Match Report: Amartey double gives Reds the high ground
Uxbridge 3–0 Malvern Town | Pitching In Southern League Premier South
Tuesday 20 October 2026 | Attendance: 230
After the frustrating exit from the FA Cup at the weekend, a drizzly night under the floodlights at Honeycroft against a side on a decent run of form had the hallmarks of being something of a banana skin for Uxbridge. However, the Uxbridge faithful needn't have worried after a comfortable 3-0 victory over Malvern Town. George Moore sat the game out after picking up a knock on Saturday, and with Luis Le Paih, Ollie McCoy, and Troy Perez-Duah still unavailable, on-loan Brian Nelson came into the starting eleven.
Uxbridge started well, seeing plenty of the ball and passing it around confidently despite the wet surface. However, they weren’t able to break down a well-organised Malvern side, and Malvern keeper Leo McCormick wasn’t called upon at all in the early stages. In fact, it was the visitors who registered the first meaningful effort on target after 14 minutes with a low drive from distance by Ben Baxter, but Sam Morris in the Uxbridge goal got down early to handle it comfortably. Just three minutes later, Malvern unlocked the hosts again with a lovely sweeping cross-field pass that sent Jay Malshanskyj away on the left, but his strike flew just wide of the target. Uxbridge had another let-off in the 18th minute when a looping, dipping cross threatened to drop under the bar, forcing Morris into a scrambling save to push the ball clear of danger.
Just as the visitors were building real momentum, the trajectory of the match flipped on its head in the 20th minute. Trevan Robinson appeared to be returning from an offside position, but was not deemed active. However, as the ball was played through to him, he got entangled with Malvern’s Dion Molyneux. Robinson picked himself up to have a run on goal, only to be hauled down by Molyneux, prompting the referee to produce a straight red card. This led to a prolonged protest from the Malvern bench, but the official was not going to change his mind, leaving the visitors to play 70 minutes with ten men. The resulting free kick from Sam Deadfield was eventually blocked by the wall and cleared at the second attempt, but the real damage was already done. Malvern were left with a mountain to climb.
With a numerical advantage on their side, Uxbridge began a patient build-up play, keeping possession and shifting the ball quickly to tire out Malvern's ten men. The pressure finally paid off in the 32nd minute thanks to a sleek team move. Alan Massey started it off with a superb, weighted pass down the left channel to pick out Francis Amartey. Amartey showed brilliant awareness to draw the goalkeeper off his line before pulling back a clever cross toward Robinson. Robinson's initial strike was blocked by a recovering defender, but Sam Deadfield was first to react in the box and smashed the rebound straight into the back of the net to give Uxbridge a 1-0 lead going into the interval.
HT: 1-0
Malvern came out for the second period determined not to simply park the bus despite the persistent drizzle. In the 55th minute, they caught Uxbridge napping on a quick counter-attack and forced a corner through Malshanskyj, though the Reds' backline quickly regrouped to clear the danger. From then on, it was the Francis Amartey show. In the 66th minute, Cole Brown embarked on a direct, driving run right into the heart of the penalty area before slipping a crisp pass through to Amartey. From a razor-thin angle on the right, Amartey fired in a precise finish inside the far post to double the lead. Five minutes later, Uxbridge put the contest completely out of reach. Fresh off the bench, Liam Prior-Tack made an instant impact, beating his defender down the wing and drilling a pinpoint low cross into the box. Amartey used his strength to hold off his marker and slotted home his second of the evening to make it 3-0.
Malvern tried for a late consolation in the 77th minute with a long-range hit through the rain, but Morris remained reliable between the sticks. Uxbridge kept pushing forward in search of a fourth: Prior-Tack delivered another delightful chipped ball in the 79th minute for substitute Gabe George, whose header was well saved by McCormick. Amartey almost completed his hat-trick in the 86th minute after outpacing the defence, but his shot whistled just wide of the target as he was forced wide. Then, in stoppage time, Amartey created another opening following some good work to get in a low cross-shot that left McCormick scrambling. The ball came over to substitute Joe Lawal, who could only rattle the woodwork at the far post.
It mattered little to the final outcome, as the referee blew the final whistle shortly after to cap off a solid night's work for Uxbridge—a dominant 3-0 win, three points in the bag, and a clean sheet to boot.
FT: 3-0
Uxbridge: Morris, Brown (George), Martin, Burchell (Duffy), Massey, Nnadozie (Giamattei), Nelson (Lawal), Deadfield, Amartey, Robinson, Allsopp (Prior-Tack)
Uxbridge Supporters Player of The Match: Francis Amartey
