Molesey 2-1 Bedfont Sports - Official Match Report

Molesey made it six wins from seven games in all competitions with a hard fought 2-1 victory over Bedfont Sports.

Joe Pratley-Jones’ penalty midway through the second half proved to be the winning goal after Jack Watts had cancelled out Molesey top scorer Lewis Ackerman’s first half opener.

The win demonstrated that the Moles have learnt to win ugly in what for the most part was an uninspiring game played in freezing conditions on a very heavy pitch. The visitors might have some justification in feeling aggrieved not to have left Walton Road with a point, but buoyed by four clean sheets in their previous six games the Moles dug deep and showed tremendous character to claim the points when not at their best. You got the impression that this was a game the home side would have lost six weeks or so ago.

The Moles were dealt a blow with the late withdrawal of Arnold Tawonezvi, meaning a recall for Joe Grant, whose two goals in the reverse fixture back in August helped the Moles to a 2-1 in the first ever meeting between the sides, and he cut a frustrated figure during the opening quarter with a succession of offside decisions going against the home side.

George Baldock was a willing runner for the visitors and both he and Jimmy Stanfield shot well over from distance in an opening twenty minutes devoid of any goalmouth action, with Molesey’s first clear cut opening coming when Ross Chalke latched onto Grant’s flick but saw his shot well saved by John Peacock.

The only genuine bit of class during the first half resulted in the opening goal, as Ackerman’s clever drop of the shoulder saw him move clear of Adam Turner and fire the ball into the opposite corner. Controversy nearly followed, as the ball escaped through a hole in the net, and despite Sports’ management somewhat optimistically claiming that the ball had hit the side netting the goal was correctly given and the hole hastily repaired by home officials, with the blame being laid firmly at the jaws of pesky local foxes.

The away side were nearly level within a minute when a free kick from deep caught the Moles defence napping and Jack Watts planted a free header wide.

Jordan Vidal then stung the gloves of Wester Young, who did well to react to the fierce swerving drive considering Kristian Webb ran across his line of vision.

Molesey were slow to get going in the second period and Sports deservedly drew level when Watts was once again afforded a free header from a set piece and made no mistake this time, planting his header firmly past Young.

This seemed to be the wake up the Moles needed, and within eight minutes they re-took the lead when Tom Windsor was bundled over in the box and Pratley-Jones stepped up to score his first goal for the club in 13 months, confidently stroking the ball past Peacock from the spot.

Both Jordan McCartney and Chalke were forced off before the end with injuries, although the Moles had reliable deputies to call upon to replace them in Andy Graves and Sam Lampard, and the home side saw out the remainder of the game in relative comfort to move up to fifth place in the league.