Yellamen drop points on road against in-form Sarnies
Ascot United battled back from a goal down to draw with Egham Town on Saturday on a day when they created enough chances to end their hosts’ thirteen-game unbeaten run stretching back to the end of August.
Ascot were the better side in the first half, but wasted a succession of good chances as they rallied following Egham’s freak-goal early on, although finally got their rewards shortly before the break.
Duarte Surpanu should have given Ascot the lead in the tenth minute when, in acres of space from Jonny Denton’s pass, he cut onto his right foot and fired over when well-placed.
The home side then took the lead two minutes later when Danny Campion’s cross from near the corner flag somehow found its way over Sam Gray and looped into the far left hand corner.
But after that it was one-way traffic. Michael Edegbe made a brilliant save to deny Denis Nortey who looked to have slotted past the home ‘keeper from Denton’s through ball, only for him to stick out a foot and deny the workmanlike Ascot striker.
Denton himself then found the net with a precise left-footed finish (pictured, shooting-stars.co.uk) only to see his effort chalked off for a marginal chest/handball infringement in the build-up, before Rashid Hamid fired another effort over.
At the other end Louis Bouwers was well-placed to clear off the line after Jordan Kelly had played in Jake Sobalar who rounded Sam Gray only to see his shot cleared at the near post, before Ascot levelled two minutes before the break when Nortey rose highest to nod home at the far post from another Denton delivery; Denton was simply a cut above the rest in a man-of-the-match display.
The second half looked like being completely devoid of chances until Egham threatened shortly before the end of the game. Before that, neither side could take control, and home defender and captain Reece Yorke won virtually every aerial challenge to which he was subjected.
It was the home fans behind the goal that probably earnt the most credit. Raising themselves, they sung for their side, but up until a few minutes before the end their team scarcely looked like a side unbeaten in two months.
That said, Egham’s Maluna Masembe should have planted a free header into the net only to somehow head wide, before Gray rescued a stumbling Bouwers in injury time when he raced clear to thwart another attack. But Ascot also had their chances in added time. Just before Gray’s intervention, substitute David Amate couldn’t get enough power on Dan Bailey’s downward header to trouble Edegbe, before Lock might have won it with the last action of the game when his attempted glancing header from Sean McCormack’s cross sailed harmlessly over the bar.
Ascot United: Gray, Lock, Everiss, Harper (Evans), Evans, Bouwers, Bailey, McCormack, Denton, Nortey (Morgan), Hamid (Amate), Surpanu (Frank). Sub unused: Ferguson
