Casuals and Pelham won their third game on the bounce as they beat Sawbridgeworth Town 3-0 away from home. After two good wins in the cup against Finchingfield and the league against Hawks, Pelham needed the performance to go with those wins going into Thursday nights cup final against Brewers. They knew they would be up against it, against a strong opponent in Sawbridgeworth Town whom Pelham know well from the last few seasons, however with a strong looking squad for the game they got the performance they needed. Although the two teams both started well, it was Pelham who got the earlier chances and saw more of the ball. They made their mark on the game early and had the first advantage eight minutes into the game. After some good initial play from Gavin Brace, Adam Notley and Sam Carter down the right hand side the ball was passed inside to Luke Evans. His fantastic hold up play drew the Sawbridgeworth players in to him and after truning his man, passed the ball out to the edge of the box where it was just behind Dan Boyce to get hold of. However an unmarked Mark Hainsby was bombing forwards who ran onto the ball and struck it first time into the bottom corner beyond the keeper. It wass no more than Pelham deserved and whilst they were on top they knew they had to take advantage. They did just that and doubled their lead in the 20th minute as a Gavin Brace corner was whipped in and the ever present Luke Evans up top out muscled his marker and headed the ball home making it 2-0 to Pelham. The away side had a good few opportunities to finish the game off as Jamie Richards had two big opportunities one of them just hitting the outside of the post. Also Luke Evans was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet again after a dominant display from him in the first half. Pelhams tallking and organisation was key and was a huge reason why they dominated the first half. The last 10 minutes saw Sawbridgeworth Town have more of the ball as there were some tired legs from Pelham but the away side were resilient and not to be breached, not letting Sawbridgeworth create anything clear cut. The home side managed just one shot on target in the first half from outside the box which Dan Monk got down well to tipping it round the post. Other than that the home side didn't reallly have much, and although they saw more of the ball at the end of the half it was due to Pelham sitting deep after tiring towards the end. The score at the half was 2-0 to Pelham. A couple of changes were made at the half as both teams took to the pitch. Both sides knew whoever got the next goal would have the advantage and it was Sawbridgeworth who looked like they wanted that goal more. They dominated the ball and the chances for the first 10/15 minutes of the second half and although Pelham will be disappointed to start the second half slowly and not have too much possession, they were once again organised and solid all over the park. For all the chances Sawbridgeworth Town could have had they once again only managed one shot one target in that spell, with a good save from Dan Monk with his feet this time to deny the home side. Pelham rode that 15 minute spell well and you felt Sawbridgeworth Town needed to take advantage of the possession and chances they had but didn't. Once that spell was over Pelham started to create a lot more. Once again there were some good chances for Jamie Richards, Steve Calln and Luke Evans, with the latter having another header from a Gavin Brace corner cleared off the line. It was now Pelham who looked the more likely to score and an evenly contested half wheree the away side created a lot more chances was finally put to bed. With just under 10 minutes left on the clock, Pelhams midefield pressurised the home sides and won the ball back. It was quickly distributed upfield to Luke Evans, who held off his man (as he did all afternoon) fed over the top to Steve Callan who carried the ball forwards and returned the favour trying to pick Luke out. His cross wasn't quite on point but Sawbridgeworth didn't take the opportunity to clear and Luke notched his second goal and header of the game, making it 3-0 and game over. The game was pretty much sewn up and all Pelham needed to do was work for the clean sheet which their performance deserved. They battled hard and again limited Sawbridgeworth Town to a small amount of chances with their only other shot on target along with the other 2 previosuly mentioned being a direct freekick which Dan Monk make to look a routine save. The final whistle blew and Pelham ran out 3-0 winners away from home against a strong Sawbridgeworth side who are one of the favourites for promotion. As i said at the start lads we got the results the last 2 weeks but needed the performance to go with it, and we 100% got it today. No arguments about the win or the scoreline and that was down to the performance of everyone. Its now going to be a tough call of who gets a starting place in the final on Thursday night but i have no doubts that everyone is going to play a massive part and if we play like we did today then Brewers are really going to have to produce something not to get beat. Man of the match was a tough one today as not one player had a poor game today. I would start mentioning names but i would end up mentioning all 15 so its pointless. However i'm going to give it to the difference today which was Luke Evans. Two goals and one assist only tells half a story, he bossed it up top today having both centre backs in his pocket. That win puts us up to second in the league boys and only one point behind Hadham Villa. Its in our hands boys, we need Sawbridgeworth Town to drop one point in their last 4 games but if we can win our last 3, we win the league and get back to back promotions. Focus turns on to Thursday night now though so lets leave the league behind us for now, recover well and get the win on Thursday night!! Performance has to be on par with today boys otherwise we are turning up to get beat, so everyone needs to get up for it!!! COYCAP!
