Epsom and Ewell 1-3 Hayes & Yeading United. Emirates F.A. Cup Preliminary Round. Saturday 17th August 2024.

We were defeated in our latest F.A. Cup match by Step Four Hayes & Yeading United FC at the KGF on Saturday, but I couldn’t help wondering how different this match might have been, had we not had such an awful start to the contest.

In terms of personnel, Craig Dundas returned from honeymoon while Adam Green was suspended after his Guildford indiscretion, so Callum Wilson took on the Captain’s armband for the first time in twelve months. Up front Kenny Antony came in for Carl Oblitey who was on the bench. On a hot day, a decent cup tie crowd of 160 were present to watch the action as we kicked off towards the Chessington end of the ground with a switch to four at the back for this match, maybe respecting the level of our opponents, or maybe just due to player availability, as yet again we failed to name a full bench.

The visitors started off with an early sighter from the edge of the penalty area that was just wide of Faebian Witter’s left hand post, but the next chance fell to us in the sixth minute, and it was a really good one. Will Kendall robbed a defender and Fabio Nunes sent the loose ball into the stride of Antony. Arguably he had too long to think about it though and sliced his shot high and wide from just twelve yards.

When playing a team from a higher league, it is not rocket science to suggest that we must take the chances we get, as we may not get many. This was clearly highlighted within seven minutes by which time we had conceded twice! The first goal in the tenth minute was a real morale sapper as a harmless ball in from the right wing should have been gathered by Witter, yet despite being under no pressure, somehow the ball rebounded off him and worse still, it went behind him and into the net! The visitors credited the goal to their man Adrian Clifton, so we’ll leave it at that. Three minutes later there was no disputing Clifton’s second goal as he took a nice touch and followed it with a clinical volley from twelve yards that gave our keeper no chance.

It would be easy to think that this was game over, just thirteen minutes into the match. Indeed, after missing a chance and then conceding in such bizarre circumstances, morale could drop here, but to our credit we continued to work hard. However, maybe unexpectedly, we then had two more great opportunities within a matter of minutes, firstly when the visiting keeper Juliusz Pazio kicked the ball straight out to Luke Miller, just twenty yards out, who inexplicably couldn’t control the ball and ended up knocking it straight back to the keeper!

A pair of cards, one for each team, followed midway through the half as both teams battled for the middle ground before Antony sent a good cross over, but with no one there to finish it off. As we approached the 40 minute mark Miller put over a great cross to the far post, but Antony’s volley, with his admittedly weaker foot, flew into the side netting from twelve yards out. Witter was being kept busy too and he had to come out of his area to chest the ball clear, but the final Epsom chance came in injury time when Antony did well to rob his man and square the ball to Kendall, who got there first, but a defender was there just afterwards and his contact slowed the ball down on its way, allowing Pazio to clutch the ball, almost in slow motion, just a couple of inches from the line. We had created four great chances, yet were 2-0 down at the interval!

The second half was a little quieter in terms of real chances and our only real opportunity in the opening twenty minutes came on the hour when Miller did well on the right but the pull back to Nunes was met by a slice that a golfer would have been unhappy with, as the ball skewed across goal and out for a throw!

The visitors then extended their lead in the 63rd minute with a corner that was met by a strike from Adam Martin, only for Hani Bircheche to get a close range touch to the shot, giving Witter no chance. This was a little harsh on our boys and we deservedly reduced the deficit in the 74th minute when Nunes played a one-two with our newly introduced substitute Fabian de Lima and finished off the return pass into the left hand bottom corner from twelve yards. It was such a simple goal, but the first one in competitive action at the KGF in nearly four matches. De Lima looks quite a lively player and he had a great twenty minute cameo on his debut.

Witter made a smart near post save as time ticked down and ultimately we were unable to threaten the visitors further in this match. However, you couldn’t help but wonder whether this match might have ended with a different winner if we hadn’t started so badly. Ultimately, we never got the chance to see what our opponents would have done under a bit of pressure, but make no mistake, we will have to start taking our chances, starting on Tuesday at Sandhurst Town, who also lost in the F.A. Cup this Saturday.

Epsom & Ewell: Faebian Witter, Toby Young, Ethan Nelson-Roberts, Stefan Aiwone, Callum Wilson, Craig Dundas, Luke Miller, Axel Kodjo, Will Kendall, Fabio Nunes, Kenny Antony

Subs: Felipe de Lima for Kodjo (61), Carl Oblitey for Dundas (75), Ethan Brazier for Aiwone (78)

Report Source: www.eefconline.co.uk

Epsom and Ewell 0-2 Jersey Bulls. Combined Counties League – Premier Division South – Tuesday 13th August 2024.

Jersey Bulls are not the sort of team you want to face, having just been hit for five goals in our previous outing. However, we acquitted ourselves fairly well on the day and a two goal defeat, the second of which came quite late, was a lot better than I had feared it might be. An attendance counted at just 84 was a disappointing one, considering the opposition.

In terms of personnel, Callum Wilson and Carl Oblitey returned to the starting line up, although Craig Dundas remained absent and Thompson Adeyemi was also missing, while Reece Tierney’s head injury ensured that he would not be available for selection either. Stefan Aiwone made his first start, while Kenny Antony was on the bench, but would join the fray later.

Our keeper Faebian Witter was in action early, diving low to his left to keep out a low free kick from James Sunlay and another shot went just over our crossbar as the visitors tried to assert themselves. They probably should have scored in the 18th minute but Fraser Barlow scuffed his shot wide from in front of goal. We had showed fairly little to this point, struggling to get the ball up to our front two, Oblitey and Will Kendall. However, Luke Miller took a long pass in his stride in the 25th minute and made tracks down the right, only for his ball across goal to be spooned over the bar by Oblitey from eighteen yards.

The visitors were doing more of the work, but we were keeping them mostly at arm’s length. A free kick was sent into the wall by Barlow, before Sunray got down the right wing after some clever interplay, but there was no one on the end of his cross. They had a penalty shout in the 31st minute after Witter collided with a visiting player, but it looked ambitious and nothing was given. However, four minutes later they took the lead after a right wing cross was met at the far post by a header from Miguel Carvalho that Toby Young tried to keep out, but was unable to, with both he and the ball ending up in the net.

We had a decent chance in the 38th minute with a free kick. Adam Green’s delivery was flapped at by the Jersey keeper Evan van der Vliet under pressure from Oblitey and the ball was nodded back to Kendall whose header entered the net, despite an attempt to block it with the hand of a defender. Just as we were wondering whether the defender would be penalised for the handball, it transpired that the Assistant’s flag had already been raised for an offside against Oblitey and the chance was gone. Wilson then blocked a good effort just before the break and the teams went in separated by just the one goal.

The second half followed a similar pattern, although we did register a shot on target just after the hour mark when Fabio Nunes struck at goal from twenty-five yards, providing Van der Vliet with a comfortable save. Carlos Polo-Infante came on for Alex Kodjo but we never had the chance to see whether this would make a difference as in the 69th minute Young was sent off for a challenge on Carvalho that was extremely solid, but just a little high for the referee’s liking.

