Six goals, two thirds of them easy on the eye and an impressive set of substitutes in this game as Chalvey Sports overcame a first half deficit to beat Woodley United 4-2 in the Uhlsport Helllenic League Division One East.
It was certainly Woodley’s half in the opening 45 minutes as the Kestrels continued where they left off from the 4-1 drubbing of AFC Aldermaston last Tuesday with Lamin Ceesay again the biggest threat going forward.
Ceesay jinked and dodged on the left-wing continually getting into good positions while at the other end Chalvey’s few chances came mostly from speculative free kicks on the edge of the box.
When Ceesay scored a brilliant free-kick of his own five minutes before half-time, the game was very much setup with one side high on confidence and the other without a win or point in three competitive games so far this season.
The introduction of Calvin Morgan and then Rhys Harper really kicked Chalvey in to gear though, suddenly the Stabmonks midfield marshalled by ex-Windsor Riccardo Cannon had an outlet and it paid dividends minutes after the break when Leon Mannion levelled the scores against his former club.
It was 2-1 shortly after when the referee pointed to the penalty spot, Luke Waybourn sliding in to block a cross on the inside edge of the box, was adjudged to have handled the ball and after Morgan converted, was sin-binned for continued protests.
Woodley, to their credit were right back in it when Toby Briggs volleyed a cross back across goal in to the net but parity didn’t last long when wing-back Connor Shingleston fired in from distance on the right, the ball eluding Pete Davies in the Kestrels goal.
The icing on the cake though went to Harper, as the home side pushed forward for an equaliser, Morgan, an absolute handful since he came on at the break did enough to occupy the defence and allow fellow sub Harper to fire Chalvey’s fourth through Davies.
In truth, two very different halves with one side dominant in each. Both teams look solid, and look to play football but the added Stabmonks firepower in the second half proved the difference.
See the latest Uhlsport Hellenic League Division One East table here. You can read up on Wokingham & Emmbrook’s big win at Holyport here and a full scores and scorers round up is here.
