Match Report: Uxbridge Pay the Penalty

Uxbridge 0- 1 Chertsey Town

When things are not going your way you never seem to get the rub of the green, and so it proved on Saturday as Uxbridge’s winless run extended to nine league games, The Reds were left to rue missed chances in the first half, with Chertsey becoming the latest side to leave Honeycroft with all three points.

It was the visitors who started brightly. In the second minute, a fine cross-field pass evaded Kai Hobbs, but the resultant low cross and shot were well dealt with by Rhys Forster. Uxbridge responded well as Nnams Nwachuku worked space on the left by-line in the seventh minute to deliver a cross for Frank Keita, whose goalbound header was comfortably held by Roberts in the Curfews' goal. Uxbridge grew in confidence as the half progressed. In the 23rd minute, George Moore showed immense determination to win a high ball and follow the knockdown to get a low cross in and pick out Keita; however, his low shot beat the keeper but rattled back off the post to safety. Minutes later, Moore turned creator again with a delicate chip towards Nwachuku, which looked for all the world like the forward would open the scoring, only for Roberts to somehow get across to block the ball. With Harry Rush also unable to convert the follow-up, the ball was scrambled clear. Forster was called upon before the half ended to tip a 20-yard dipping shot over the bar from Wayne Ridgley. There was still time for Moore to spurn a golden opportunity on the half-time whistle; he was played in one-on-one but couldn’t finish, and Roberts was again able to snuff out the danger.

HT 0-0

The second half followed a similar pattern of missed chances. Joe Lawal and Josh Boorn combined brilliantly in the 60th minute to flash a low cross across the face of goal, only for a desperate defender to clear it over the bar with Moore closing in. Chertsey should have gone ahead just after the hour, though, as a fine cross from the left was somehow headed wide by the unmarked Conor Lee when it seemed easier to score. The game’s decisive moment arrived in the 71st minute. Chertsey were awarded a penalty after a quick break from the visitors saw Tanner collide with a forward in the box. Forster—rapidly becoming something of a penalty specialist—produced a superb save from the spot-kick (his third save in four penalties), but Chertsey’s Bradley Wilson was the quickest to react to his own kick and tuck away the rebound. Uxbridge tried to respond; Moore stung the palms of the keeper in the 78th minute after breaking clear, but Chertsey were able to manage the game better to keep the Reds at arm's length. The two best chances came in stoppage time: Harry Rush delivered a pinpoint cross in the 94th minute that Nwachuku headed agonisingly wide, and then in the final seconds of the seven minutes of added time, Jordan Stepney saw a flicked header drift just wide of the post as the referee blew for full-time.

The defeat sees the Reds sitting in 10th place in the league, but after a great start to the season, they are now starting to look over their shoulders at the teams below them. The trip to Dorchester Town next Saturday is looking like a pivotal one.

FT 0-1

Att: 511

Uxbridge: Forster, Hobbs (Brown), Bocarro (Stepney), Fearn, Tanner, Boorn (Nnadozie), Lawal, Rush, Nwachuku, Moore, Keita (Hector)