CCL PREMIER DIVISION MERSTHAM 4 DORKING 0 MERSTHAM won their 10th game in a row on Saturday against bottom of the table Dorking with yet another clean sheet and four fantastic goals to make it 13 goals in three games. Dorking looked the better side for much of the first half, clearly up for winning the game. The play remained in their half for the first five minutes of the match with a chance for Dorking early on and Merstham's defence having to work hard to clear the ball.
Merstham got their first opportunity when a good pass from Michael Morgan to Rhod Davis gave Davis the chance to shoot but Dorking's keeper Chris Roberts pulled off a sharp save. Story continues ADVERTISEMENT There were plenty of chances for both sides in the first half but good defending and keeping prevented either side from scoring. But, in the 38th minute, a great pass from Davis found Kwabena Agyei in space to slot home the first goal of the game.
Almost immediately after, Merstham's Morgan had a shot on target but was again well saved by the keeper, leaving it at 1-0 at half-time. Merstham were like another team in the second half when only 10 minutes into play a great run from David Smith saw him lay off a pass for Agyei to score his and Merstham's second goal. Only three minutes later a corner from Morgan met Nick Greenhouse's feet who passed to man of the match Rob Hill who neatly chipped the keeper to make it 3-0.
Another three minutes later Rob Hill saw an opportunity to score again and took a long shot at goal which hit the back of the net in the top right hand corner for a fantastic effort. Merstham, now 4-0 up, still continued to try and get more goals while Dorking were getting more and more frustrated and committing fouls. On the hour mark Dorking keeper Roberts made a fantastic save when a pass from Morgan to Smith created a great scoring chance which the keeper did well to prevent.
Substitutions were made in the 65th minute which changed the smooth running of the game. But Merstham managed to keep their clean sheet and left the pitch very happy with their emphatic success. Merstham meet Dorking again at Moatside on Saturday (October 6) in the FA Carlsberg Vase first round and hope they can repeat this quality performance.
Manager Mick Sullivan said: "Obviously, it is a difficult situation meeting the same team on two successive Saturdays as complacency can be a factor in the team. "But Saturday's was a cracking win for us although I did not learn too much apart from the fact that Dorking are not as bad a side as their league position would suggest and it is an awkward situation to assess how good they are. "Dorking's performance deserved something particularly as they gave us a really good first half battle but we got flowing with our play and we did really well.
"We will certainly be mindful to expect a tight game against them this weekend, although with the potential of our players we could have a good run in the FA Vase barring injuries." Captain Craig Vernon is suspended on Saturday, with vice-captain Michael Morgan being the stand-in skipper, while Kevin Molloy is Vernon's replacement at centre-back. Chris Read may fail a fitness test on a thigh injury, while fellow midfielder Mark Simmons and striker Kevin Lock are expected to return to the 16-strong squad following recent unavailability.
Glenn Garman and Jon Dale are both in contention to play if Read misses out. Merstham: Chatfield, J Hill, R Hill, Boulter,Vernon (c), Garman (Dale), Morgan, Greenhouse,Agyei, Davis (Francis), Smith. Unused sub: Read.
CCL DIVISION ONE WESTFIELD 3 SOUTH PARK 1 SOUTH Park paid the price again eventually despite starting brightly against an experienced Westfield side, with both Dale Burgess and Lee Wickens finding space and offering a threat on both flanks. Neither side could break down defences until Westfield capitalised on a defensive error by South Park to strike home leaving Paul Wastell with little chance. South Park responded positively and were soon on even terms when Karl Parker set himself up by heading a ball over the central defender and drilling home an equaliser.
Shortly before half-time exTottenham player David Howells was introduced to add further experience to the Westfield line up,his immediate impact being a bruising challenge on Ben Savage. South Park continued to threaten and looked the more likely of the two teams to score but were thwarted on more than one occasion by some good defensive work by Westfield. Into the second period and the game took a turn for the worse for South Park.
