Aveley vs Chesham United

Recap

Chesham fought out a hard-earned draw against relegation-threatened Aveley.  Both sides had periods of dominance but ultimately neither did enough to force a victory. Chesham made three changes to the team that beat Hemel Hempstead on New Years Day – Mitchell Weiss, Joe Grant and Ashley Lodge dropped to the bench to be replaced by Bradley Clayton, Samson Esan and Matt Lench who made his first start since rejoining the club.

The home side went into the game nine points adrift of safety at the bottom, but dominated the opening stages as Chesham struggled.  Dillon Addai, making his first appearance since extending his loan deal for a further month, was called into action to save a header from a corner on 20 minutes.  Soon afterwards the home side took the lead, when Tyrese Owen curled a shot into the top corner of the net following a move down the left.  The goal sparked Chesham into life and within a minute Alex Lafleur shot just over after Nathan Minhas was denied on the edge of the area.  Shortly afterwards Minhas got on the end of a through ball from T’Sharne Gallimore but his effort was cleared off the line.  At the other end Joshua Anifowose shot just over the bar, but Chesham were now on top.  In stoppage time a right-wing move set up T’Sharne Gallimore for a shot that crashed against the bar and bounced down before being cleared.

In the second minute after the restart Bradley Clayton challenged for a ball in the home area and was tripped by Nathan Carlyle right in front of the referee.  Matt Lench took the penalty and sent home keeper James Holden the wrong way to equalise.  Chesham continued to press and Alex Lafleur’s shot was parried by Holden who grabbed the ball at the second attempt.  As the half wore on the game became more even, David Kawa shooting across the face of the Chesham goal from wide on the left while at the other end Nathan Minhas had a shot on the turn blocked at the expense of a corner.  Late in the game Aveley took control of the game, and came close when Razzaq Coleman’s shot was tipped over by Dillon Addai.