Swans soar!

If it’s Sunday, it must be Walton & Hersham!

The Xcel Sports Hub was filled with colour and noise long before kick off in our Pitching In Isthmian South Central Play Off Final, and it was soon to be filled with people, too, as the match was designated a sell out within twenty four hours of the tickets going on sale. So high was the demand that the hosts set up a free live stream of the game in a nearby pub, as well as making it available to anyone who wanted to pay a fiver and watch it from home. It all made for a fabulous atmosphere for the third of our four end of season showpiece fixtures. We all hoped that we’d get some football which would match the occasion.

It had been a fine season for both Walton and their opponents Hanworth Villa- lest we forget, newly promoted to our ranks at the start of this campaign- and the Swans will still be wondering how they didn’t take the title, after having both hands on the trophy last weekend before a late, late Thatcham Town equaliser handed it to Basingstoke Town. They bounced back to defeat Northwood in the Semi-Final in midweek and, no doubt, would have been confident of victory; particularly as they’d taken fifty one points from the fifty seven on offer at home this season. That said, three of the points they’d dropped at the Sports Hub went to the Villains, a Jonathan Hippolyte double earning victory for the visitors on November 1st. Perhaps that may have been playing on their minds- although they did get revenge when defeating Villa in West London in late February.

The Swans had scored one hundred and two league goals this season (not counting the two on Tuesday night)- not quite double the number scored by our visitors, but not far short of that- and striker Eddie Simon had delivered forty of those, forty three if you add in goals from cup competitions. Eddie, you may remember, was the subject of lots of media attention when he managed hat tricks in four consecutive matches last month- and when he followed that with only one goal in his next two matches he responded by scoring five against Merstham. He’s now gone two matches without scoring- we didn’t want to bet on that run extending to three!

The Villains success had been built on solid performances across the side and an ability to share the goals- nineteen different scorers this season. Sam Merson topped their goalscoring list with fifteen, but had never scored more than one in a match; whilst second on that list was Tom Bender, who has a tendency to stride up from the back and head home. Ten goals for a defender is some achievement, and the hosts will have needed to formulate a plan to mark him well at set pieces, or see their hopes undone.

Walton, who fielded an unchanged side for the tenth consecutive match, got us underway three minutes late. The Swans were in their usual red, the visitors in yellow.

The first chance went to the hosts. Three minutes in a foul on John Gilbert gave them a free kick, central and twenty five yards out. Teo Kurtaran played it forward, a defensive header gave away a corner, and from that Alex Kelly perhaps should have done better, shooting wide. He claimed a corner, but neither the referee or anyone else seemed to agree with him.

That was the only notable incident of the opening ten minutes. The Swans passed it around nicely at the back and tried to find Eddie Simon, Gilbert and Jordan Adeyemi; whilst the visitors defended in depth, hit long and tried to attack with speed- but we had the kind of cagey start associated with such a game until a Villa break saw Sam Merson with a chance, the ball reaching him at the far post but some steadfast defending blocking his effort. A corner followed, and then a long throw, and from that the ball was in the net- and, of course, it was the head of Tom Bender that had put it there. One-nil Villa, the away fans delighted- but the hosts with seventy five minutes left to recover what they’d lost. They were nearly two down only a minute later, however, some dithering in defence and persistence from Kyen Nicholas seeing keeper Liam Allen and his defence having to throw themselves around to get out of trouble. They avoided conceding a second by the skin of their teeth- and the work rate of the Villa number nine was causing the hosts no end of bother.

We reached the midway point of the half, and suddenly the hosts got going. A cross from the left was just too high for Kelly, and then a shot from Adeyemi was deflected for a corner by a desperate defensive block. But the capacity crowd were becoming frustrated, and the groans of annoyance whenever a pass went astray would have been audible to anyone boating on the nearby Thames. Good work from Harry Mills, cutting in down the right, playing a one-two and then shooting just over, was the best chance of the game so far for the Swans, but it remained nil-one with twenty eight minutes on the clock.

A turn and shot by Gilbert brought Gary Ross charging out of his goal to block, and the Walton pressure continued, albeit still without reward. And then it was so nearly two for the visitors- a cross taking a deflection and falling kindly onto the head of Nicholas, only for Allen to save- and hold- at point-blank range.