Ollie West was impeded in his own box and while South Park stopped in anticipation of a free-kick Westfield continued play and slotted home a second goal, much to the surprise of the visitors. The goal had a disruptive effect on South Park's play as they became unsettled in their attempts to recover the deficit. Shortly after Westfield extended their lead when Howells headed home unmarked in the penalty area to give the hosts victory.
South Park: P Wastell, West, Stratton, Searle, Wickens, Bull, Savage, Smith, Burgess, Perkins, Parker (Ward). * Park beat Knaphill 2-0 at Whitehall Lane last Wednesday with Andy Smith and Ben Savage scoring. RYMAN DIVISION ONE SOUTH MET POLICE 2 WHYTELEAFE 0 LEAFE'S proud unbeaten recent run under manager Dave Swindlehurst came to an end at Met Police's Imber Court as they conceded their first goals in more than 400 minutes play in the league.
The visitors started the game well, but gradually the hosts got on top and in the end were worthy winners. Leafe actually got the ball into the hosts' net in the third minute but the referee ruled that goalkeeper Will Packham was fouled as he was bundled into the goal with the ball in his hands. Three minutes later Sean Rivers headed wide from a Daniel Platel cross.
Then Rivers put Leon McDowell clear in the ninth minute, and with Packham stranded, he chipped the ball over the keeper, but the ball drifted just wide. Two minutes later the hosts had their first chance when ex-Leafe striker Dave Stevens headed wide from an Andy Oxby cross. Met Police had an escape in the 22nd minute, when Packham punched clear a Rivers header.
It hit his own defender and the ball looped just over their own bar. An excellent Leafe move in the 31st minute was turned away for a corner following a dangerous cross from Platel. Police hit the bar in the 41st minute when a long hopeful cross caught keeper Robert Tolfrey off his line.
Leafe almost took the lead right on half-time when McDowell was sent clear, but Packham was quickly out to claim the ball. Leafe had a nightmare start to the second half when their usually solid defence was pulled to pieces. In the space of three minutes, the hosts hit the woodwork twice and scored.
Another ex-Leafe player, veteran Jon Daly headed the hosts into a 50th minute lead before Stevens hit the post two minutes later, the ball bouncing back into the grateful arms of Tolfrey, and a minute later Craig Carley also hit an upright. Then Leafe had two chances to equalise in the 62nd minute, McDowell's header from Callum McLean's free-kick being deflected over for a corner. McLean took the set-piece and found Adam Broomhead in the box, but he headed over.
Daly went close twice, hitting the bar and heading just wide before Carley made the game safe in the 86th minute when shooting home unmarked from 15 yards. Platel almost got a last minute consolation, but his effort also hit the woodwork and was claimed by Packham. Whyteleafe: Tolfrey, Jabbie, Basford (Boxall), Reeve, Broomhead (Tydeman), MacLean, Platel, Smith, Rivers, McDowell, Conroy (Clayton).
RYMAN DIVISION ONE SOUTH CHIPSTEAD 5 MOLESEY 0 CHIPSTEAD raced to their second consecutive win in classic style sweeping their visitors away with two goals late on in the first half and three in the second session. Delighted manager Nicky English said: "The players' attitude was very good and they went about their victory in a professional manner,producing a pleasing performance overall. "Because we are down towards the bottom of the table every game is like a cup final and we knew that we could not afford to lose to Molesey who were below us.
"Now we have simply got to keep beating the teams around us in the table and I have a lot of optimism for the club in future as we try to avoid relegation." The Ryman League new boys also welcomed back to the club midfielder Richard Williams who left Chipstead for Whyteleafe four years ago to link up with exChips manager Stuart Massey, with Williams returning impressively to the High Road club's fold. Williams earned top honours with the Leafe,being voted Player of the Year in the 2004/05 season and being awarded the club captaincy in 2005/06.
