Chipstead 1 Tooting and Mitcham United 1
Combined Counties - 04/11/2025
Report by: Ed Parlett
Match Report
After the weekend triumph at Fleet which saw Tooting & Mitcham move up to second in the table, hopes were high as the Terrors travelled to the other side of Croydon to face (relatively) local rivals Chipstead. In the event, a boggy pitch – which is never a great surface at the best of times – turned this one into a war of attrition, and two late goals ensured the points were shared – probably deservedly.
Chips are a strange outfit; they’ve recorded some impressive results this term – such as the early season home win over Redhill – but have also slipped to some disappointing defeats, some by large margins which has left their goals against column amongst the worst in the division (only bottom of the table Guildford City had conceded more, coming into this fixture.) Still, they were in pretty good nick going into this one, with four successive wins behind them. And that was reflected in the confident start, which saw former Terror Taurean Roberts shoot over, and Carl Oblitey coming even closer – hitting the inside of a post. Another former Terror, Sam Williams, was then foiled by a goal-line clearance as Tooting rode their luck. The Terrors finally began to show some bite as an attacking force as half-time approached; Shay Brennan slid the ball past home keeper Mo Otuyo, but defender Theo Crawford got back to clear it.
As the second half progressed, both sides became increasingly bogged down in midfield, and it looked as if one goal would be enough to win it, so when Declan Smith found space in the box, and drove the ball past Otuyo, who fumbled it into the net with fourteen minutes left, it seemed that might be another three points in the bag. But credit to Chipstead, who kept battling away, and forced an equaliser through Pele Dunn who controlled it nicely and shot home from the edge of the box.
With Andy O’Brien sin-binned towards the end, Chips sensed a late winner might be there for the taking, but the remaining Terrors defenders held firm under heavy pressure and secured another away point which kept the unbeaten league record on the road intact.