Sandhurst Town 1-6 Molesey - Official Match Report

Molesey hit six goals on their travels for the second time this season as they came from behind to thrash Sandhurst Town 6-1 at Bottom Meadow.

Simon Latimer gave the Fizzers an early lead and Matt Day missed a golden opportunity to extend it shortly afterwards before goals from Lewis Ackerman and Joe Grant gave the Moles a half-time lead. Ackerman grabbed a second to kill the game off as a contest and Steve Webb then used his bench to devastating effect, with substitutes Tom Windsor and Will Marlowe bagging the final three goals.

The Moles lined up with the same formation that served them so well in the midweek cup win over Staines Lammas, with Ross Chalke, Lewis Ackerman and Nathan Mottley the changes in personnel in place of Windsor, Tim Pitt and Arnold Tawonezvi, and despite a bright start find themselves behind after only five minutes.

Sandhurst were awarded a soft free-kick by the touch line, and when the ball into the Molesey box was partially cleared, Latimer got the better of Doug Ford too easily and fired an unstoppable shot past Wester Young into the top corner.

The Moles continued to press, forcing a succession of corners, one of which led to a frantic goalmouth scramble that saw both Ross Chalke and Grant have fierce efforts blocked en route to goal, however, the turning point of the game occurred when Ford and Mottley made a mess of a free kick and Kristian Webb failed to cut out a simple through ball that sent Matt Day scampering clear. Thankfully for the Moles his effort missed the far post, and from that point onwards the away side dominated.

Ashley West produced smart saves to keep out Luke Elliott and Grant, and Joe Pratley-Jones saw an effort clear the bar, but the Moles were soon back on terms, largely thanks to the positivity of Mottley.

The wing-back – making his first league start for the club in place of the injured Pitt – made a burst down the right before being upended by a home defender. The free kick was headed home by Ross Chalke, but a lineman’s flag cut short the Moles’ celebrations. The respite was brief, with West’s free kick barely clearing the box before being intercepted by Webb. West appeared to have redeemed himself by saving well from Grant, and got a strong hand to Ackerman’s follow up but was unfortunate to see the ball trickle into the net for Ackerman’s first goal since the opening week of the season.

Grant was having his most effective game of the season, and caused the home defence problems all afternoon. His free-kick was tipped onto the bar by West, who then watched in

awe as his 25 yard curler came back off the angle, however, he wasn’t to be denied when collecting Chalke’s pass shortly afterwards, beating two defenders and firing home from 16 yards.

Molesey’s defending was casual during the opening quarter, with a poor clearance from Wester Young causing panic at the back, whilst the quick feet of Miles Smith caused concern when he was afforded too much space and lashed a shot against the post.

However, they were was a rare incursions into Molesey territory, and it was only a fine performance between the sticks by West that ensured his side went into the break only trailing by one goal.

The Moles continued to dominate after the re-start, but lacked the fluency that characterised their first half performance for the opening 15 minutes of the second half.

Grant was once again provider for the killer third goal just after the hour mark, turning smartly inside two defenders before firing across goal from a tight angle to give Ackerman a tap in.

The home side’s heads dropped after the third goal, much to the delight of fired up substitutes Windsor and Marlowe. Having had one effort kept out by West, Windsor once again burst through from midfield and fired home the fourth after West had once again kept out his initial effort.

Marlowe was devastatingly lethal during his 15 minute cameo, and added the fifth with a fierce drive following another surging Mottley run. A post then denied him what would ultimately have been a hat-trick, before he picked up a short corner between Elliott and Webb in stoppage time, turned inside his marker and from a tight angle placed the ball in the top corner to give the Moles their sixth, which in truth did not flatter them.

Molesey finally play their first home game of the season on Tuesday, in what looks to be their trickiest fixture of the season to date against a Hanworth Villa side who in the corresponding fixture last season did to the Moles what Molesey did to Sandhurst this afternoon and hit them for six.