Club’s promotion bid left in pieces of eight
In the run up to Maidenhead United's 150th anniversary next month, the club's fixtures secretary Neil Maskell will be dipping into the archives on a weekly basis to shine a light on a key moment or match in the club's history.
The Magpies Diadora League Division 1 promotion hopes were put into some perspective 26 years ago today when high-flying Chertsey Town recorded a staggering 8-2 win at York.
Injury hit Maidenhead were two goals down inside ten minutes in this top-ofthe-table clash. Chris Sparks put The Curfews ahead after three minutes, chesting into an empty net after Trevor Roffey had palmed a Chertsey header onto the crossbar before Lee Charles – who went on to play for Premier League side QPR – scored the first goal of his eventual hat-trick, having time and space to control Jason Tucker’s pass and score.
Yet Maidenhead were back in with a shout before the break. Peter McNamee halved the arrears with a free header and the Magpies man almost levelled things up with another headed chance, kept out by a combination of
Chertsey goalkeeper Adrian Blake and the goalpost.
That was as good as it got for the majority of the 236 crowd however, as the visitors were 4-1 ahead by the hour mark; Jon Denton nodded home unmarked before Charles scored from the spot after he’d been felled in the area by Francis Araguez. Inside the final twenty minutes, Charles assisted Sparks for the latter’s second of the afternoon and then substitute Nabil Youness curled home after
Byron Walton had hit the bar for the rampant visitors.
There was finally something to cheer for the home faithful when Nick Ribeiro scored Maidenhead’s second but in the dying moments firstly Youness and then Charles completed the rout. The result – the first time the Magpies had conceded eight goals at home since the War was put into some perspective as Chertsey eventually secured a third promotion in four seasons. Maidenhead meanwhile won just four of their final sixteen games to slip into the bottom half.