Molesey 4 Raynes Park Vale 1

Three goals in eight minutes either side of half-time sent Molesey on their way to their maiden victory over Raynes Park Vale.

The visitors had stood toe-to-toe with the Moles up until that point, with Gavin Bolger getting a deserved equaliser midway through the first half, after Arnold Tawonezvi had deflected Shane Sinclair’s volley past Ed Cornwell from good play by Sam Lampard and Dan Coombes.

Farid Ebrahim-Zadeh and Rob Lewis came in for the injured Lewis Ackerman and Andy Graves in the only changes to the side that beat Bedfont on Saturday, although the opportunity to see Lewis’s Cafu-like raids down the right wing were short-lived.

With the impressive Jordan McCartney hobbling off after half-an-hour to be replaced by Dan Lucas, Lewis switched to his favoured position of centre-half.

Shortly after taking the lead, a fine team move involving Coombes and Lampard presented a chance to Ebrahim-Zadeh but, with the angle tight and James McShane unmarked and screaming for the ball to be squared, the in-form Ebrahim-Zadeh shot narrowly over.

Ebrahim-Zadeh was in the thick of the action again shortly afterwards, when a corner dropped invitingly for him on the edge of the box, but his drive just cleared the post.

Vale equalised when Wester Young could only claw away a corner that fell kindly to Bolger, who headed in from close range.

The visitors came close to taking the lead two minutes later, when a terrific, raking cross-field ball by ex-Mole Matt Jordan picked out Kabuye Arafat, who crossed dangerously across the six-yard line, just evading the head of Rob Harmeston.

Moses Spencer headed narrowly over, before the Moles regained the lead first-half in stoppage time, Ebrahim-Zadeh heading McShane’s corner against the bar, with the ball clipping the heel of the unlucky Cornwell and dropping in.

Tawonezvi and Vale’s David Mosley missed early second-half chances, although, within seven minutes of the restart, the Moles had an unassailable lead. A great ball from Lucas picked out Sinclair, whose cross was unselfishly headed back across goal by Lampard for Tawonezvi to fire in.

Vale did not learn their lesson from the second goal and Ebrahim-Zadeh powered in a header shortly afterwards to put the Moles 4-1 up.

The closest either side came to adding to their total was when Spencer saw an effort harshly ruled out by a linesman’s flag when replays suggested he was onside, before Jordan was desperately unlucky not to score his first goal at Walton Road when his free-kick from distance came back off the post.

Moles: Wester Young, Rob Lewis, Luke Elliott, Jordan McCartney (Dan Lucas 30), Moses Spencer [C], Dan Coombes (Paul Gough 82), Shane Sinclair, Sam Lampard, Arnold Tawonezvi (Gareth Witter 83), James McShane

Subs (not used) Mickey Hughes, Ross Defoe