The extra man enabled the visitors to attack with a little more freedom and in the 78th minute they had a second goal with a move that started on the right and was finished off from a narrow angle by Jonny Le Quesne. Although we had battled well to this point, Jersey did deserve that two goal lead and despite a late cameo from Antony, which included one mazy run, there was more chance that we would concede again and Aiwone did really well to block a shot from Lorne Bickley who had scored both goals against us when we last visited the island in September of last year.

Witter made a good block from a volley at goal from the subsequent half cleared corner and the final whistle blew soon after. Whilst always disappointing to lose, it was maybe no surprise that we would concede twice as this was our fourth meeting and Jersey have scored two goals in each of them. No one could argue that the better side had won, but from an Epsom point of view, this was a marked improvement on our Saturday shocker against Guildford City and although we face another difficult match on Saturday, a hard working shift is the minimum requirement expected by the supporters. I believe we got that in this match.

Epsom & Ewell: Faebian Witter, Toby Young, Callum Wilson, Adam Green ©, Stefan Aiwone, Fabio Nunes, Luke Miller, Axel Kodjo, Will Kendall, Carl Oblitey, Ethan Nelson-Roberts

Subs: Carlos Polo-Infante for Kodjo (67), Kenny Antony for Oblitey (86)

Epsom and Ewell 0-5 Guildford City. Combined Counties League – Premier Division South. Saturday 10th August 2024. On Tuesday our club acclaimed a “great” performance in defeating Step Four Phoenix Sports; a club that faced severe budget cuts and a new Manager who started eleven new players against us in the first tie, and who will surely struggle this season at that level. I wrote at the time that it had been a solid performance but nothing more. Fast forward four days and I was proven right as we threw in a shocker to open our League season as Guildford City; one of the few teams to finish below us last season, handed us a five goal lesson at King George’s Field and provided a reminder that no club in this League will give us anything unless we earn it in every single game.

We were missing Carl Oblitey, Callum Wilson and Craig Dundas from Tuesday’s win, with Kenny Antony coming back in to the starting line up and at the back Reece Tierney made his first start of the season, alongside new signing Axel Kodjo. Just 93 were present, despite the sunshine, to witness this display which was probably just as well! It was also disappointing to note that our club have now increased adult prices to £9 and as a result we now charge as much as anyone in this division and more than most, which I wish they had been open and honest about, instead of sneaking it under the radar and hoping no one would notice. When considering our finishing position of 16th last season, it’s hard to see the justification for this increase at a time when they should be trying to attract supporters. A lazy “double-issue” programme priced at £2.50 didn’t help either. In fifteen years as programme editor, I only ever did that over Bank Holidays when printers were closed and can confirm from much experience in this area that the excuses provided within the programme for doing this were bogus. If our new Editor wants some help or advice, he only has to drop me a line.

We had an opening warning as early as the sixth minute when Manny Acheampong was left in a lot of space on the right, requiring Faebian Witter to make a really good low save to deny him from only twelve yards. However, we didn’t heed the warning and five minutes later they worked their way down the left, dragging our players across and leaving Darnell Jon-Peter with an easy finish when the ball was sent over to him on the right.

This was frustrating, but there was plenty of time left to rectify matters if we could improve, and to be fair things did get better for a while. Luke Miller combined well with Thompson Adeyemi to set up Antony, only for our striker to miss his kick completely from the edge of the area. Antony redeemed himself by hitting the target with his next effort after some really clever skill from Ethan Nelson-Roberts, but visiting keeper Jacob Terry made a good block at the near post. Then Miller sent in a good delivery that was flicked on and punched out off a defender for a corner, from which the ball was half cleared to Will Kendall at an angle and on the edge of the area, but his powerful strike cleared the bar by about a foot.

It was looking as though we were quite likely to get back into this match, but in the 34th minute the game took a fatal turn as a cross in from the left was met with a close range header that Adam Green did really well to tip over the bar. The only problem was that Green was not our keeper and his inevitable red card, followed by Jake Brown’s penalty conversion, left us in a mess. Some might say that his actions were instinctive and I’d agree with that if he were our keeper! In fact, I’d say it was a worthwhile thing to do, had we been defending a narrow lead towards the end of the game, but at 1-0 down, the handball was inexcusable. Green will also now have to serve a one match suspension, which I believe will be our next F.A. Cup tie on Saturday.

In difficult situations like this, you often find out how your players will react, but nothing really happened by way attacking threat, with our only chance coming in the third minute of first half injury time when a great pass from Nelson-Roberts was chested down by Miller and he was through on goal from a slight angle, but Terry stood firm between the City posts and Miller uncharacteristically put his shot into the side netting from ten yards. Had it gone in, maybe it would have given us a chance of second half redemption, but instead we went in completely deflated.

Our Manager understandably made changes at the interval with Carlos Polo-Infante and Stefan Aiwone (called Hiwone by the club) coming on for Antony and Thompson Adeyemi respectively, but the visitors came out in confident mood against the ten men and extended their lead in the 50th minute with a strike that was at least twenty-five yards out and swerved viciously away from Witter who had no chance as it flew into the top corner. Even their keeper Terry said “he’ll never score another one like that again!” It was a wonderful strike, and nine minutes later there was another one of high quality, as Malachi Cole made it 4-0 when we were caught cold by a short free kick; the Guildford man cutting back and striking across Witter into the far corner from a narrow angle. It clearly wasn’t going to be our day today!

Things got worse still in the 67th minute after we again failed to react to a deep free kick to the far post that was put back across by Tobi Falodi with Young being unable to clear the ball off the line before it had crossed. However, the visitors X feed advised this as an own goal, so clearly it wasn’t quite as straightforward as I described. Either way though it was 0-5.

With fifteen minutes remaining Polo-Infante sent in a good cross from the right that was met by a bullet header from Kendall from just inside the penalty area that Terry reacted superbly to tip over the bar. This was a superb passage of football from both teams and we then saw Young’s header from the subsequent corner aim goalwards, only to hit teammate and debutant substitute Sean Omoigiade-Agun and rebound to safety!

Witter made two more good saves and we finished with nine men after Tierney suffered a head injury and had to leave the field in the 85th minute. Although the visitors then hit the post with a low shot in the 92nd minute, they were unable to breach our defences again and the referee helped us out here by only playing four minutes of injury time, despite there being closer to ten minutes expected in my opinion.

So what positives can we take from this defeat? As you might expect, not many. Witter did as well as he could and from where I was, I don’t believe he could have done any more with the goals. Kendall provided a threat on occasions, but the whole task was rendered impossible after Green’s unnecessary red card. With very difficult looking home matches coming up against Jersey Bulls and Hayes & Yeading United in the next seven days, it will take a monumentally better performance than this one if we are to get anything out of either of those contests. If we do, then they truly will be “great” performances.

Epsom & Ewell: Faebian Witter, Toby Young, Reece Tierney, Adam Green ©, Axel Kodjo, Fabio Nunes, Luke Miller, Thompson Adeyemi, Will Kendall, Kenny Antony, Ethan Nelson-Roberts

Subs: Carlos Polo-Infante for Antony (HT), Stefan Aiwone for Adeyemi (HT), Sean Omoigiade-Agun for Nelson-Roberts (62), Sirak Negassi for Miller (70)

_{Report Source: www.eefconline.co.uk}

Phoenix Sports 1-3 Epsom and Ewell FC. Emirates F.A. Cup Extra-Preliminary Round Replay – Tuesday 6th August 2024.

