Report by Jools Thomas

FC meekly relinquished their grip on the Berks and Berks Trophy as visitors Chesham comprehensively beat the Moles with a display of finishing that left all understanding exactly how the Generals have achieved so much recent FA Cup success, taking on a team including experienced Premiership players Barry Hayles and Darren Purse coupled with the pace of Dave Pearce and Ryan Blake was always going to be a tall order and thus it proved to be.

Dave Carty for FC was one of the few plus points in the first half for the Moles and on six minutes, a loose ball was picked up and Carty lofted an effort which beat the keeper but alas smacked off the bar to safety. Ten minutes later Barry Hayles hit a pot shot from the left hand side which FC keeper Jack Brooker did well to parry. Ex Mole Ryan Blake then hit a routine header straight at Brooker as Chesham started to get on top.

Barry Hayles missed an open goal on 22 minutes before Blake danced around Brooker however he found the angle to be too acute and the chance went begging. Hayles challenged for the ball in Chesham's next attack with Blake hitting a decent effort that Brooker did well to save. A third chance within the melee went to Sam Youngs who skewed his chance wide.

Toby Little fired in a cross shot which Brooker tipped over and this was soon followed by the opening goal. A penalty was awarded for what appeared to be pushing and shoving in the area with Dave Pearce placing the penalty perfectly down the middle with the keeper diving elsewhere. Hayles later struck the post with a decent effort before FC had a chance of their own. Carty played in James Faulkner and he hit a well-directed if predictable shot that woke Chesham keeper Matt Nolan from his daydreams.

If FC had done well to batten down in the hatches 1st half, the second half saw them collapse as a defensive unit. Vinny Greco had swept had a ball wide for FC early in the half but disaster struck when Dave Pearce's innocent cross shot was fumbled by Brooker who saw the ball bobble over him into an empty net. Pearce then stung Brooker's fingers with a quality effort and then Sam Youngs let fly with a shot which just cleared the bar.

On 64 minutes Hayles robbed his man on the edge of the box but Brooker saved with what some may describe as a save for the cameras. It wasn't long however before Chesham grabbed their third. The Moles defence failed to clear their lines and United substitute Drew Roberts was there at the back post to profit from close range.

Chesham were now starting to enjoy themselves as FC's defensive frailties were again cruelly exposed. It is fair to say that Ryan Blake proved somewhat inconsistent in his short time at the SRD Stadium however there was no hesitancy as he danced through the home defence before bending a delightful shot into the bottom corner for four nil.

As a few disgruntled FC followers shuffled back to their cars to beat the rush, Pearce completed his hat trick when he grabbed his side's fifth goal of the evening with a powerful header leaving home keeper Brooker no chance.