Ewell endured a frustrating Saturday afternoon last week after arriving at the away ground only to discover the game had been called off the night before, and therefore entered into this game seeking to compensate for the unwanted day off (with the rearranged fixture scheduled to be played midweek). Their opposition, Tooting Bec ‘A’, had posed a stern challenge in the reverse fixture at the opening of the season, and Ewell’s slender 1-0 victory on that occasion marked their first of the campaign.
Whilst the home team has no doubt improved considerably since the early stages of the season, a tight affair was anticipated nonetheless, particularly as the afternoon’s inclement weather would certainly ensure that the tie would be a dogged battle; as the pitch would certainly cut up over the course of the 90 minutes. The first ten minutes of the game lived up to this expectation, as the driving wind and rain made for a scrappy start, with both sides largely unable to enjoy prolonged spells of possession.
Playing the first half uphill, and against the wind, Ewell defended resolutely and gradually began to carve out some opportunities as the game progressed. The players were encouraged to fire off shoots whenever an opening arose, something they rehearsed prior to kickoff, and this nearly paid dividends on a couple of occasions. Firstly, Chipperton drove a free-kick towards goal that the opposition repelled for a corner, whilst  Keogh’s instinctive half volley on the turn from the edge of the box sailed narrowly over. Ewell’s most incisive move of the half came when Groves collected the ball in midfield and drove on at the Tooting defence before neatly slipping Stroud through, and the latter calmly slotted home before being wiped  out by the onrushing keeper, although the raised offside flag meant the effort was chalked off, which , on balance, was the right call. At the other end Tooting arguably squandered the first half’s most clear cut chance, as they were unable to capitalise when the ball landed favourably at the feet of an attacker on the penalty spot, though this was the only real occasion in which they had threatened.
A draw at the half way mark was a fair reflections of proceedings thus far, and Ewell were fully aware that they needed to take their performance to the next level in order to bag the three points they desired. They started the half brightly and forced the Tooting keeper into a few more saves shortly after the restart, and continued to get into threatening positions on a regular basis. The Tooting keeper, who had succeeded so far in hampering Ewell’s hopes of the game’s opening goal, inadvertently assisted Ewell in breaking the deadlock when attempting to play out from the back. Terrington pounced on the under-cooked throw aimed in the direction of their fullback, and after striding forward into the 18-yard box he cut the ball back to Davies, who made no mistake with the finish. The goal clearly provided some much needed breathing space in what remained a tightly contested game, and a second goal was needed in order to make things more comfortable. In keeping with recent weeks, a set piece once more proved to be profitable, although consultation with the Dubious Goals Panel was required in order to designate the goal scorer. Bullock ultimately received the nod in this respect, as his in-swinging free kick evaded Chipperton’s boot by a whisker and sufficiently bamboozled the Tooting keeper, as the ball nestled into the back of net to double Ewell’s lead – once again, the right call was made.
Whilst some wayward finishing, tired legs, and a referee intent on getting home for the rugby with plenty of time to spare conspired to see the game end 2-0. However, in shutting out Tooting for the second time this season Ewell procured a consecutive clean sheet and three hard fought, valuable points, all of which bodes well for season’s impending climax.