Well this was a strange one! With just fifteen minutes remaining, we trailed Isthmian League Phoenix Sports and the match appeared to be petering out into a 1-0 defeat, but a Carl Oblitey flick on put Will Kendall through to equalise in the 77th minute and within eight minutes he had a hat trick as our opponents fell apart in the closing stages of our 3-1 F.A. Cup win!

On a warm summer’s evening in front of just over 150 spectators, even though Phoenix advised it as a suspiciously low 108, we made two changes from the eleven that had started Saturday’s goalless encounter, with Oblitey coming in up front for the absent Carlos Polo-Infante and Fabio Nunes taking the place of Kenny Antony who was on the bench. This required a slight change of formation with the two strikers up front, which personally, I am a fan of.

Despite this, the match started in similar circumstances to our first meeting, with the home side edging possession in the opening ten minutes before we grew into the match. Toby Young made an excellent early block, before Ethan Nelson-Roberts crossed in a low ball to Kendall, but his shot was straight at Rob Budd in the Phoenix goal. Then we probably should have taken the lead in the 15th minute when another great cross from Nelson-Roberts was met by the unmarked Kendall at the far post, but his header back across goal was inches wide of the far post!

The home side, who had a change of Management over the close season and had given eleven debuts on Saturday were forced into an early substitution, yet somewhat against the run of play they opened the scoring in the 23rd minute when a Jack Marney corner to the far post was met by an unmarked header from Marcus Travers into the top corner of the net from close range, giving Faebian Witter no chance. This was a little harsh on our boys, but the lead was nearly extended minutes later as a free kick just missed our far post. We then had a strange incident when Witter saved a low shot, only to get up and collide with Marney in the penalty area. Both players appeared unhappy with the collision, as was the referee who chose to book the pair of them.

Witter was out again to clear smartly, while at the other end Kendall’s header was on target, but was penalised for pushing. At the half, it had been a fairly even match to this stage. Clearly though our Manager Warren Burton wasn’t happy and you could hear him tearing into our players at the break even from outside the dressing room!

Whether this had any effect on the players is hard to say though, as the pattern of the game didn’t really change in the second half. Young set Luke Miller off down the right and his cut in and low shot was gathered by Budd at the second attempt, while Oblitey’s strike from twenty yards didn’t trouble him either. Maybe it was because we were behind, but it was clear that we were doing a bit more of the work as the ball started to spend more time in the Phoenix half. On the hour Kendall went up for a floated cross from Miller, although a subsequent clash of heads appeared to be accidental, and the foul awarded against Kendall seemed harsh from where I was standing.

In the 69th minute we withdrew Craig Dundas and brought Reece Tierney on at the back, which enabled Adam Green to move into the hole vacated by the former Sutton legend, but time was beginning to run out on our cup adventure. Then out of nowhere, it all changed. Kendall drilled the ball past Budd as described above and we were level out of nowhere. Within six minutes Miller cut in from the right and went down under a defender’s challenge. Our winger had gone down theatrically in the first half in similar circumstances, so I wasn’t expecting anything here but after a little thought, the referee awarded the penalty. It was a soft one, but we’ve had them awarded against us often enough before! Kendall put the ball into the top corner in the 83rd minute to give us the lead.

Whilst Budd might not have had a chance with the penalty, he will be the first to admit that our third goal was his fault as a long ball was sent forward and maybe distracted by both Kendall and a defender, he missed his clearance completely, leaving Kendall the empty net from eighteen yards in the 85th minute. It might take me some time to find out whether a hat trick in just eight minutes sets any sort of club record, but in that short time the result changed completely and we saw the game out with no further alarms.

So what actually happened here? I can only think of one similar turnaround like this in recent years, which was our very late 3-2 win over Larkfield & New Hythe back in 2021. Maybe we were fitter than the opposition and it told in the closing stages? Certainly this was something Burton was very keen on focussing on when he took over back in January, although there were no signs of a lack of fitness from Phoenix on Saturday. Maybe it was the substitution of Tierney for Dundas, but sometimes it’s hard to put your finger on why we suddenly took over. Either way, we knocked out an Isthmian League club for the second successive year and won £1,125 as a result. It is now Isthmian League Hayes and Yeading United who stand in our way of a further £1,444 in prize money and we will host them at King George’s Field on Saturday 17th August.

Epsom & Ewell: Faebian Witter, Toby Young, Callum Wilson, Adam Green ©, Craig Dundas, Fabio Nunes, Luke Miller, Thompson Adeyemi, Will Kendall, Carl Oblitey, Ethan Nelson-Roberts

Subs: Reece Tierney for Dundas (69)

^{Report Source: www.eefconline.co.uk}

^{Fire image: Credit: Janne Karaste License details}

Epsom & Ewell 0-0 Phoenix Sports. Emirates F.A. Cup Extra-Preliminary Round. Saturday 3rd August 2024.

Our first competitive match at the ninth official “home” ground in club history took place as we took the field at Corinthian-Casuals’ King George’s Field against Isthmian League Phoenix Sports in the opening round of the F.A. Cup and the contest ended in a largely uneventful goalless draw, with both teams appearing content to hold out for a replay as time ticked down in front of a fairly healthy crowd of 148.

As befits any new match of the season, there were a number of players making their debut, although less than in recent years as Manager Warren Burton chose to retain quite a few from last season. Grabbing all the headlines though was Sutton United Hall of Fame member Craig Dundas, who made his competitive bow in Epsom colours at the age of 43. A few years ago we had 40 year old Jamie Byatt making his debut for the club and I wrote at the time that he would probably be the last player to play for this club who was born before I started watching Epsom and Ewell in 1981. However, since that day we have seen Paul Springett, Reggie Savage and now Dundas who fit into that category with surely the former Sutton man becoming the last. For those who like their stats, our former Manager Ray Purvis holds the record as the oldest player to represent the club at the age of 47 years and 29 days when he took the field at Clapton on 30th April 2005.

Anyway, back to the match! Four players took the field for the first time in defender Toby Young, Dundas, Carlos Polo-Infante and Kenny Antony, with Fabian Nunes joining the action later in the day. Chances were few and far between, although we had an early concern when our keeper Faebian Witter had to come out of his area to clear and conceded a free kick just outside. Fortunately the strike deflected off our wall and away for a fruitless corner. The opening fifteen minutes were slightly more in our opponents favour as they attacked mainly down the left and Young picked up a fairly early yellow card for a foul, although he was then clattered into a few minutes later, earning the Phoenix number 3 a yellow of his own.

The game became more even after this, although not a lot was happening in either penalty area. Our best opportunity of the half came with a cross from Ethan Nelson-Roberts that was a little off target and required a catch on the line from the Phoenix keeper or we might have had a fortuitous opener. Back came the visitors though and a shot from the left was well blocked by a defender before Witter had to get down well to make a good save with his left hand. Nelson-Roberts then picked up a card on the advices of the referee’s assistant and we went in at the break as we had started.

The second half continued in a similar pattern and Phoenix nearly scored with a volley in the 55th minute after a free kick was only headed out as far as the waiting player. Fortunately for us, the well-struck effort from just inside the penalty area cleared our bar, but only just. Luke Miller then created something out of nothing as he controlled a deep ball across the field, just keeping it in play, before running at a defender and crossing into the danger area, although his low ball in was a little too close to the keeper who claimed the ball.

