Walton Road, Molesey FC
Thurs 2nd August 2002, 7.45pm kick-off.

Att: 114

Line up : (4-4-2)

		John Sheffield
Ian Linney	Adam Lockwood		Colin Pluck	Steve Reed
Andy Lindegaard	Paul Henbest		Kim Grant	Darren Way
	Carl Alford		Chris Giles

Subs used: Nick Crittenden ( for Linney, 22 mins ), Ian Linney back on again ( for Henbest, 61 mins ), James Thompson ( for Reed, 66 mins )

Molesey ( 4-4-2 ) : Luke Garrard, Mohammed Ait Issa, Dante Alighieri, Oliver Hunt, Gus Hurdle, Tom Moorhouse, Sam Lampard, Danny Wright, Nko Ekoku, Mark Xavier, Danny Coss
Subs : Mazin Ahmad ( for Xavier, 55 mins ), Chris Owens ( for Coss, 75 mins ), Ian Enderby ( for Hunt, 81 mins )

Officials: Referee - Mr B McLaren; Assistants - Mr A Dowling and Mr C Pinn

Scorers: Chris Giles ( 1-0, 24 mins ), Carl Alford ( 2-0, 33 mins ) ( 3-0, 79 mins )

This report courtesy of Tony Elbourn:

Traffic chaos at the top of the M3 delayed Nick Crittenden’s arrival at the ground, causing one Gary Johnson to appear as number 17 on the Yeovil substitutes list. The site of Johnson Senior in playing kit sent a ripple of anticipation through the Yeovil supporters.

1st Half

Play moved almost immediately into the pattern it was to follow for much of the game. Yeovil appeared to be a little disjointed, not surprisingly perhaps with a team that included 3 youngsters and 4 other players just returning from injury. Molesey were, in the main, organised and effective, and pretty much matched Yeovil’s fitness. In the end it was individual contributions that made the difference.

It took nearly 20 minutes before the first real attempt at goal, a good lofted drive from outside the box by Wright that brought an excellent full-stretch tip-over by Sheffield. Having fought his way through traffic Crittenden joined the midfield and Henbest dropped to right back. Although Henbest played a reasonable game in defence, he appeared to be more comfortable in midfield with a natural inclination to run forward aggressively.

A few minutes later a lovely through ball from Grant left GILES to slot the ball under Garrard to take Yeovil into the lead. Just a minute later Grant burst through the defence to find himself one on one with the keeper, but his shot was straight at Garrard. At the other end Henbest cleared a powerful header from Lampard off the line, with long and loud appeals from Molesey that the ball had crossed the line. Just a minute or two later Pluck managed to boot the ball out from Ekoku’s feet after he had breached the Yeovil defence. Play swung again and in a nice reversal of their usual moves Giles flicked on to put ALFORD clear to net the ball.

The next 10 minutes saw long balls by both sides going to waste, but after 43 minutes Lampard was gifted the ball by some sloppy square passing and shot just wide. With almost the last kick of the half it was Lampard again after a good build up, with another sizzling lofted shot from outside the box bringing another excellent full-stretch tip-over by Sheffield.

2nd Half

Yeovil kicked off in style, with Giles attempting a lob from the centre circle which was easily taken by Garrard. Six minutes in and Lindegaard made a lengthy run on the wing, ending with a one-two with Giles and a decent shot just wide. At the other end it was Lampard and Wright who combined several times in the next few minutes to pose a threat to Yeovil. A jinking run by Crittenden on the hour was hemmed in by two defenders almost at the corner flag, but Grant charged in to help, muscled his way out and slammed the ball off the post.

At this point Molesey gained the balance of play, Lampard, Ekoku and Wright combining to force Yeovil back, but the defence held well, Pluck and Linney putting in notable tackles. However, it was Yeovil who scored again, rather against the run of play and in bizarre fashion. Linney made a powerful return header from the halfway line that the keeper held but then mis-threw towards Giles after everyone had turned their backs on goal expecting a long kick. No-one seemed sure what to do, Giles making a rather half-hearted attempt at a shot that the keeper fumbled to ALFORD, who netted gratefully from close in.

The goal livened Yeovil up for the remainder of the game. Lindegaard made a spectacular run and cross that Giles headed just wide, and Linney ran the ball through for Alford to net, but the goal was ruled offside.

In the final minutes rumours flew through the Yeovil supporters. Whispers of "When is super sub coming on" and "Has that Johnson bloke warmed up yet" passed around the stand, but to no avail. The final whistle robbed the faithful of a glimpse of the legendary Gary Johnson in action.

Final Score: Molesey 0 Yeovil Town 3

Tony Elbourn