Pyrford lost narrowly to Division 1 side AFC Egham to two late goals, despite matching them for the rest of the game. Again depleted by injuries and unavailability, Pyrford were able to recall Scott from a lengthy injury lay off, and Sal for his first game in months, and just about managed to field 11 players.
On a cold and rainy morning, Egham made the early running but struggled to create any clear cut chances, and it was completely against the run of play when Pyrford took the lead after 15 minutes. Egham looked to play the ball out of defence, which is always difficult when Snipes is chasing the ball down, and it was his pressure that forced the error. A pass was miscontrolled and Duane was on hand to hammer home first time from 20 yards, to give Pyrford the lead in probably their first attack.
This gave the home side more confidence as they had threatened to be overrun by Egham's superior strength and movement, but Pyrford began playing the football they are capable of, with Matt in particular making telling passes to keep possession.
The lead was somewhat short lived though, as Pyrford's lack of a linesman was to cost them dearly. A ball from deep played into the box found at least 4 Egham players offside, but with one of the Egham subs as linesman it was never going to be given, and Egham were able to equalise. They took the lead soon after with another well taken goal, but it wasn't all one way traffic, with Snipes in particular being a handful as usual, and Matt and Duane forcing good saves from the Egham keeper.
The start of the second half was all Pyrford. Snipes missed a great chance when he scuffed his shot from 6 yards, and Pyrford's passing game was proving too much for the division one side. Sal also went close, and Egham had their keeper to thank for preserving their lead with some good blocks.
Sal eventually got the goal Pyrford deserved when put through by Snipes' flick on. He rounded the keeper and found the far corner from a tight angle with a smart finish.
This seemed to spark Egham into life, and the luxury of substitutes certainly helped, as did their superior fitness over the home side. Chances came and went, and Pyrford were kept in the game by two fine saves from Nathan and some wayward finishing from Egham
Snipes was then put clean through again and the keeper made another good save, but in truth Pyrford were lacking creativity in the final third as tiredness began to creep in to their play. With five minutes remaining, a good through ball was expertly converted by the Egham striker who had been kept quiet for most of the match. He then added Egham's fourth soon after as their fitness superiority began to show.
All in all a very good performance against much higher placed opposition. There was little difference in quality between the two sides, and the scoreline may have been different with more players and a linesman, but Egham did just about enough to be worth their win in the end.
