Tooting and Mitcham United 0 Cobham 4 – 5 August 2025 Report

Last season’s play-off runners-up Cobham started their league season with a bang at Imperial Fields, even if the final scoreline was a little flattering in their favour.

The first half was fairly evenly contested, with the Terrors – fresh off the FA Cup win over Varndeanians down at Newhaven – perhaps even shading the action for the majority of the 45 minutes

Yet that counted for nothing, six minutes before the break, when Derick Hayford chased a seemingly lost cause – the Tooting defence having given the ball up for dead as it rolled towards the byline – to retrieve and then cross the ball back into the danger zone. Former Terror Elijah Simpson saw glory beckoning as it dropped to him and must have envisioned a beautiful connection which saw the ball fly past Toby McKimm for a ‘worldie’ finish. It didn’t quite happen like that, his boot connecting with a wayward slice which, on another day might have threatened the corner flag; on this occasion, though, his luck was in and the ball flew from his foot into the top corner, leaving Toby with no chance.

Indeed, it was Toby who should be thanked for keeping the score down to one as Tooting finished the half in somewhat ragged fashion, the defence opening up to allow Hayford a chance with only the keeper to beat, but Toby repelled him not once, not twice but thrice (the latter two whilst being prone on the deck) to thwart the chance, with the whistle going shortly after.

There was still no indication of what was to come as Tooting started the second period brightly, and continued to match the Hammers for much of the half. Chances continued to be carved out, with an equaliser looking just as likely (if not more so) as a second goal for Cobham. Indeed, the normally reliable Shay Brennan had a glorious chance to restore parity, finding himself one-on-one with visiting ‘keeper Conrad Knight after an inch-perfect through pass, but took a little too long when he would normally have instinctively shot nice and early, and the chance was gone as he could only find Knight’s midriff.

That was to prove to be the one that got away as Tooting, perhaps feeling a bit heavy-legged after the weekend’s exertions, lost Wassiem Ahmed, Nathan Mampono and influential skipper Antonio Simeone to knocks, and Cobham took full advantage to pull away in the closing stages.

With eighteen minutes left, Simpson got his second with another bit of good fortune as the ball ricocheted around the box before falling nicely for the former Terror to stab home. His striking partner Hayford then got in on the act with a neatly taken third with nine minutes of normal time remaining. And substitute Theo Huey-Walker then rubbed salt into the wound with number four deep into stoppage time to leave the Terrors looking shellshocked and well beaten on the night.