Moments later we had our best chance of the match after a wayward keeper clearance left us with an opportunity. Will Kendall closed the keeper down and the loose ball fell to Polo-Infante, but with a fairly vacant net ahead of him from eighteen yards, he couldn’t keep his shot down. Nunes replaced him shortly after this. Then Miller went down in the area between two defenders, but there was never enough there to award a penalty and the game continued to meander. Kendall was tripped on an attack and everyone appeared to stop, expecting a free kick which wasn’t given and the opposition broke away at goal. However, Young got over well to make the saving challenge.

As the time started to run out Young was just over the bar with a looping header from Adam Green’s corner, while Miller was off target with two tries, although not by that much in either case, particularly the latter effort which almost shaved the far post from an angled shot. Both teams seemed happy enough to take a replay by the end of the match and as a result we will make our first ever appearance at Mayplace Lane, near Dartford on Tuesday evening, which means that our League game at Alton will be moved back. It would have been moved anyway though as Alton also drew in their cup tie.

Looking back at this match, there were quite a few similarities with our goalless cup draw twelve months ago against Met Police. Both they and Phoenix finished in sixteenth position in their respective Isthmian divisions last season and of course, we went on to win that away replay by two goals to nil. I wonder if we can repeat that feat on Tuesday evening!

Epsom & Ewell: Faebian Witter, Toby Young, Ethan Nelson-Roberts, Adam Green ©, Callum Wilson, Craig Dundas, Luke Miller, Thompson Adeyemi, Will Kendall, Carlos Polo-Infante, Kenny Antony

Subs: Fabian Nunes for Polo-Infante (65), Sirak Negassi for Antony (76)

Report Source: www.eefconline.co.uk

James Redfarn adds:

Epsom and Ewell FC new signing Article 

The Epsom and Ewell Football club have pulled off an exciting new signing for the 24/25 season, acquiring the skills and talents of the football veteran Craig Dundas. This player is well known for his immensely impressive tenure at Sutton United, having played over 500 games and scored over 100 goals; Dundas has rightly earned the moniker of Sutton united legend.

At the impressive age of 40, Dundas became one of the oldest players to make a debut in the English Football League. EFL statisticians have proclaimed Dundas to be the oldest debutant since World War Two.

Now at the age of 43, his signature to the Salts is a coup for Epsom and Ewell, adding a wealth of experience and leadership to Warren Burton’s squad. Dundas is expected to deliver not only in terms of skill and composure on the field but also by offering his invaluable experience and guidance to younger teammates.  

In addition to his role as a player, Dundas will serve as a player-coach, a dual role that promises to have a significant impact both on and off the pitch. His presence is anticipated to bolster the team’s performance, offering strategic insights and enhancing team dynamics.

There could be exciting times ahead for Epsom and Ewell FC, and the Dundas effect will hopefully be in full force for the rapidly approaching season.

Our season concluded in appropriate fashion on Saturday as we laboured to a 1-1 draw against Guildford City at the Spectrum.

Five days prior to this match, Tadley Calleva’s win over Colliers Wood United ensured that our two recent wins over Fleet Town and Abbey Rangers had given us enough points to secure our safety, although for some reason our club never made the effort to inform our “Dear supporters” (as they recently called them) of this fact. Either way, Salts players and supporters alike were able to relax a little going into this contest, and I have to say it showed, as we started well but tailed off. Throw in the usual defensive error that confirmed we have to wait until at least August 2024 before we can record our first clean sheet of the calendar year and it meant that the point was enough for our hosts to be certain of confirming their own safety, although as it turned out, results elsewhere meant that they would have survived even had they lost.

We went into this match chasing a third straight win, which would have been the first time all season we had managed this, but it’s hard to know how bothered we were about it. Our Manager Warren Burton was absent and we only named thirteen players in our line up; one of whom, Jaevon Dyer, only arrived ten minutes before kick off. There may have been some valid reasons for the absences and delays, but the question has to be asked about how many players we would have been able to name, if we had still required any points from this match.

Our regular supporters were there in decent numbers, including the returning Alex McKay Senior who appears on the mend after being away for much of 2024. The home side were also well supported at the Spectrum, leading to an attendance of 151 and a well-stocked viewing area on what is realistically the only real open side of the ground.

We had the first opportunity of the match in the sixth minute when a square ball from Thompson Adeyemi reached Sirak Negassi on the edge of the penalty area, but the ball bobbled on him and he skied it well over the bar. Our Captain Ethan Nelson-Roberts was flattened by a late challenge that ought to have earned a yellow card, but didn’t, before Zach Ingham-Wright saw his strike on goal tipped over the bar by Adam Longman. However, Negassi then received a similar opportunity to his previous one in the 16th minute when an Adam Green corner missed everyone at the near post and found our winger, who curled the ball first time into the far corner of the goal to put us ahead. Negassi has been unfortunate in my opinion to find himself as a substitute so often, and his 21 appearances (from 48 matches) from the bench are the second most in club history, trailing only Dale Marvell’s 22 in 2000/01 (from 56 matches) and he turned out to be a very good player!

We may have had a poor season, but it has been our opponents that have been in the worst form of all teams with only eight points collected since the end of September. The only way that they could have gone down was with a four goal defeat here and a Colliers Wood United win against Sheerwater, so it was always an unlikely outcome, but our early goal may well have caused a bit of concern within the home support at that point. However, what we didn’t realise was that we had already seen the sum total of our attacking threat for the day. Guildford picked up their level and started to threaten.

The big battle going on was between Reece Tierney and Guildford City’s Ben Mitchell and Tierney was lucky to escape without a card of any colour after bringing him down just as he appeared to break through on goal, albeit some 45 yards out. In the course of a normal match I’m sure he would have picked up a yellow card for this, but the referee clearly didn’t want to hand any out and he escaped with a warning.

We had a half-chance on the thirty minute mark when Negassi’s left wing cross was met by a low header by Carl Oblitey, but Longman kept it out fairly comfortably and in fact things were much more precarious at the other end as a close range header clipped our cross bar, only for a corner to be awarded, much to the dismay of our keeper Dan O’Donovan. The corner then struck the frame of the goal before being fed to the far post where our keeper had to be down quickly to turn a low shot around his post, but from the next corner, another Guildford header smacked against our bar again before being headed up in the air by Ayran Kugathas and into the arms of O’Donovan for a lucky escape.

The second half started with a couple of substitutes for the home team and a third would follow soon after. Negassi struck a corner at goal on the volley, but the contact wasn’t quite right and the ball dribbled through to Longman. However, the second half belonged mostly to the team that needed the points more and a far post header by James Glover from a corner was only just wide.

A Luke Miller strike went harmlessly past the post, but Guildford were looking the more likely to score and in the 72nd minute that’s what happened, although in typical Epsom and Ewell style, we were the authors of our own misfortune as Tierney went to head a goal kick back up the field, only for the ball to fly backwards off his head and into the path of Mitchell. Nelson-Roberts tried to close him down, but the damage was done and he clipped the ball over the advancing O’Donovan from eight yards for the equaliser. We had another scare in the closing moments as a long ball nearly bounced straight over O’Donovan. Fortunately, he got a slight hand to the ball and Tierney was just able to get the ball clear of the menacing Mitchell, who certainly looked as though he should be playing for a team higher up the League.

