After a valuable midweek victory against Eastbourne Borough, we hosted an in-form Chesham United, who were victorious 2-1 when both sides met in the reverse fixture.
The away side have been particularly good on their travels recently, winning five of their last six matches, in a similar manner to our home form, whereby we have seen five victories in our last five matches.
The opening twenty minutes of the affair saw limited opportunities, as both sides largely cancelled each other out.
In the following exchanges, the match opened up somewhat in our favour, as Dennon Lewis curled an effort wide before George Francomb swung in an inswinging cross which was narrowly headed wide of the goal by the opposition defender.
The away side grew in confidence during the first half, however, and reminded us of their threat on the half-hour mark, as Alex Lafleur had a further effort which went wide via a deflection, and Mitchel Weiss stabbed an effort towards goal from the resulting corner, which was comfortably gathered by Harrison Foulkes.
As the match developed, Alex Lafleur was given more freedom to roam forward and soon became his side’s main attacking threat, driving the ball wide once more after a run from the left-hand side before providing a low ball which was turned home by Josh Addae, before the offside flag was raised.
Half-time: Dorking Wanderers 0-0 Chesham United
At the start of the second half, with both sides averaging over one goal scored and conceded per match respectively, the game was set to open up, and we started the half with a desire for it to do so, as Kai Enslin had an effort saved and half-time substitute Harry Sidwell saw an effort blocked.
We played with increased ball retention and greater impetus at the start of the second half, with Dennon Lewis curling an effort over the bar. However, the visitors went ahead with their first effort of the second period.
Mitchell Weiss exchanged passes down the left-hand side before squaring the ball into the path of Jayden Bennetts, who turned the ball home. 56′ 0-1
Bennetts’ opener sparked the match into life as we equalised minutes later.
Kai Enslin was felled after a good run into the opposition box, and Jason Prior coolly dispatched from the penalty spot with a thunderous strike. 60′ 1-1
After the equalising goal, we regained the attacking impetus and almost went ahead in bizarre fashion via Jordan Norville-Williams, as the ball ricocheted off his foot and curled towards the goal; however, goalkeeper Ben Goode was able to scramble backwards and claw the ball off the line.
The away side escaped a further opportunity without damage minutes later as Kai Enslin, growing in confidence in the match, beat his man before playing the ball across the box, which was turned against his own post by Callum Adebiyi, before a goalmouth scramble with ten minutes remaining was unsuccessful for us.
Chesham United also had further efforts in the latter stages of the match, searching for the winner.
Much to the relief of the home fans, Josh Addae sliced the ball wide after a good run left him in an advantageous position, before Matt Lench had an effort from distance which rolled narrowly wide.
In response, debutant Liam Vincent came agonisingly close to the winner, heading against the defender with the goal gaping after good work from Charlie Carter, who drilled wide himself minutes later in the final action of injury time.
The next fixture sees the squad travel to Dagenham and Redbridge next Saturday.
Full-time: Dorking Wanderers 1-1 Chesham United