Walton Win Late On To Capture All Three Points

By Frankie Boweren

Walton & Hersham captured a dramatic 3-2 victory at the Elmbridge Xcel Sports Hub, in a game which will not be forgotten easily and may be the deciding two points come the end of the season.

This was a much-needed win for The Swans, with the side facing a rough patch before this game leading to three losses out of the five games prior, the losses were narrow but enough to get the oppositions over the line.

Walton went down inside of the first minute of the game, as a Thatcham cross was hit to the front post from the left-hand side, the Walton goalkeeper Liam Allen attempted to punch the ball away but the ball skewed off of his hand which Charlie Nicholas then tried to clear, the ball was not headed away very far and Ceesay headed in from close range to make it 1-0.

The game remained quiet, and cold, until just before the 30 minute mark when the ball went long from Thatcham goalkeeper before Joe Pratley-Jones headed the ball up towards the half way line meeting Alex Kelly who people around the ground thought he was shoved by the Thatcham player who won the header, Howell then picked up the ball from the by-line, drove to the edge of the box and lashed a lovely curling effort from the left into the top left corner to double the visitors lead.

Walton found themselves two goals down, however their day started to take a better turn after conceding another as Palace Francis was let loose on the left-hand side, beating the right back in the process and fizzed a cross into the box which met the boot of Eddie Simon who lifted the ball over the goalkeeper to add a goal for The Swans before the break.

Palace Francis was met with a golden chance after the restart as the Thatcham goalkeeper had a horrible miss kick that saw his clearance reach the edge of the box, Francis intercepted the clearance and unleashed a rocket which went just wide for a chance to level the game.

Late into the second half, Walton were awarded a corner, the ball was swung in, and Eddie Simon was caught by the boot of an opposing player and a penalty was given to The Swans.

Palace Francis stood up to take the penalty, and with a little hop and a step, he calmly converted the shot away, sending the goalkeeper the other way to level the game for Walton very late on.

They were not finished yet, however, as in the final few minutes of the game Charlie Nicholas brought the ball into the area and took it wide, he laid the ball off to new debutant Brian Garzon who produced some fantastic dribbling to beat the defender and lash a powerful shot into the bottom left corner, winning the game for The Swans from a nearly impossible situation.

Following this win Walton find themselves into a good position to sit high in the league going into the new year, and face Southall at home for their next game in the Velocity Cup.