Eversley and California 0 Tooting and Mitcham United 0 – 6 September 2025 Report

Match Report

There was little to enthuse about in the Hampshire countryside, as the Terrors battled to a point on a tricky surface in the late-summer sunshine.

The club representing two local villages had been promoted last season, after winning the play-offs in the Combined Counties League Division One, and are now enjoying their first season at the highest level they have ever competed at. They’d started the season impressively – with a 3-2 opening day triumph at Tadley-Calleva – but were yet to record a three-pointer on their own turf, after defeats to Sheerwater and Thatcham Town and draws with Camberley Town and Chipstead. I suppose we won’t really know until the end of the campaign whether this was a point gained or two dropped, but there were very few clear-cut chances at either end and – on the day – a point apiece was about right; the ninety minutes could be fairly summed up (in every sense) by one simple word – ‘stalemate’.

The pattern of the first-half was set early on; the Terrors realised their attempts to play the ball to feet on an uneven surface were largely futile, and were forced into launching long-balls which is not the sort of offence manager Jamie Byatt favours by choice.

Shay Brennan had probably the clearest chance of the first half, but shot over (if you want to blame the bobble on the pitch, Shay, we won’t argue) with the sort of chance he often buries.

The hosts were either content to let Tooting come to them, or also don’t really fancy their chances going forward on this sort of surface; either way, they were kept at arm’s length by the visiting defence, and restricted to long-range efforts – none of which paid Toby McKimm in the Terrors goal any sort of inconvenience, as the half petered out to its predictable conclusion.

The second period followed much the same pattern – clear-cut chances were almost non-existent, and the likelihood of the deadlock being broken seemed to rest with set-pieces, or a mis-timed challenge giving away a spot-kick or two.

Along with the spartan facilities on offer (there were no toilets within the enclosure, for example – comfort breaks needing to be taken a short hike away in the clubhouse), this was also an extremely difficult ground to access, if one was attempting it by public transport. Therefore, the attendance of 63 – at least half of whom were on hand to support the visitors

Team Lineup