We just had time in the 89th minute to see our substitute keeper Toby Colwell come on as an outfield player. Whilst it was a novelty to see and a reward for Colwell’s loyalty; sitting on the bench for most of the year, it highlighted the dysfunctional nature of our season which started so poorly under James Scott, before we recovered under Steve Springett to a position of relative safety, only for Warren Burton and Gwynne Berry to take over in January and record just four wins. We close the chapter on 2023/24 in a rather surprising 16th place, which was higher than we had been at any time since August, although it really just provides an indication of how poor the bottom five clubs have been this season! It is assumed that our Management team will be back for next term, which would be the first time for three years and it will be interesting to see what new faces appear, as I’ll be honest, we need quite a few if we are not to endure another difficult season; one where it must be remembered, two clubs will be relegated, not just one.

Epsom & Ewell: Dan O’Donovan, Ethan Brazier, Ethan Nelson-Roberts (c), Adam Green, Reece Tierney, Ayran Kugathas, Luke Miller, Thompson Adeyemi, Carl Oblitey, Zach Ingham-Wright, Sirak Negassi

Subs: Jaevon Dyer for Kugathas (67), Toby Colwell for Ingham-Wright (89)

_{Report Source: www.eefconline.co.uk}

Epsom & Ewell FC 2-1 Abbey Rangers. Combined Counties League – Premier Division. Saturday 20th April 2024.

A 2-1 victory over Abbey Rangers marked the end of our brief tenure at the Reg Madgwick Stadium on Saturday and at the same time gained a measure of revenge over our opponents after we lost by the same scoreline over there in November. This win also ended any mathematical hopes they had of reaching the playoffs.

After our superb win over Fleet Town on Tuesday, I felt that this match was a bit of a “freebie” as a Salts win over Guildford City in our final match would have guaranteed safety anyway. However, this result means that we now only require a draw to confirm our survival, and by the time we take the field at the Spectrum next week, it’s even possible that other results may have assured our safety. Indeed, had Sheerwater not secured a last minute winner over Cobham this same afternoon, we would be celebrating already!

Maybe unsurprisingly we made only the one change to our line up with Carl Oblitey coming in for the absent Nick Wilson and we stuck with the recent formation of playing three at the back, which was a brave policy playing against a solid and physical Abbey team, but by and large it worked.

Chances were few and far between in the opening exchanges. Jaevon Dyer shot at goal from 20 yards, but it was a fairly easy save for Sam Grey in the Abbey goal. At the other end Dan O’Donovan had one excursion out of his area to clear a break, but we were soon back on the attack and a great pass from Ethan Nelson-Roberts set Will Kendall down the left, although his first time low cross was just out of reach of the incoming Oblitey.

Our opponents probably had more of the ball than we did in the opening half, but we looked solid at the back as they rarely threatened, apart from a decent move on the left that ended with a strike at goal from George Frith that was headed away from goal by Reece Tierney. You could tell from Frith’s reaction that he knew the shot was on target, yet within a minute we were the team celebrating after a pass came in from the left towards Oblitey, but before he had a chance to control it, a defender knocked it away, but only into the path of Will Kendall, and although he was at quite an acute angle on our left, his powerful shot from 12 yards went across Grey and into the net off the far post to give us a 36th minute lead.

In response O’Donovan was alert to punch a delivery clear, while at the other end Kendall fell in the penalty area after a coming together between him and Dale Burnham, but nothing was given, which I think was the right call. Then in injury time a break on the right wing resulted in the ball being swept across goal, but fortunately Ross Murdoch, who had scored a hat trick at Camberley a week previously, skied the chance from a good position. Moments later we had a rather generous free kick on the edge of the area, but Adam Green hit the delivery into the defensive wall. We went in at the break a goal ahead.

It was hard to say that we really deserved to be ahead at the break, but we were certainly as dangerous as our playoff chasing opponents and we fashioned a few chances during the second half too. Oblitey saw his long strike deflected, which took all the power off it, while next to try his luck was Green with a free kick from thirty yards after Luke Taylor was fouled, but the shot went just over the bar. Burnham became the second Abbey player in the book for the foul, joining his team mate, former Salt Daryl Cooper-Smith in the first half, but in the 55th minute Dyer collected the ball out on the left and then sent in a superb strike towards the top corner, only for Grey to produce a stunning save to keep his side in the match.

His reward for this great save was precisely nothing as we extended our lead six minutes later when a delivery in from the left was headed out by a defender under pressure from Kendall only for it to fall to Miller, who cut onto his left foot and thumped the ball into the top corner with his so called weaker left foot from 18 yards. It was a goal deserving of winning any match and at 2-0 it certainly looked as though we would be picking up another three points here. However, we received a reminder of our situation just three minutes later when a ball in over our defence was collected and finished past O’Donovan by Ferrey Danso to reduce the scoreline. The goal means that we haven’t kept a clean sheet since our goalless draw on 16th December at Colliers Wood United!

At 2-1 up things were a little nervy for a while. Brazier picked up a yellow card for a late foul out on the touchline as we started to get pushed back a little. A tactical substitution was made with Jerry Antwi coming on at the back for Taylor as we reverted to four at the back and we started to look a bit more comfortable again. In fact we nearly scored a third goal in the final minute of normal time when Miller attempted to replicate his earlier strike, but this time he cleared the bar by about a foot.

As time started to run out the visitors pushed forward in the hope of an equaliser and won a free kick right on the edge of our penalty area, but it was deflected wide from a corner, only for O’Donovan to drop the fairly easy catch from the subsequent set piece which led to a little bit of panic in the six yard box before the ball was cleared. Finally, after around seven minutes injury time, which was about the right amount, the final whistle blew and Salts fans could relax again.

It’s been a horrible season, but whilst we are not completely safe just yet, the odds are a lot more in our favour than they were seven days ago! One more match remains. See you at the Spectrum!

Epsom & Ewell: Dan O’Donovan, Ethan Brazier, Ethan Nelson-Roberts (c), Adam Green, Reece Tierney, Luke Taylor, Luke Miller, Thompson Adeyemi, Will Kendall, Carl Oblitey, Jaevon Dyer

Subs: Jerry Antwi for Taylor (71)

_{Report Source: www.eefconline.co.uk}

Epsom & Ewell FC 4-1 Fleet Town. Combined Counties League – Premier Division. Tuesday 16th April 2024.

After just two wins under his tenure to this point, our Manager Warren Burton was able to celebrate his 48th birthday with a third victory as we won this rearranged League match 4-1 against Fleet Town. In fact it could be argued that this was the most impressive of his three, quite probably better than our 6-2 win over a lacklustre Sandhurst Town side in March, as this win came against a better team and we had to come from behind to do it too!

The win must have been particularly tough on the visiting supporters who had been 3-1 up on Saturday and had probably already added the three points to the League table to close on the playoff pack, only to see one of their players badly injured and the match subsequently abandoned, and then to face a second trip up from Hampshire in four days before being heavily beaten; a win that ends any faint playoff hopes they may have had.

We made three changes to the line up from Saturday’s match with Nick Wilson and Jaevon Dyer coming back into the starting line up and they were joined by Thompson Adeyemi who was originally due to be on the bench, but got the call up after Carl Oblitey was late arriving for the match and had to be content with a place on the bench. Tijani Eshilokun and Matt McGillivray were absent for this one.

