer nodded it over the line to make sure. Three minutes later Chesham made it 2-0 when Steve Wales crossed from wide on the right and Dave Fotheringham stole in to score with a diving header. With the game seemingly in the bag Chesham only occasionally threatened again, and in the 37th minute Leon Archer broke clear onto John Kyriacou’s pass and attempted to round Sillitoe but the keeper got a touch on the ball to knock it away. In the 41st minute Aylesbury had their first effort on goal, a mishit shot from Keith Newby, but as half-time approached Sam Ledger glanced a header wide from Danny Talbot’s free kick and Sillitoe made an acrobatic save from Chris Bangura’s shot.

In the second half the game took on the air of a training session, with Aylesbury having their fair share of possession but producing only three shots on goal, all of which were well off target, while Chesham seemed content to play out time. Midway through the half Leon Archer hooked over after Chris Bangura had headed on Danny Talbot’s free kick, then a crossfield ball from Dave Fotheringham found Archer but Sillitoe came out to save at the striker’s feet. John Kyriacou’s diagonal pass found Steve Wales whose shot was tipped round the post by Sillitoe although the referee awarded a goal kick, then Archer won the ball on the left and crossed to sub Adam Parker who rose at the far post only to head wide. However this brief flurry of activity soon came to an end and the final fifteen minutes were totally uneventful, and in the end both sets of players together with the supporters seemed relieved to hear the final whistle.