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Alton 1 - 1 Cobham

11 Dec 2023

Match report by Dave Hawtin

A good game played in a great spirit that raised £500 for Treloar's School & College.

The home side probably did enough during the second half to justify taking the three points but it wasn't to be on the day, mainly due to the performance of the Cobham goalkeeper who among others made two very important saves in a 5 minute spell, thwarting Louis Russell on both occasions, one block from close range with Russell bearing down on goal and the other a stunning dive to his left from a goal bound drive from 25 yards.

Cobham were quicker out of the blocks in the first half and even though clear chances were at a premium it wasn't a surprise when they took the lead on the half hour. A long clearance got caught in the swirling wind that affected the game throughout and gave the advantage to the forward who used his strength to stride forward and steer his shot past the advancing Mees.

This appeared to wake the home side up and they proceeded to push the visitors back forcing numerous corners. From one of these on 39 minutes they were level. Alex Merrifield had two bites at the cherry before he shot home from 12 yards through a crowd of players.

Alton were definitely territorially on top in the second half when the strong and gusting wind was in their favour but the visitors were well organised and resolute in their defending backing up the performance of their goalkeeper who dealt with everything that Alton could muster on the day.

Matt Graham also came close when he delivered a free kick from the right with his left foot, all bar 6 inches it was almost perfect, goalkeeper rooted to his line, attackers just unable to get that touch and defenders knowing any touch from them was likely to end up in their own net.

Lewis Mees in the home goal dealt comfortably with anything that came his way and on one occasion had to be on his toes to block the ball wide for a corner when the visitors managed to break the line from a wide position.

Alton travel to Balham in the league this Saturday before returning home to The Exclusive Networks Stadium on Tuesday (19th December) for the postponed and reversed fixture vs Hillingdon Borough in the League Cup. Kick off 7:45pm.