We got off to an awful start on Saturday when we conceded in the eighth minute, but this time we were behind even earlier as a harmless looking ball came over towards Wilson in the sixth minute, but somehow the ball got tangled up in his feet and then fell for the opposition’s leading scorer Dan Bone who scored twice on Saturday and then added another with a low drive past Dan O’Donovan from twelve yards.

The teams seemed to be following Saturday’s script as we equalised soon after with a nice passing move that went from left to right where Ethan Brazier went forward before feeding Luke Miller whose low right wing cross was met at the near post by Will Kendall from just six yards out to give Filip Chalupniczak no chance with a left foot strike in the twelfth minute.

Kendall was unlucky to see his low strike deflected into the side netting before another Kendall header from a Miller delivery was only half blocked by Chalupniczak with Dyer knocking in the loose ball from close range, only to see the offside flag raised against Kendall. Kendall looked to be linking with his team mates much better in this game and it was good to see Dyer looking much more like the flying threat we had seen so frequently last season. In short, even with Oblitey by now sitting on the bench, we actually looked like we posed an attacking threat, which you couldn’t often say about our team this season.

It was around the half hour mark in the original match that we started to get pushed back, but that didn’t really happen here. In fact we looked the more likely to score as the half concluded and had a great chance when Kendall supplied a superb reverse pass into the path of Dyer, but just as he went to round the keeper, he stumbled over the ball and allowed Chalupniczak to claim the ball. This was a massive chance and when O’Donovan tried to see a ball out for a goal kick but got caught out, nearly leading to a goal for the visitors, it made you wonder if we had missed our chance. We went in at the break level at a goal each.

We continued on the front foot in the second half and Dyer sent a curling shot just beyond the far post after Adeyemi’s set up. We’ve not had a vast amount of luck this year and just when I was thinking it would be great to get some here, that’s exactly what happened, when in the 51st minute a deep left wing cross forced Bradley Pegg to turn back to defend it, only for him to knock the ball into his own net under pressure from Kendall from eight yards out. The ball could have gone anywhere, but squirmed into the corner of the Fleet net!

We had the lead which was crucial, as I was concerned about the idea of us trying to see the match out for a draw, but could we hold on to it? As you would expect, Fleet came back at us and a far post header by Argjend Ahmetaj was just wide but we were soon back on the attack and Kendall wasn’t able to keep his header on target from Adeyemi’s superb left wing cross. However, any concerns about the miss were forgotten soon after and we extended our lead on the hour mark. Miller set the ball back to Brazier, whose cross from out wide looked like it was just going to hang in the air for an easy catch, but Adeyemi had other ideas and out jumped Chalupniczak, heading the ball up in the air. It seemed to hang in slow motion before coming down off the bar, but fortunately Kendall was first to reach it and he smashed the ball into the roof of the net from just six yards out to make the score 3-1.

Relief was evident across the ground and we continued to take the game to our opponents who then began to self-destruct when Dan Bone was sent to the sin-bin after believing that he had been fouled. During that time we had further chances with Reece Tierney’s header being blocked, while Wilson was just wide from 35 yards and Taylor forced a low save at the near post. For such an important match, it was unusual to feel so relaxed, particularly this season, but we were under relatively little pressure.

Although O’Donovan picked up a yellow card for a bit of time wasting, the visitors were chasing shadows as we passed the ball around like a training session and even when they returned to eleven men we remained the better side. Oblitey came on for Dyer and he was in the action soon after, with a low shot smacking Chalupniczak’s right hand post and rebounding to safety, but by this time Matt Sirmon had become the second visiting player to visit the sin-bin and this left them down to ten for the remainder of the match, during which we scored a fourth goal. It was the 96th minute when the ball came in from the left and was then passed to Miller who feigned to shoot on two occasions, completely tricking the defenders before slotting past the keeper from close range to complete the scoring.

It would take a brave person to say that they saw this performance or result coming after Saturday’s abandonment and our recent displays, but it obviously gives us a huge lift in our relegation battle and it has to be said that if we had played like this more frequently, we wouldn’t be in the position we have been in. It was certainly very good timing to produce our best ninety minutes of the calendar year and maybe our Manager should have birthdays more often!

Epsom & Ewell: Dan O’Donovan, Ethan Brazier, Ethan Nelson-Roberts (c), Adam Green, Reece Tierney, Nick Wilson, Luke Miller, Luke Taylor, Will Kendall, Thompson Adeyemi, Jaevon Dyer

Subs: Carl Oblitey for Dyer (79), Sirak Negassi for Brazier (83), Zack Ingham-Wright for Taylor (86)

Related report:

This defeat will not count

_{Report Source: www.eefconline.co.uk}

Epsom & Ewell FC 1-3 Fleet Town. ABANDONED AFTER 55 MINUTES. Combined Counties League – Premier Division. Saturday 13th April 2024.

An attendance of around 80 people gathered at the Madgwick to watch our penultimate League match at the ground before we move on to Corinthian Casuals for next season. However, it didn’t work out quite like that as the contest was abandoned in the 55th minute following a nasty injury to young Fleet defender Ed Scott and the fixture will now have to be rearranged back at the Madgwick, with Thursday 25th April looking to be the most likely date, due to our opponents currently having matches scheduled for both remaining Tuesdays. Please note that this is only speculation on my part and confirmation will follow in the near future.

Those present on a sunny day (but one which had brought swarms of flies out behind the far goal where we were standing) witnessed an hour of football that summed up our season really as we looked quite threatening in patches, only to part like the Red Sea at others and we were 3-1 down at the time of the abandonment.

We had a number of changes to the line up from the loss against Spelthorne Sports as Thompson Adeyemi, Jaevon Dyer and Callum Wilson were all unavailable. Worse still, Wilson confirmed that he is done for the season following a dislocated thumb. However, it wasn’t all bad news as Carl Oblitey returned from injury up front while Tijani Eshilokun was also back in the line up alongside Luke Taylor who made his first start for our club. Also back from injury was Ethan Brazier who relegated Ayran Kugathas to the bench and was arguably our best player on the day, making a number of marauding runs.

Now, I’m not a fan of playing three at the back, as regular readers will be aware. We started the season with that formation and we have recently tried it towards the end of recent defeats to Balham and Horley Town. However, this time we started with the three and on this occasion, I could see why. Clearly the plan is now to try and outscore teams in the knowledge that we do not do clean sheets any more!

It is sound logic based on the fact that we are now nineteen matches without a clean sheet, and this formation did enable us to play Oblitey up front alongside Will Kendall, which was a bit of a throwback, although it will only work if enough service is provided to our front two. It nearly paid dividends with just 32 seconds on the clock as Ethan Nelson-Roberts made tracks down the left and sent over a low ball, but it was just too far ahead of Kendall who couldn’t wrap his leg around the ball enough at the far post to keep the shot on target.

The opening minutes looked quite promising for Salts fans until a hopeful punt upfield from the visitors left our keeper Dan O’Donovan and our retreating defender Matt McGillivray uncertain of who should claim the ball on the edge of the area and while they dithered, Dan Bone nipped in to poke the ball away from both of them and roll the ball into the empty net in just the eighth minute.

