Epsom & Ewell 1-1 Horsham YMCA

Pre-season Friendly Saturday 23rd July 2022. We may not have been able to make it four wins in a row in our latest friendly encounter, but we were by no means outclassed and held our own throughout against Step Five Horsham YMCA and scored a second half equaliser to record a deserved 1-1 draw at River Lane, Fetcham; home of Leatherhead Youth FC on Saturday. Around fifty spectators were present.

The match started quietly enough although the visitors nearly opened the scoring with a lob over our exposed keeper that landed on the roof of the net. We then had a couple of incidents that led to the referee asking both Managers whether they wanted to continue the match, which after a small break, we did. By this time we had gone behind as a Horsham YMCA free kick squirmed off our keeper low down and went up off him into the roof of the net. This goal came in the 20th minute.

Although we were not playing that well we did manage to fashion an equaliser five minutes before the break when a slide rule pass inside the defender was squared across goal by our right winger for a straightforward tap in from the same player who had netted our winning goal at Dorking Wanderers. It was a smart goal and without a doubt was the best move of the match.

Six changes were made at half time, as we shuffled the pack on another hot day and the second half remained very even, although in the final twenty minutes we made a couple of decent chances and probably finished slightly the stronger of the two teams. Certainly though a draw was a fair result and I felt that neither side had done enough to show they were worthy of the win.

It was also clear that our Management were not particularly happy with the performance and clearly will be seeking an improvement on Tuesday when Croydon are the visitors to Fetcham Grove. We then follow this with a pair of extremely challenging friendlies against Step Four clubs; at Walton & Hersham on Friday night and at Leatherhead the following Wednesday before our League fixtures kick off at Shoreham on Saturday August 6th.

Report Source: www.eefconline.co.uk