The game was played on a Friday night with us welcoming South Park Reigate for the 1st Preliminary Round. South Park were seeking revenge after our 4-3 victory over them in last season’s Combined Counties Cup semi-final, but despite that result, they would not have wanted to exit the FA Cup at such an early stage.
Friday night attracted an excellent crowd of 229, and they were not disappointed. The game was highly competitive and could easily have gone either way.
Max and Craig were forced into a couple of changes: Ben Grummitt came in for Faebian Witter (suspended after last week’s red card), while Luis Oliveira and Kionte Gillfillian-Waul also started. South Park, meanwhile, made four changes from their match the previous Tuesday.
South Park kicked off, playing towards the goal to the left of the main stand. The referee quickly enforced the new rule that attackers cannot encroach into the opposition half until the ball has been played, rather than when the whistle is blown. He had warned both sides, so we were surprised when they moved early – did it really matter?
As expected, we started brightly, pressing South Park from the off. After four minutes, a good move from defence found Luke, who tried to chip a ball through to Kingsley, but it wouldn’t quite drop and was cleared. The referee had his book out as early as the fifth minute when Jason Bloor looked set to break clear just inside our half, only to be brought down by South Park’s No. 10, Smith. It was a classic “taking one for the team” – though rarely seen so early. The foul would prove costly as Jason was unable to continue for much longer and was replaced my Tome Collins in the 17th minute. He left the ground on crutches; hopefully a precautionary measure and we hope he is back soon.
We were starting to take control, creating good moves without seriously testing Danny Bracken in the South Park goal. On 18 minutes, a quick exchange saw Luke find Kingsley, who set up Brendan Murphy-McVey. His low shot from just inside the box was well saved by Bracken down to his right.
Two minutes later, we took the lead. Emmanuel Limpo surged down the left after being released by Ben, who had claimed a corner brilliantly. Emmanuel slipped the ball inside to Brendan, who picked out Luke arriving in the box. His perfectly timed run ended with a cool finish past Bracken, 1-0 to The Salts.
The referee then surprisingly called a drinks break, even though the weather had cooled. South Park may have been more annoyed by the pause, though it gave them a chance to regroup. Much like in the West Park friendly, we were slow to restart, and South Park nearly equalised on 21 minutes. A slick passing move ended with No. 7 Smith shooting just over from the edge of the box – a let-off for The Salts.
South Park were gradually growing into the game, keeping possession better. No. 11 Edwards began causing problems down the left, frequently reaching the byline to cut balls back. On 38 minutes, one such move found No. 8 McGee, but he shot wide. Moments later, Edwards set up No. 9 Brown, whose header struck Stefan Alwone before bouncing kindly into Ben’s hands. South Park continued to press, and Ben was forced into another sharp low save from distance.
Then came a pivotal moment. In first-half stoppage time, play was halted for a head injury to Stefan. From the restart, we pressed aggressively, Adam winning the ball before bursting forward. He played it to Kingsley, who was bundled over between two defenders, but Adam had continued his run, collected the loose ball, and calmly slid it under Bracken. 2-0 to Epsom & Ewell – fully deserved.
We nearly added a third before the break when Kingsley cut inside from the right and beat two defenders before unleashing a fierce strike, only for Bracken to make a fine save. We went in at half-time two goals up.
As expected, South Park emerged from the break fired up, with three substitutions made. But within a minute, Kingsley had another chance to extend our lead. A sweeping move saw him get a shot away from the right of the box, but it was blocked. Luke was screaming for a return pass, though it’s debatable whether it would have reached him.
South Park were now sharper, moving the ball quickly and forcing us to work harder. On 53 minutes, Edwards again found space on the left, but Ben rushed out well, forcing him to shoot wide. Soon after, a long ball bypassed our defence, Edwards feeding substitute No. 12 Keating, who scuffed his shot wide – another let-off.
On 61 minutes, South Park pulled one back, capitalising on sloppy play in midfield. A poor pass was intercepted, and once more Edwards was slipped through. This time, he calmly lifted the ball over Ben to make it 2-1. Less than a minute later, Ben mis-hit a routine clearance straight to McGee, who somehow shot wide of an open goal. A huge let-off.
On 65 minutes, another drinks break halted play, much to Bracken’s annoyance – he argued the cooler conditions made it unnecessary and felt it killed their momentum.
When play resumed, South Park remained dominant. On 70 minutes, they almost levelled when a long ball found No. 7 Sweeney, who held off Toby before curling a shot against the bar.
Two minutes later, the equaliser came in harsh circumstances. Edwards’ cross from the left struck Toby, and the referee judged it to be handball. Toby protested as it hit high near the shoulder. Whilst he hadn’t lifted his arm, he had moved his body towards the ball, which is probably why the decision stood. No. 6 Moody dispatched the penalty, 2-2.
The setback seemed to galvanise us. Niall Stillwell replaced Brendan on 78 minutes, Kiyo Brown came on for Kionte, and Obasanjo-Akkinniranye replaced Luke in the 86th minute. Despite seven minutes of added time, neither side could find a winner, though we arguably had more of the play late on.
Full-time: 2-2.
The replay will take place at Whitehall Lane next Tuesday evening. The lads will really value your support – hopefully, we can repeat last season’s FA Cup away win at Phoenix Sports.
Our next league game is away at Corinthian-Casuals, our former hosts, on Bank Holiday Monday 25th August, kick-off 11:30am.
