With a starting line up consisting of only seven regulars from last season’s side in Kingshott, Davies, Bullock, Clancy, Chipperton, Keogh and Groves, Ewell did extremely well to emerge victorious in a match against a local rival. In addition to Crawford and Cooper, Ewell drafted in Connor and Elliot from the newly formed Saturday side, a last minute replacement in goal and Sam (James Collins), as well as calling on Stevens for a second half cameo.
However, to suggest this Ewell side was a patched up one would not truly reflect the balance of play in the early stages, as they were able to string together some pleasing football and restrict their opposition’s time on the ball. They were rewarded for their early pressure in the 20th minute, when a simple through ball dissected Epsom’s perilously high back line and enabled Connor to burst through on goal. From the sidelines it may have looked a convincing finish, yet perhaps he was fortunate as it appeared that his attempted chip failed to come off, through in the process it allowed him to round the already committed keeper to tuck the ball home from close range, and avoid a substantial fine! The second and third goals saw Ewell return to their old tricks, as both Keogh and Bullock respectively provided emphatic headed finishes from two free kicks in quick succession (‘from he who must not be named’). This had clearly left Epsom somewhat shell shocked and, fortunately for them, the half time interval came just as Ewell had them on the ropes.
It didn’t take long for Ewell to notch their fourth goal, making it 8 goals in 2 games in the process, as Sam benefited from some defensive uncertainty and capped an impressive performance with a goal. The only slight blemish on the night came as Epsom clawed 2 possibly-avoidable goals back, having hardly had a sniff during the rest of the game. All in all a very pleasing display, special thanks go to those who helped out as injuries, holidays and work took their toll on Ewell’s usual squad members.