This was horrible, but we were back on level terms just three minutes later after Eshilokun fed the overlapping Brazier on the right wing and his pinpoint cross enabled Oblitey to score with a diving header into the bottom corner of the goal from six yards out. Luke Miller was next to deliver a dangerous right wing cross but it was punched away by Fleet’s keeper Filip Chalupniczak. It was a fairly even contest to this point, but then we started to get pushed back by our opponents. McGillivray was forced into conceding a yellow card to stop an attacker breaking through.

We then had an extremely odd and contentious issue in the 24th minute. Chalupniczak made a routine catch and went to drop kick it clear, only for it to hit Oblitey on his back, just outside the penalty area and rebound straight into the net! It was surely a lucky break for us, but no! The referee consulted with his Assistant before then disallowing the goal and awarding a free kick against our man. This appeared extremely harsh, but having seen the video from our excellent Videographer Gary Jarman, you can see Oblitey jumping to block, even though his back was turned. On many occasions, the goal would still have stood, and I believe it should have still counted, but I can at least understand why it might have been disallowed. You’ll have to draw your own conclusions as to whether Oblitey really did enough wrong here!

The setback gave us momentum for a while and Miller sent a ball in that was just turned away from Eshilokun at the far post, but on the break Fleet struck a shot just beyond our own post and from this point until the end of the half you could see us being pushed back. Brazier had to head an effort off our own goal line but in the 39th minute they went ahead through the ill-fated Scott with an unmarked near post header from a corner that was a carbon copy of one we conceded recently at home to Horley.

We nearly equalised in the second minute of injury time after Nelson-Roberts did really well to reach the touchline just a few yards out and pulled the ball back for Adam Green to side foot it towards the goal. It took a slight deflection on the way, but even so, it was somehow clutched right on the line by Chalupniczak and we went in at the break a goal behind, but not yet out of the match. However, the writing was on the wall within two minutes of the second half after a long throw was flicked on and then volleyed in from about ten yards by Bone to make it 3-1 which left us facing a mountain to climb.

However, the game took an unfortunate twist in the 55th minute when Nelson-Roberts threatened to break through on the left, but was then brought down by a high and very clumsy looking tackle from Scott, which left the offender in a heap in the floor. It was immediately clear that he was badly injured and all those in the ground knew there would be the possibility of an abandonment, as happened to us eighteen months previously when Andy “Woody” Hall was injured in a goalless draw at Forest Row. Looking back at the incident itself, it’s possible that one of Scott’s feet got caught in or on the artificial surface, which was why the original challenge looked so awkward as he looked off balance when he made it. Either way, this became the second Combined Counties League match to be abandoned at the Madgwick since the artificial surface was installed back in August after an injury curtailed the Cobham v Abbey Rangers fixture back in the Autumn of 2023. We obviously wish Ed Scott well for the future and hope he is back playing the game he loves as soon as possible.

From a personal point of view, the Forest Row match I referred to was abandoned with the score level at 0-0 and we went on to win the replayed contest 2-0 which, although we didn’t know it at the time eventually gave us the pivotal second place finish and subsequent home advantage in the Southern Combination League playoffs last season. I wonder whether this replayed fixture turns out to be as significant. A new date for Fleet’s re-visit will be advised as soon as possible.

Epsom & Ewell: Dan O’Donovan, Ethan Brazier, Ethan Nelson-Roberts (c), Adam Green, Reece Tierney, Matt McGillivray, Luke Miller, Tijani Eshilokun, Will Kendall, Carl Oblitey, Luke Taylor

Subs: none

_{Report Source: www.eefconline.co.uk}

Epsom & Ewell FC 1-2 Spelthorne Sports Combined Counties League – Premier Division. Saturday 2nd April 2024.

On a miserable night for football at the Madgwick in front of just 43 spectators, our season took a serious turn for the worse as we led fellow strugglers Spelthorne Sports at the half, only to get pushed back further and further before conceding twice to lose 2-1 with almost everyone in the ground thinking that they could see it coming.

This was a particularly disappointing second half performance and if I’m honest, our opponents had most of the ball in the first half too, but we had some chances and took one of them. However, they fought back, inspired by constant cajoling from the bench and frequent substitutions, while we remained mute and kept the same eleven on the field, despite looking desperate for fresh legs from the hour mark onwards.

Before the kick off our programme notes heralded the arrival of three players, yet one of them, Kevin Turbi wasn’t even in the line up! We did hand a start to Will Kendall, late of Redhill, Abbey Rangers and Merstham, while Luke Taylor from Sheerwater also came on late in the day. our opponents had former Salts Ade Batula and Tommy Williams on their registration list, but neither were on the team sheet for this encounter.

We started brightly but without forcing a save from Bob Honey, brother of Shay who had been in goal against us in the return match before joining us briefly; surely the only time in club history that we had faced two goalkeeping brothers in our two matches against the same club! Spelthorne were first to register a shot on target but Dan O’Donovan was alert at the near post to stop the shot from an angle.

There was very little going on in terms of goal threat but we had a real opportunity in the 24th minute when a high and deep cross from Luke Miller was not gathered by Honey, with the ball falling just behind Kendall who was unable to adjust to get any power on it from just a few yards out. Fifteen minutes later we took the lead from our best move of the match as Miller floated in another delivery to the far post where Thompson Adeyemi cushioned the ball back to Kendall who knocked the ball in for his first goal for our club from just five yards out.

Moments later we should have had a second goal after Miller’s ball in was sent over the bar by the incoming Adeyemi from just eight yards out. We didn’t realise it at the time, but this would prove to be our final real chance of the match. We went in at the half with the lead, although it was a precarious one and there was still a lot of work to do if we were to get the points.

The visitors started the stronger of the teams in the second half and somehow sent a header across goal from four yards when it was easier to score. We were struggling to get the ball out of our half and another good chance was clipped just wide of our far post from a good position on the hour. Maybe it would be our day after all.

But it was clear for all to see that we were tiring. The supply was not reaching Miller any more and Jaevon Dyer on the left wasn’t creating a threat. Yet we made no changes and almost appeared to hope that we would get away with it. That hope ran out in the 74th minute when a deep ball in from the right was knocked back across goal where Andrew Juett was waiting to force the ball in from close range. An inspired Spelthorne team kept pushing and scored again eight minutes later when a ball in from the left found Zach Scott just inside the penalty area and he guided his low shot into the far bottom corner past O’Donovan to give them a lead they would not relinquish.

Dyer was unfortunate not to see his powerful shot clear the bar by inches from twenty yards, but it would prove to be his final input. After going for 86 minutes with no substitutions, we then made four all at once, including Dyer, but it was far too late for them to make an impact and apart from a couple of dangerous looking corners from Adam Green the whistle blew shortly afterwards to confirm our fate.

I should make it clear that our players worked hard all night, but we were lacking in direction, both on and off the field and it looks to our supporters as though we are unable to see matches out on the rare occasions that we get a lead. This needs to change quickly. We are quiet and desperately needed a Zach Powell, or dare I say it, an Alex Penfold, who might have been able to raise the intensity of our game.

I rated our chances of relegation as “slim” going into this match, despite recent form, but that now needs to be updated to “entirely possible” after this contest, as it is looking more and more likely that our survival can only happen because the two teams currently below us fail to win sufficient points to overhaul us. This is a concerning time for our club and we now need to pick up some more points against much tougher opponents in Fleet Town and Abbey Rangers before our season ends at Guildford City. We do at least have eleven more days before those fixtures to try and sort this out, but confidence and belief need to change radically and this needs to come from our Management who might want to take a leaf out of the Spelthorne book for advice.

