Hanworth Villa 1-2 Molesey - Official Match Report

By Andrew Finch

It was the ultimate game of two halves, with the Moles completely dominant in the first and being two up inside twenty minutes thanks to Manny Quarshie's lob and Joe Grant's textbook volley.

Villa came out a different side in the second, with Adam Baigent's penalty halving the deficit after an hour, and it took a fingertip save from Wester Young to keep out his opposite number Terry Buss's blistering free kick in the ninth minute of stoppage time.

Molesey lined up with one eye on Thursday's Southern Combination Cup semi final against Westfield and rested Andy Graves, Joe Pratley-Jones and Nick White, whilst Lewis Ackerman and Kristian Webb appeared from the bench.

The first half performance was up there with the best halves of football Molesey have played this season, although they were helped by Hanworth defending like a team of strangers.

Inside five minutes a defender's header back to Buss fell woefully short, leaving Quarshie to calmly lob the ball over the Villa keeper to give the Moles the lead.

Within two minutes the same scenario almost presented Ross Chalke with a tap in as he charged down Buss's attempted clearance following another underhit back-pass, but the ball richocheted kindly for the home defence and they were able to clear their lines.

Joe Grant hit a high looping volleyed cross that caught Buss all at sea and rebounded back off the crossbar, and Arnold Tawonezvi had a shot blocked by a defender's body that appeared destined for the bottom corner.

The second goal arrived when Matt Knight combined with Tom Windsor and Tawonezvi on the right and fired a dangerous ball across the six yard box. The ball was partially cleared Grant on the edge of the box. Grant waited for the ball to come down and caught it perfectly with a first time volley that flew into the opposite corner for one of the goals of the season.

The pressure remained relentless, with Quarshie helping on a Grant curler with his head but seeing the ball fly just wide, before Tom DIlloway caught Jimmy Major in possession and galloped forward but fired tamely at Buss.

A Dilloway corner then caused havoc in the Hanworth box and in the scramble that ensued a grounded home defender appeared to scoop the ball away from danger with his hand, but the ref waved away claims for a penalty.

The second half was a different story, with the Moles sluggish to get going and the home side showing greater urgency than their pedestrian first half performance. They'd already gone close with a curler from the angle of the box when Dilloway brought down Ricky Farndon inside the box and Baigent sent Young the wrong way from the resulting penalty.

Villa then went hunting for the equalizer, but despite some sustained pressure Young still had very little to do, with Lee Higgs firing just wide from the edge of the box and Farndon getting round Jordan McCartney but being thwarted by a crucial interception from Moses Spencer.

The pressure wasn't quite all one-way, with an unmarked Chalke getting on the end of a terrific cross from Knight but glancing his header just wide, and the same player fired wildly over as the game entered stoppage time when the ball fell invitingly to him on the edge of the box.

Buss's deadly accurate kicking had been a springboard for many of Villa's second half attacking moments, and when they were awarded a free kick 25 yards from goal that favoured his left foot he was sent forward to try and salvage a point for his side.

Once more his effort was sweetly struck and appeared to be dropping under the crossbar but Young got his fingertips to the ball to turn it over.

Buss then launched himself at the resulting corner but the moment the ball was cleared the full-time whistle blew to secure the three points that appeared a formality at half-time but were ultimately only just earned.