Merstham 4 Rams 2

A bleak September came to an end in Surrey where the Rams were well beaten by a very lively Merstham side.

It started to turn sour as early in as the 4^th minute when Ottaway fired home after a great pass from Tucknott. However the Rams stormed back with a fantastic run by Pascal Ebigbo outstripping the home defence before blazing a 30 yard shot passed veteran ‘keeper Michael Lidbury. This provoked the home side into a strong response with the fast Tucknott and Harding giving the Rams’ defence, where James Gregory had come in for the unavailable Ollie Gray, a tough time. Despite being pinned back the Rams had two good efforts by Joe Taylor going wide in the 12^th and 24^th minutes. On the 40^th minute however a break by the lightning quick Roscoe DSane outstripped the right side of the Rams’ defence and he clinically slotted the ball across Hawkes into the net.

A tactical change at half time brought Warren Schulz, returning from illness and having scored twice for the Reserves on Saturday, on for Gareth Cornhill. However things went worse four minutes later when from a free kick Fabio Saraiva gave the home team a two goal cushion. Following the introduction of Lovell and Beech, the home team restrained the visitors by a number of niggling fouls, left unpunished by a lenient referee. Another fine effort from Ebigbo was saved by Lidbury on 68 and a minute later a Merstham defender headed against his own bar. However, the Moatsiders made in 4-1 on 71, when an Ottaway drive appeared to get a touch from Liam Quinn on the way into the net. The closing stages of the match appeared surreal as banks of mist swirled around the ground but not before a great drive from Beech was pushed out by Lidbury to Warren Schulz who slotted home in 87. The Rams had a good shout for a penalty in the last minute when the ever lively Ebigbo appeared to be held back by a Merstham defender, but again the referee showed leniency to the home side.

Rams: Daren Hawkes, Gareth Cornhill (Warren Schulz 46), James Gregory, Luke Wheatley, Liam Quinn (c), Ben Laslett (Aaron Beech 62), Mitchell Sherwood, Michael Yianni, Joe Taylor (Mark Lovell 62), Simon Pettit, Pascal Ebigbo Unused subs: Joseph Afusi and Matt Lamprell.

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