Ewell's final fixture of 2013, an away game against Crescent Rovers 'A', was dominated by one desire: revenge. Ewell's profligacy in front of goal a fortnight before this match cost them dearly, as they allowed the opposition to plunder a point in a highly one-sided affair. A good result last week helped to restore Ewell's belief and an attacking 11 took to the field in the hope of ending the year on a high.
Whilst Ewell were wasteful in the reverse fixture, they conspired to pass up even more opportunities this time around, as they failed to make the most of a catalogue of opportunities in the first half. The slick playing surface contributed towards their impressive display of passing, but a lack of off the ball movement, anticipation and desire to get on the end of crosses/through balls meant that glorious openings went begging. Fortunately for them though, the home side had not really managed to offer any real threat, except during a couple of lapses in concentration from the away team.
The message at half time was relatively simple and implored Ewell to make the most of the chances that they would no doubt fashion in the second half. However, with every passing minute, Ewell seemed to be growing nervy, meanwhile their opposition grew in confidence. Their task was not helped by the physical toll that the game was taking on their players as, despite having the rare luxury of 2 substitutes, a raft of injuries meant that the 11 remaining players were not operating at full capacity.
Tormenting defenders is something that Clancy does best, yet he is not always known for his scoring exploits. However, he followed up his brace against Greenside by netting the opener in this encounter; producing a sharp pirouette and a riffling left footed drive that glanced off the inside of the post after T. Hitch had teed him up. Ewell were obviously delighted with this but were well aware that they still had to weather the storm in both senses of the word, as the driving winds were causing them problems and aided the home team's advances. This was certainly the case when Crescent Rovers grabbed a fortuitious equaliser, as a swirling corner hung for an age before landing at the feet of N. Williams, who inadvertently steered the ball beyond Bunde. This was a bitter blow as they had rarely troubled the Ewell backline, and with under 10 minutes left to play, Ewell began to experience painful pangs of deja vu.
With time running out, Ewell looked to muster one final opportunity, and when Kingshott launched the ball forward from deep in his own half for Clancy to chase, everyone looked on with bated breath. Having advanced to the edge of the box, Clancy released a right footed drive that was far from his cleanest connection. It was well placed though, and when the despairing goalkeeper seemed to dive over the ball, allowing it to nestle into the back of the net, wild celebrations erupted. However, these had to be quickly muted as Ewell had another 2 minutes to see out. Thankfully, they defended resolutely and repelled the last ditch attempts of their opposition with a dogged determination.
Ewell have had to learn the hard way that there are no easy games in this division, but once again demonstrated that they are able to dig deep when it matters most. Clancy's dramatic late winner meant that they would spend Christmas perched at the top of the JD2 tree, giving them even more to celebrate at the approching Christmas social.