A gritty Ewell performance dealt their prospects of bringing home the Geoff Ellis Junior Shield no harm as the side booked a semi-final place at the expense of Junior Division Four’s Cheam Village Warriors ‘A’. Rollers Athletic are perhaps the expected opponents, should they negotiate a potential banana skin in the form of either Old Town or Redhill Town, and if so would constitute a third instalment in the trilogy of Rollers vs AFC tussles as the season approaches its climax, games with both league and cup ramifications.  
The game itself seemed to be in keeping with Ewell’s First Round tie against John Fisher Old Boy’s in that they were unable to truly get out of the early gears and reach full tilt. Whilst the surface was not quite ideal this might do a disservice to Ewell’s opponents on the day, as they hassled, harried and hacked admirably throughout the game, living up to their billing as ‘Warriors’. Their robust approach aimed at ruffling the feathers of the away side clearly paid dividends, and their majority share of the four cards issued during the occasionally fiery game certainly demonstrates the physicality on show. Clancy was on the receiving end of the usually abrasive treatment that he endures, meanwhile, Groves joined the lonely Chipperton in the notorious yellow card club, though surely this innocuous decision would have been rescinded upon appeal. 
Uncharacteristically, chances were at something of a premium in the first half as Ewell seemed to stutter and falter on the occasions in which they did get into dangerous positions in the final third. They did manage to take the lead in what turned out to be a bit of a goal mouth scramble following a set piece, and after some head tennis Kingshott opened his Saturday’s account with an authoritative finish, drilling home the bouncing ball from the penalty spot. His strike was the difference at the interval and Ewell’s slender 1-0 lead, though not entirely convincing, would have been sufficient to see them progress in the competition, and thus cool heads were called for in the second half to ensure that the game was seen out, at the very least. 
However, Cheam were obviously reading from a different script, and threatened to dash Ewell’s hopes by grabbing an equaliser at around the hour mark, though perhaps this was not undeserved as Ewell had failed to kick on despite a few warnings and close-shaves. Indecisive defending from a set piece was the source of Ewell’s undoing, with a Cheam player steeling in to finish from close range and putting the tie in doubt. Ewell were determined to put the game to bed before the looming prospect of extra time came into effect, as the longer the score remained deadlocked the more confident the underdogs appeared. 
A late flurry of goals did ensure that the blushes were spared, as the game’s third decisive set piece action swung the game back into Ewell’s favour, as Stroud doubled his seasonal tally by tucking away from close range after another mini scramble, getting his reward after a series of foraging runs down the right wing that unsettled the opposition backline. The defence, marshalled by Williams and M.O.M. Davies, ensured that a second Cheam fight back was repelled, and the gloss was provided by a Keogh cameo, as his late brace put the game beyond doubt. His first (and Ewell’s third) came after he executed a right foot volley from the edge of the 6-yard box beyond the clutches of the Cheam keeper, much to the delight and possible surprise of his team mates, whilst his second and the game’s final goal was something more familiar: a trademark sweeping strike from the left hand side that nestled into the far right corner. 
Whilst 4-1 might have flattered Ewell on this occasion, an understandable feeling of relief perhaps best sums up the post-match mood. Roll on the (Rollers) Semi-Final.