Chesham United 1-1 Bury Town

[Simon N]

Chesham:

1. Richard Hayward
2. John Kyriacou (booked 71 mins)
3. Sam Ledger
4. Nick Leach
5. Danny Talbot
6. Mark Lambert (booked 45 mins)
7. Dave Fotheringham
8. Steve Wales (booked 51mins)
9. Leon Archer
10. Chris Bangura (booked 38 mins)
11. Danny Gudgeon (booked 40 mins)

Subs:
12. Kevin Cotton
14. Dom Marsala (for Archer 31 mins; goal 51 mins)
15. Adam Parker
16. Steve Obeng (for Gudgeon 66 mins)
17. Lewis Laws


Chesham took their unbeaten run to five with this draw against a Bury side who had won 10 of their previous 11 league games. One again Chesham showed that they are more than a match for the teams above them, and although a draw was a fair result on the balance of play Bury’s Marcus Garnham was the busier of the two keepers.

Chesham were unchanged for the fourth match running after Steve Wales passed a late fitness test, while Dom Marsala was back on the bench after re-joining the club in midweek. Both sides passed the ball well in the opening stages but the first goal effort did not come until the seventeenth minute, when Steve Wales was brought down on the edge of the area by Michael Steward and Danny Talbot’s free kick produced a fine save from Marcus Garnham. In the next minute Bury had their first effort on goal, a glancing header by Lee Reed that went well wide, but Chesham were starting to gain the upper hand.
Steve Wales brought down Chris Bangura’s ball in only to stab the ball over, then Danny Gudgeon’s header from Danny Talbot’s corner was fisted away by Garnham, and in the ensuing scramble Leon Archer was kicked on the foot and eventually was forced off to be replaced by Dom Marsala. Chesham then survived a scramble in their own area before the ball was cleared, then the game boiled over after an incident involving Gudgeon and Tom Bullard which saw both players booked. Danny Talbot then attempted to curl a corner straight in but Garnham tipped over, but against the run of play Bury took the lead in first-half stoppage time. Ashley Sloots’ ball into the area was not cleared and Callum Kearns knocked the ball across goal for Kieran Leabon to run into the net, the first goal Chesham had conceded at home since November. There was more than a suspicion of offside about the goal and Jon Meakes was banished from the dugout in the second half after speaking to referee as he came off at half-time.

Six minutes into the second half John Kyriacou crossed from the right, Chris Bangura nodded it on and Dom Marsala hooked it into the net from just outside the six-yard box. Bury then had a good spell of possession, but although Richard Hayward occasionally had to rush from his goal to clear he was otherwise untroubled. The game was occasionally threatening to boil over again, not helped by a referee who seemed more intent on making extravagant arm gestures than controlling the players. On 71 minutes Bury’s Ashley Sloots was extremely fortunate to stay on the pitch after jumping on top of a prostrate John Kyriacou after the ball had gone out, but the referee took the easy option and booked both players. Eight minutes from time Richard Hayward collected a high ball only to be flattened by a late challenge from Tom Bullard who was duly shown a second yellow card, the ninth card of the game. Bury immediately brought on an extra defender and Chesham looked the more likely to pinch it late on, Steve Wales shooting powerfully from the edge of the area but Garnham was able to parry.