Chalfont St Peter 2 Windsor 0 (11th February 2023)
A 1pm coin-flip was enough to have me heading into Buckinghamshire for this game, rather than continuing my appalling record for Bracknell home games for their FA Trophy tie v Altrincham. It also just about allowed me time to have the most expensive pub lunch I’ve ever had just up the road, where I hoped the name of the “Greyhound Burger” I ordered was a reference to the pub’s name, rather than the burger’s main ingredient.
Even with my late arrival, at about 2.50, I was somehow able to get a spot about ten metres from the gate, when others seemed to be struggling to find parking. Inside I found a ground which unusually had no seats at the sites, but was seated at both ends. The clubhouse side, whose clubhouse looked like it doubled as a children’s nursery during the week, judging by the toys etc in there, didn’t have any room to build, not did the thin other side, which backed onto a road.
The stand behind one goal was decent, being fairly substantial, if let down by having high netting placed in front of it in the hope of stopping wayward shots bouncing into the community centre beyond. Putting such netting behind the stand might have been more effective, as well as not giving users of this stand an annoying net to look through, but the club must have their reasons.
Next to this was a small disabled enclosure, with red backless seats like those that used to be at the front at the old Wembley. The odds are that they are seats from the old Wembley, in a fine bit of recycling. Then again, anyone who called the Qatar FA a few weeks back could have probably got themselves a 40,000 seat stadium in kit form, if prepared to transport and assemble it themselves.
The other end has just two rows of uncovered seats, bolted onto what would have been perfectly good terracing previously, before ground regulations (I’d assume) forced the club to install seats that virtually nobody wanted. Another pitchside high net made this end less than idea, although if you didn’t mind watching through the net, it was raised enough from the back to offer a reasonable view.
Arriving so late, I didn’t have long to wait for the two teams to emerge. Both clubs play in a fetching red and green combination, with Windsor normally playing in a red, white and green version of the Union Flag. This is unusual enough, but the clash meant they took the field in a shirt of the same design, but in black white and pink. Staunch patriots, unless colour-blind must have mixed feelings, but who knows, maybe the club market it as a Blackpink shirt, in the hope of getting slow-witted k-pop fans to make a purchase.
For a fixture between two sides down near the bottom – Chalfont were in the relegation zone, and Windsor were two places, and four points, above – does lend itself to a concern that tension, and a general lack of confidence, could lead to teams cancelling each other out. With it being, before this, 78 consecutive domestic games away from The Madejski without seeing a 0-0, the lack of form for both teams made that a risk.
Far from being cagey though, both teams started as if they believed this to be a chance to get three points and kick-start their season. Windsor were initially stronger, but the game very quickly settled into a pattern of Chalfont’s midfield dictating the play, and setting their attack players off towards the Windsor goal.
From midfield to the edge of the box, Chalfont actually looked a decent side. It was just when they got there that you could maybe see why they are down at the bottom. Whether it was a poor pass, a lack of control, a lack of vision to pick out a team-mate, taking too much time, not playing an overlap when the chance was there, or just a bit of old-fashioned striker greediness to have a shot when better options were available, Chalfont served up a smorgasbord of ways to waste some very good opportunities, when a little more composure would have resulted in, if not a goal, a very clear chance being created.
It would be harsh to not also praise the Windsor backline for being fully committed in getting back in numbers, but their manager probably wishes they could defend as well forty yards from goal as they can fourteen from it.
It took 25 minutes for Chalfont to go in front. A good corner was swung in towards the back post, where it was headed powerfully against the crossbar. It bounced down on the goal line, and it was the home side who reacted first for a close-range tap-in, in this six-pointer of a game.
Sometimes, when a team gets one after dominating without reward, it gives them a boost in confidence and they rattle in a few more. That didn’t happen in this case, and the game reached half-time with it still only 1-0, and the wonder if they might regret not getting more after being in top.
That looked a possibility in the 2nd half, as Windsor came out looking noticeably more determined, but for some reason it just wasn’t happening for them. They had more of the ball, but flattered to deceive, and other than the odd penalty shout, you didn’t really feel they were about to score.
Slowly, the home side began to assert control again. They’d had one disallowed for offside, before getting the goal that sealed it, with five minutes to go. Put through, the ball was lifted over the advancing keeper, and despite him getting a touch, it wasn’t enough to prevent the ball landing in the net.
Had it come maybe 20-30 minutes earlier, I’ve no doubt Chalfont would have gone on to make the score more convincing, but with the importance of the result, game management had them seeing out the game despite Windsor looking every inch a deflated and beaten side.
The win lifts Chalfont St Peter out of the relegation zone, dropping Wokingham in it, with Windsor just a point ahead now, having played three games more. Based purely on this performance, Chalfont St Peter look like they have enough about them to pull clear of danger, especially if they can sort out working better as a team in the box.
For someone who grew up knowing both Windsor and Wokingham as Isthmian Premier Division clubs, with Windsor one FA Cup replay from a home tie with Manchester United in 1984, seeing both falling on such hard times seems is a shame. “That just about sums up our season” said one disappointed away fan leaving the ground, and it’s hard to disagree.
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