Epsom & Ewell: Dan O’Donovan, Ayran Kugathas, Ethan Nelson-Roberts (c), Adam Green, Reece Tierney, Callum Wilson, Luke Miller, Matt McGillivray, Will Kendall, Thompson Adeyemi, Jaevon Dyer

Subs: Jerry Antwi for Kugathas (86), Sirak Negassi for Dyer (86), Zach Ingham-Wright for Miller (86), Luke Taylor for McGillivray (86)

Report Source: www.eefconline.co.uk

Epsom & Ewell FC 1-4 Horley Town. Combined Counties League – Premier Division. Saturday 23rd March 2024

A strange contest took place at the Madgwick on Saturday as we hosted Horley Town in our latest League match. We created most of the chances over the ninety minutes, yet didn’t take them and our opponents took full advantage of our generosity to win the match 4-1.

We fielded our sixth goalkeeper in just ten matches as Faebian Witter had been injured recently and with former keeper Shay Honey already departed for Staines & Lammas, Dan O’Donovan came in between the posts, although he was advertised as David! It never fails to amaze me how our club continues to get our player names wrong so often and wonder what sort of message this sends out to them. In other changes it was good to see the return of Carl Oblitey up front, as he provides us with a greater attacking threat; something we were sorely lacking at Balham in our last match. At the back, we also saw the return of Reece Tierney and Callum Wilson, although the absence of Ayran Kugathas meant that Nick Wilson had to play in the right back position, although he was restored to the Captain’s position once again, while Matt McGillivray moved into midfield. Zach Ingham-Wright and Tijani Eshilokun moved to the bench, although the latter would join the action in the second half.

There was a minute’s silence before the match for former Banstead Athletic Chairman Terry Molloy, who passed away this week. Our club had an awkward relationship in our time there as tenants from 1993-2010, so it was a little surprising to see us hold a tribute, particularly when our club elected not to do so for recently departed prolific strikers Gerry O’Rourke and Ben Forey. Not that anyone knew at the time exactly who the silence was for, as it wasn’t announced by the club and I had to ask an official.

We opened up fairly brightly and an early Luke Miller ball into the danger area was just ahead of Thompson Adeyemi, before a similar cross from Ethan Nelson-Roberts also just missed the incoming strikers. McGillivray was the first to pull a decent save from George Hyde the long-serving Horley keeper, with a low shot from the edge of the area with Adam Green seeing his own shot deflected for a corner shortly afterwards.

It then came as a bit of a shock when Horley took the lead in the 15th minute with their first real attack. Adeyemi appeared to be brought down in midfield, but play was allowed to continue and a pass forward reached former Salt Lewis Pearch who cut inside Wilson and drilled a low shot beyond O’Donovan from 15 yards.

We almost responded immediately after Oblitey robbed Hyde out wide in the area, although he then chose to go for goal from an extremely narrow angle and was only able to hit the post. We were then denied by an excellent save after Wilson had made progress on the right, sending a shot in from about eight yards that took a wicked deflection off a defender, yet despite Hyde going to his right by this point, he somehow stuck out an arm in the opposite direction to claw the deflected ball away from the goal.

We continued to push forward and Nelson-Roberts sent in a left wing cross that Oblitey headed just wide from around twelve yards out. Moments later Horley midfielder Lewis Taylor found himself in the sin-bin for comments to the referee, but we weren’t able to take advantage of the extra man. We had chances during that period though, with Adeyemi somehow getting a Miller delivery stuck under his feet just three yards out and Oblitey striking wide from 15 yards. Jaevon Dyer also struck at goal, but Hyde was equal to it, and to add insult to injury Horley went straight up the other end once they were back to eleven men and scored again with Scott Walker putting the hosts 2-0 up from close range in the 43rd minute.

Hyde tipped an Oblitey piledriver over the bar from twenty yards and the question at the break was how we had managed to go in with a two goal deficit after a decent enough attacking showing in that first half.

However, the second half was a very disappointing one and we appeared to be completely flat, as if we already knew we wouldn’t be able to retrieve anything from the position we had found ourselves in. This became apparent to me as early as the 47th minute when Tierney got his foot to the ball before being brought down in the Horley area by Rylan John, yet there wasn’t even an appeal for a penalty from an Epsom player. I was questioning my own eyes and even had to check with people around me that I had actually seen the incident correctly and was assured that I had, yet it wasn’t until there was a break in play while Tierney received treatment before the question even asked of the referee, who understandably hadn’t given anything! If we had appealed for this, maybe the game would have turned in our favour, but of course that is just conjecture on my part!

It was unclear how many matches O’Donovan has played recently, but of course he was a virtual stranger to our defenders, and maybe unimpressed with the standard of defending he had seen to this point, he chose to come out of goal to chase a clearance himself, yet found himself almost 40 yards out from his goal. Fortunately the long range attempt from the visitors went over the bar or it might have proved to be a rather embarrassing afternoon for him! Regrettably he would be picking the ball out of the net shortly anyway as a near post corner was headed past him from close range by Matt Rapson on the hour to make the score 0-3.

Dyer took advantage of John misjudging the bounce of the ball to break through, but drove his shot wide from 18 yards and he was replaced not long afterwards. Our flying winger was superb last season, but looks to be lacking confidence since he has returned to our club and there appeared to be a lack of belief across the playing ranks as this match petered out. Even when Green sent in a lovely flat free kick which was met by an Adeyemi bullet header just inside the far post from twelve yards to pull a goal back in the 83rd minute, there was little by way of celebration of any kind and the remainder of the match was equally disappointing with Green, Callum Wilson and then substitute Jerry Antwi all receiving yellow cards for lunges at Horley players. Fortunately, none of the challenges were severe enough for red cards, but we then conceded a fourth goal in the sixth minute of injury time despite O’Donovan standing up well to make a good save, but no one reacted to the loose ball that was then knocked in from close range. A 4-1 defeat was only marginally better than our 4-0 defeat there, exactly three months previously.

I believe that our players are good enough to get us out of trouble this season, but we really need to pick up a few more points before we can be assured of safety and aren’t playing very well right now. On paper our fixtures are favourable, particularly when compared to those around us, but as we know football isn’t played on paper and a home match against a team that started the day just three places above us, should have been enough motivation. Instead, we fell away in the second half again, and whilst we did make a lot of chances in this match, which was a notable improvement on the previous Saturday, we are going to need to take some of these if we are not to get caught by the clubs below us. We now have a ten day break before we reconvene at the Madgwick for the visit of Spelthorne Sports; one of the clubs in the bottom five. We absolutely cannot afford to be flat for that one.

Epsom & Ewell: Dan O’Donovan, Nick Wilson (c), Ethan Nelson-Roberts, Adam Green, Reece Tierney, Callum Wilson, Luke Miller, Matt McGillivray, Carl Oblitey, Thompson Adeyemi, Jaevon Dyer

Subs: Tijani Eshilokun for Oblitey (63), Jerry Antwi for N.Wilson (77), Sirak Negassi for Dyer (77)

_{Report Source: www.eefconline.co.uk}