A thumping 5-1 victory at last for ‘The Salts’ as we earned our first three points of the season against our close neighbours from Colliers Wood United.

It was the first game in charge for Steve Springett with his new coaches of Sam Groombridge and Ash Snadden, and what a start for this new team!

The crowd was boosted by a group of players from our under-11 Epsom & Ewell Colts and their parents, with an attendance of just over 70.

What of the match? We had the perfect start after a penalty was awarded in the 5th minute, following a foul on Ethan Nelson-Roberts, and Jaan Stanley cooly slotted the penalty away to make it 1-0.  We pressed home this advantage and increased our lead in the 20th minute, after a bit of ping-pong in the opposition’s penalty area, which left Marlon Pinder to score his second goal for the club, and against his most recent team.  We made it 3-0 eight minutes later, after a deep cross was met by Ade Batula, who headed back across the keeper.  In truth it was no more than we deserved.  HT 3-0.

In the second half we expected the opposition to come out and make a game of it, but in truth we more than held our own, and then T J scored what can only be described as an unstoppable shot – by the way T J is Tijani Eshilokun. This made it 4-0. We began to use the substitutes bench a bit more than usual with this comfortable cushion, plus it was an unseasonably hot day for all concerned, so energy conservation was very important.  Unfortunately, we conceded with a few minutes remaining to make it 4-1, but very soon after we were awarded another penalty, which George Owusu converted to make it 5-1, which was the final score.

All in all, a very satisfactory day at the office, we still remain bottom, but we have at least got on the scoreboard.  We now face a tough away fixture at Alton on Saturday 21^st (no game for us next Saturday 14^th) where we hope we can keep the momentum going from this victory.

How nice it is to win at last on a Saturday, and see so many happy faces leaving the ground after the game – long may that continue.