After a thorough pre-season programme, AFC Ewell had done all they could going into the new season, and they went into this opening fixture keen to avoid a repeat of their disastrous first game of last year.
The first few minutes showed that it was too soon to cast the WD40 aside, as not all of the rust had been removed and Ewell struggled to string together passes. After their impressive league performance last year, there is no doubt that teams will go into matches wanting to beat Ewell in order to through down a marker, as the home side’s unbeaten league run stretched back to more than 11 months prior to kick-off. Ewell certainly faced a challenge in terms of preserving this record, as within 20 minutes they were trailing after Trinity grabbed a sloppy goal from a corner.
This was not in the pre-match script, yet Ewell needed to show resiliency if they were to come away with anything, and they reacted in a positive manner after going behind. Keogh almost provided the perfect response minutes later, as his instinctive left foot drive brought a fantastic save from the opposition keeper, with the latter somehow clawing the ball out of the top corner. Clancy had great success terrorising a Trinity fullback, but other than a few promising build ups in and around the area, Ewell were unable to mount any real pressure. The game had a particularly disjointed feel, which was not helped by a pedantic referee who relished any opportunity to impose his authority, no matter how trivial the ‘offence’.
Ewell’s improved end to the half meant they trundled off at the interval feeling slightly more optimistic, as Trinity had offered little attacking threat and the home side could launch an all out assault heading down the hill for the final 45 minutes. It didn’t take long for the balance of play to shift drastically, as Trinity soon realised that they were in for a real test as Ewell carved out a catalogue of chances. Chipperton came close when he guided Clancy’s stood-up cross at the back post back where it came from, and whilst he managed to get it over the keeper it looped over the bar, whilst Crawford was seemingly caught in two minds inside the penalty area when presented with an opportunity to shoot. However, Crawford came close to more than making up for this when he took a free-kick from just outside of the area, and having beat the keeper he was unlucky to see his effort graze off the crossbar.
Ewell continued to press and got their reward at around the hour mark, as after a surging run into the box, Groves’ left-footed cross struck an arm – penalty given. During the ensuing debate, the perpetrator saw red for a combination of the offence and some choice language, but a collected Davies stepped up and coolly levelled the score from 12 yards. This really marked a change in the game, as Trinity were evidently content to ensure that the score line remain tied, whilst Ewell sensed an opportunity to go for the throat. Trinity were still reeling from the penalty decision when Kelly seized upon their keeper’s error in parrying a shot and slotted home from close range, but Ewell’s celebrations were cut short when the referee decided to disallow the effort – despite the opposition’s linesman not flagging for offside. Ewell continued to dominate and the frame of the goal once more came to Trinity’s aid, as Webster checked back onto his right foot and delivered a pinpoint cross that Hodge steered towards the back post, only to be denied by the woodwork. Trinity resorted to some gamesmanship in order to run down the clock, though this was hardly surprising as Ewell were well on top by this stage, and despite another red card the away side hung on to the draw.
Ewell would have taken the result at half-time, yet they came away slightly disappointed that they couldn’t claim all three points, which would have topped off a promising display. Nevertheless, plenty of positives can be taken from the game and Ewell will have even more of an incentive heading into next week’s grudge match against Cheam Village Warriors.