Chesham United 3 -  0 Beaconsfield Town

Rams Man of the Match -  Myles Bowman

Beaconsfield’s visit to their high flying near neighbours was best viewed as something of a free hit. Anything they could take from a fixture against the contenders in the championship on their own patch would always have been a bonus and there will be more important fixtures in the battle to avoid relegation down the road.

It took the home side until the 65th minute to score the second goal to shake off The Rams who battled and scrapped to maintain a foothold in the game without ever really getting into any kind of rhythm in a fixture dominated for long periods as much by the elements as by either team.

Chesham, as be fits a side pushing for promotion, were able to play the more cohesive football in the second period and whilst the final score was somewhat flattering there was no doubt that the better team won on the day.

With the wind at their backs in the first half the home side enjoyed territorial advantage and created a number presentable chances which a combination of lack of composure, good defending and excellent goalkeeping from Myles Bowman kept out.

The visitors though could not maintain possession or get out of their own half for most of the period and were not much assisted by referee. They also had to reorganise after only five minutes as Nathan Webb limped off to join brother Callum in the treatment room.

James Taylor slotted in at centre half and Jerome Ecclestone played the remainder of the game in the troubled right back position - making him number seven this season to fill the spot.

Beaconsfield were also poorly served by the ref in the first half. When officials are doing well it’s said you hardly notice them. Fair to say Mr Cheek was hi-vis throughout and for most of the first half he was visible from space.

From an early stage Bayley Brown set out to climb all over anyone in front of him, usually Jordan Ajanlekoko. The climbing was accentuated by the wind holding up clearances and high balls, allowing the lanky ex-Ram to attack the ball usually at the expense of his opponent virtually unpenalised throughout.

For all that, The Rams seemed like they would make it to the break and it took a slice of bad luck for them not too when in the 36th minute A dropping ball caught on the breeze wrong footing Jordan Ajanlekoko who then appeared to be fouled, again.

The resulting loose ball was picked up by Bradley Clayton who fed the evergreen Dave Pearce. He drifted in off his wing and let fly from 20 yards.

The goal bound effort took a huge deflection off the sliding block of Luke Neville and flew into corner completely wrong-footing Myles Bowman whose first half efforts did not deserve to be rewarded with such a cruel twist.

Moments later The Rams were almost level when Charlie Losasso fired in a snapshot from 20 yards which skimmed narrowly past the post with a statuesque Ben Goode motionless on his line.

 

Half time 1 - 0

 

From the restart it was apparent the extent to which the wind was helping as it was Beaconsfield who dominated the opening exchanges of the second period. 

With Anthony Mendy replacing Wes Daly and joining James Ewington up front the early signs were good for The Rams as now it was Chesham who were struggling to get out of their own half.

They defended stoutly though, well marshalled by Kieran Murphy and Mark Kirby, and maintained their shape well and the visitors were unable to break them down for any significant threat on Ben Goode’s goal.

With Pearce, Romario Hart , Zak Joseph and Bradley Clayton combining on the break as the half progressed the home side carried more threat despite their struggles with the elements.

So whilst their second was somewhat against the run of second half play it was far from unexpected when Bradley Clayton popped up on the edge of the six yard box to fire in a fierce shot which Myles Bowman appeared to have blocked at point blank range only for the ball to spin up over the prone keeper and roll in. When it’s not your day!

Gary Meakin threw on Jon-Jo Bates as The Rams pressed to get something from the game but in their efforts to push forward they made themselves more susceptible to the break and it was Chesham who finished the scoring with Clayton slotting in his second on 86 minutes.

A blustery frustrating day at the Meadow for The Rams but in the end Chesham United ran out comfortable winners. The Rams made them work for it though and 3-0 was a little harsh on Beaconsfield who were more competitive than the final score-line may suggest.

No time to dwell though. Next up for The Rams a Tuesday night trip to face The Met Police at Imber Court. 

COYR  

Cheham United   1.  Ben Goode 2.  Jeanmal Prosper 3.  Kyle Watson 4.  Bayley Brown 5. Kieran Murphy 6. Mark Kirby  7. Zak Joseph [Sub 16. Adam Martin 89] 8. Billy Adcock  9. Romario Hart [Sub 12. Eoin Casey 70] 10. Bradley Clayton 11.David Pearce [Sub 15. Dernell Wynter 76]   Subs Not Used:   14. Karl Oliyide 17. Steve Brown   Manager: James Duncan & Michael Murray	Beaconsfield Town   1.  Myles Bowman 2.  Nathan Webb [Sub 12. James Taylor 6] 3.  Mayo Balogun 4.  Jerome Ecclestone 5. Luke Neville   6. Wes Daly [Sub 16. Anthony Mendy 45]  7. Jordan Ajanlekoko 8. Ade Shokunbi [Sub 14.Jon-Jo Bates 65]  9. James Ewington 10. Charlie Losasso 11.Louis Stead   Subs Not Used:   15. Kane Guy-Seifert 17.Makai Murray   Manager: Gary Meakin
Attendance : 505 Ref: Stuart Cheek  - Assistants - John Perry , Laurentlu Hantea