Combined Counties League

Premier Division South

Tuesday 28th September 2021

Kick Off 19.30 Actual 19.31

Sheerwater 3 Molesey 1, attendance 101

47’ 1-0

52’ 2-0

55’ 2-1

89’ 3-1

@ Eastwood Leisure Centre

Albert Drive

Sheerwater

GU21 5RF

£7 Admission

£1.50 Programme, None on gate at arrival, so didn’t bother buying one when they finally arrived.

This is one of the all too common 3G caged pitches that are taking over the non-League game. This was the first midweek match Sheerwater have played at their new ground here at Eastwood Leisure Centre, with at least a quarter of the crowd made up of ground hoppers. It is only a few hundred yards from the old ground, and as far as cages go, this one isn’t too bad. You can watch from all four sides, but can’t complete a full lap of the pitch due to the dugouts on the far side. The left hand side of the pitch, from where you enter the cage in the corner of the near goal end, is fully covered. There is a single row of seating in the centre, with the rest of the area given over to standing, although it is all on one level, so not as good as it looks.

The cover was certainly put to good use tonight though. Just before kick off it started raining and it soon turned into a torrential downpour. At one point it looked like we might not even get the game finished, as despite being a 3G pitch, there was standing water and the ball was holding up and not running freely and tackles saw water splashing up waste high. It rained heavily for almost the entire match, but had eased significantly by the end, although the drive home wasn’t good due to the amount of water on the roads.

Sheerwater started the night seventh in the league table, whilst Molesey were rock bottom, having lost all nine of their matches so far. They certainly didn’t look like a team that hadn’t picked up a point and Sheerwater had to work hard for the three points. It took until two minutes into the second half for the hosts to make the breakthrough, when a run down the left saw a shot saved by the ‘keeper, but the rebound was followed in. Five minutes later it was 2-0, a long throw into the box saw the ball tucked away with a shot on the turn from close range. Within three minutes Molesey pulled it back to 2-1, with a shot from the corner of the box finding it’s way under the ‘keeper. The hosts finally killed the game off a minute from time when they scored their third goal.