Bookham 0 Chertsey Town 2

This time the opponents were Bookham and the League Cup, the competition. Although the scenario may have been different, pretty much the same fare was produced in both matches; even the 2-0 score line was the same.

There were, however, more fundamental differences. A return of Steve McNamara and Kevin Lock displaced Tommy Higgins and Matt Holley, who missed his first start of the season.

The bench had more gravitas too with a, still not fully fit, Steve Goddard featuring for emergency purposes. He was not needed as Chertsey were never in trouble throughout a controlled 90 minute performance.

Trouble only loomed once, late in the first half after the visitors had established their comfortable two goal lead.

Liam Stone in goal dealt very well with a shot when Bookham’s Ansel Abrahams broke through alone, even though the surprised forward should have made Stone’s task even more difficult. That moment was one of only two defensive lapses committed at the Chertsey back.

The other was when Andre De-Lisser slipped on the greasy surface to allow Mark Packham a sniff but a one hundred percent recovery was effected with a well timed tackle which closed that gap.

Although the home side acquitted themselves well in the midfield to demonstrate an efficiency that, sadly for them, could not be mustered further up the park.

Chertsey looked interested from the start and, on approach to the Bookham penalty area looked, throughout the first half, and to a lesser degree after the break, always likely to score.

Andy Crossley on the right flank caused particular problems for the Bookham defence but was eventually hacked down rather heavily towards half time and was less prominent later in the exchange.

Town’s creative spark has been missing of late but strong signs of a return to form quickly became evident and movement around the opposition penalty area generated grave problems with Bookham giving away a series of free kicks.

It was from one of these situations that the first goal came after only eight minutes of play.

The ball was placed centrally almost 30 yards out in front of a substantial defensive wall. The wall proved to be ineffective however, for Steve McNamara spotted a gap and fired the ball at goal.

Debut Bookham goalkeeper Tim Farrington got his hand to the ball but the power was too great to stop it dropping over the line, much to his chagrin.

John Pomroy inevitably featured in one of the Chertsey goals but was the provider in this game, rather than the finisher.

His 21st minute corner from the right was met on the volley by Gavin Bamford some eight yards out and he crashed the ball home through a phalanx of defenders.

Both Pomroy, with a close range poke at goal at close range, was blocked off after Kevin Lock was frustrated in not being able to tame a lively ball right in front of the sticks.

An Ollie Treacher strike that flew just a foot wide gave promise of an interesting second half but the final 45 minutes failed to live up to expectations of further Chertsey success.

Steve Gibson and especially the unsung Jack Francis in central defence made sure that the two goals was more than sufficient to see Town through to the last 16 of the competition for the third consecutive year.