We moved into the final five minutes of the half, and Gilbert, undoubtedly the danger man so far for the hosts, tried a shot which was too close to Ross and fairly comfortably saved. But at the other end more Nicholas persistence led to another chance for Kyron Richards, which brought another block and another corner. If you could give a man of the match award based on the first half alone, Nicholas would have taken the crown. The Swans ploy to play out from the back saw the Villa number nine close them down and harry them again and again, and most of the visitors chances had arrived as a result.

As we moved into added time, Nicholas again got the better of his defender, and again Allen was called upon to save, leading to another corner. This one was cleared, and Gilbert charged forward and won a free kick in between the box and the corner flag. It would be the last chance of the half; what could they do?

The cross from Kurtaran was into a dangerous area, but when the ball was partially cleared the shot was both high and wide, and that was that. As the referee left the field he received some choice comments from the home fans about his decision making; but from a neutral perspective, Mr Hursey was having a fine game and, one marginal decision on the half way line apart, had got everything right. The Swans were losing not because of intervention from the officials, but because Villa had got their game plan exactly right.

Half time: Walton & Hersham 0, Hanworth Villa 1- and the scoreline was a more than fair reflection of the action.

The visitors were out for the second half and warming up vigorously five minutes before the hosts, and got us underway. “Get Eddie into the game” shouted a home fan in the main stand, and you could understand his point- the top scorer had been starved of service and virtually anonymous so far. Two minutes in and the hosts got a shooting opportunity, Adeyemi firing wide- and a minute later they were level, Kelly sliding the ball under Ross and pandemonium breaking loose. A moment later and Simon, from nothing, fashioned himself a shooting opportunity which had to be saved, and suddenly the match looked to have changed complexion. Villa needed to settle- but would they be allowed? The hosts looked a different side. A shot from Kelly brought another corner, and the first ten minutes of the second half had hardly seen the Villains get the ball. Another corner followed, with home fans screaming for a hand ball, and then, suddenly, we were up the other end, a combination between Merson and Nicholas giving the former a shooting chance, Allen down to save. Back into attack went the Swans, and yet another corner was awarded, and the turnaround was complete, Joe Hicks heading home to make it two-one. We’d had more entertainment in sixty minutes of this final so far than we’d managed in the two hundred and ten minutes we watched on Friday and Saturday- and we suspected it wasn’t over yet!

Villa were straight on the attack, and a cross-cum-shot from George Wells looked to be dropping under the bar, Allen having stretch full length to tip it over. Then it was more from the hosts, Gilbert firing wide. An injury to the visitors keeper then gave us time to catch our breath.

Ross was soon on his feet, and soon into action, charging out to save from Adeyemi as the hosts turned the screw. Adeyemi then went head to head with Guy Ansah-Palmer, the Villa number four just able to take the ball of the toes of his opponent and concede a corner. It wasn’t that the Villa of the first half hadn’t turned up- they hadn’t been allowed to turn up, and within a moment the hosts had increased their lead, Gilbert firing home the goal his performance deserved.

Three-one, and the first chants of “we are going up” rang around the stadium, with twenty minutes to go. For the visitors, Nicholas was withdrawn, his second half dramatically different from his first. His side looked utterly deflated, as well they might.

Simon brought a save from Ross after a one-two with Gilbert, and we moved into the last thirteen minutes, unluckily for the visitors. It was Simon’s last action of the campaign, as he was withdrawn to an ovation almost immediately, Taurean Roberts emerging from the bench.

We moved into the last ten minutes, and the pace of the game slowed down dramatically, as well it might. The fans in the stand entertained us with a little KC and the Sunshine Band, assuring us that the Swans were going up “n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-now,” and we suspected they’d be right in around four m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-minutes.

It was, of course, going to be more than four minutes, the referee adding on five more, and a minute into that added time Villa were awarded a free kick right on the edge of the Swans box. Sadly, however, the injury was such that the stricken player had to be carried from the field, and having used all of their substitutes the visitors would have to end the match with ten men. The free kick, once taken, cannoned back off the wall and was cleared.

The five added minutes had five added minutes, and then we were done. The Swans were going up, and they very much deserved it. Suddenly the crowd were on the pitch, and Sham 69- and the main stand- were singing Hersham Boys. It was a perfect end to the Swans season, and to a fine match.

It was the stereotypical game of two halves. Had Villa been two or three up at the break, it wouldn’t have been undeserved- but they couldn’t live with the red tide surging towards them after the break.

Congratulations to Walton & Hersham, who will be a Premier Division club next season. Which Premier Division? We’ll have to wait and see.