Both sides started cautiously not wanting to give anything away but Chips were full of confidence from their mid-week victory at Whitstable and eventually got the better of the visitors, going ahead in the 42nd minute. Striker Lee Glanville popped up at the near post to touch home Danny Oakins' cross for his first goal for the club after Aaron Cole-Bolt had started the move. Just two minutes later Fred Fleming, playing in central defence for Chips,went forward for a free-kick which Chris Head delivered to the far post where Fleming rose to head home.
Oakins quickly put the game out of their reach when he timed his run getting behind a square defence to run on to Andrew Wareing's delivery and neatly fire past the advancing Jon Ashwood. Andy Parkinson was a virtual spectator for long spells as Chips continued to push forward. Craig Pitterson scored Chips' fourth goal with an excellent strike from the edge of the goal area, having cut inside,after the ball had been cleared from a corner.
Head completed the scoring six minutes from time when he finished off a five man move involving Cole-Bolt and Oakins meeting the latter's cross eight yards out and sweeping home for the best goal of the game,with playmaker Pitterson also having enjoyed a key role in this excellent effort. Chipstead: Parkinson, Head, Wareing (Hales), Fleming, Boswell, Garner,Pitterson, Cole-Bolt, Coleman (Williams), Granville (Quarty), Oakins. A CHANGE of emphasis held the key to Chipstead stopping the seemingly never ending rot which had threatened to destroy their first ever season in Ryman League division one south and condemn them to immediate relegation.
The Combined Counties League premier division champions crowned their centenary season by securing an historic promotion, although manager Nicky English's men were soon brought crashing down to earth following a wretched early season run of seven successive defeats. But last week's 2-1 win at Whitstable Town halted the alarming slide, lifted Chips above Molesey at the bottom of the table, boosted morale and earned rich reward for a recent alteration in playing systems. English said: "That victory made our season look much much better suddenly, although if we had lost that match we would have been rocking.
It would have absolutely killed us and play-ers could have left the club as a result. "We changed our system from 4-4-2 to 4-3-2-1 after losing 4-1 to Chatham when we were at our lowest. It involved adopting a different strategy, working on making ourselves harder to break down and being more difficult to beat.
"Admittedly, our football is not so flowing as it has been with Chipstead's traditional attractive style of play but we have concentrated on stopping opponents playing, ensuring that other sides can't break us down. "We are still fresh to this level of play and a considerably better standard of player, much more crafty than we encountered in the Combined Counties League, and we played five of the top seven sides early on. "The difference is massive between the Ryman League and CCL, although I have got to believe that we can stay up this season and I will be disappointed if we don't do so, particularly considering our superb facilities at High Road.
"And once we get our best players back we can establish ourselves in the bottom half of the table, while our aim is just to finish third from bottom and avoid the bottom two relegation positions." Experienced boss English has been hindered by the key absences of centre-back Jake Delaney, who is expected to return from a year's cruciate knee injury at Christmas, along with striker Scott Simpson who is back within the next month following work commitments, and fellow forward Bradley Drake who is still sidelined with a knee ligaments injury. Midfielder Alex Tapp is also set to return at Christmas following a coaching spell in America.
A shortage of strikepower clearly affected Chips' early season aspirations, although the recent signing of Lee Granville, 19, has helped their cause. English said: "Lee is quick with good movement and keeps defenders on their toes and he has made a difference to our game recently." The return of captain Danny Oakins, who missed five early season matches due to unavailability, has also strengthened Chips' belief which English insists has remained positive anyway.
He said: "Morale is now high although in fairness the players' heads have never gone down despite results." Tough tackling midfielder cum defender Richard Williams, 25, a former Fulham youngster, has rejoined his brother Anthony at High Road after battling back from a broken leg, while left-winger Paul Milner has signed from Walton Casuals. English praised the contribution of utility player Lawrence Buckmann who has typified Chips' spirit in adversity so far this season.
He said: "Lawrence is a superb all round squad player, possessing great pace and a splendid left foot, although he is constantly getting injured and has only played a few games for us this season." Buckmann's latest setback was an ankle complaint which sidelined him. But, with Buckmann and the rest back at full fitness, Chips remain confident about defying the odds and surviving at the first attempt.
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