Molesey Football Club

Ross Chalke’s late goal ensured that ten-man Molesey continued their fine end of season form with a fourth consecutive victory courtesy of a late 2-1 win against out of form Camberley Town.

The win was the Moles’ fifth in a row against the Krooners and lifts them above their hosts into fifth and with a very real chance of equalling last season’s third placed finish.

The Aintree-going Andy Graves and Lewis Ackerman were unavailable, along with top scorer Manny Quarshie, however Jordan McCartney was able to start just his fifth game of 2012 and slotted seamlessly into the back four. The Moles received a boast before kickoff upon hearing that a goalkeeping crisis for Camberley meant that forward Matt Barclay played in goal.

The Moles dominated the early stages and a succession of early corners created panic in the home box, with Barclay punching only as far as Joe Grant who could only shoot wide, however, for all their possession the away side created little until James McShane picked up the ball inside the Camberley half before turning Joe Paris and firing into the bottom corner from 20 yards for the Moles’ 100th goal of the season in all competitions.

There was controversy five minutes before the interval when Molesey keeper Wester Young misjudged the flight of a bouncing ball and sliced his clearance horribly towards goal. With Arkadiusz Gallewicz and Kristian Webb chasing Young clearly impeded the attacker just outside the box and appeared fortunate to escape with just a booking.

Camberley’s protests continued to half-time, and were so vehement that home manager Darren Barnard was sent off before the re-start, although he did manage to spend the second half closer to the action than he had in the first which seemed to defeat the object somewhat.
The Moles were slow to get going in the second half, and the back four had to deal with a lot of long balls for the remainder of the afternoon, however, Ross Chalke had a glorious chance to double the lead when he got on the end of a peach of a cross from Doug Ford, but distracted by a very slight touch from Barclay could only force the ball wide with the goal at his mercy.

Molesey’s job became harder with fifteen minutes remaining when the excellent Kristian Webb was sent off for two extremely soft yet justifiable bookings as he kicked the ball away then swore at the ref a few minutes later. Webb will be particularly disappointed given that both offences had seen players from both sides go unpunished at various stages of the afternoon.

Camberley increased the pressure and should have drawn level when Dale Webb headed wide when well placed, but they found themselves back on level terms when a corner from Paris evaded everyone and crept in at the near post.

The Moles appeared to be in for a frantic final few minutes, however, parity lasted less than three minutes as McShane’s free kick saw Barclay collide with Webb, and the ball fell invitingly for Chalke to make up for his earlier miss and fire home to give the Moles the points.