On Tuesday, we welcomed Balham to the Armada Group Stadium for the quarter-final of the Southern Combination Challenge Cup. We have had a good run in cup competitions this season, with the prize of a semi-final against South Park Reigate awaiting the winners.

Balham started quickly and forced a corner in the 5th minute, with the ball flashing right across the E&E goal—fortunately, no one was able to get on the end of it. A couple of minutes later, a quick throw-in for the Salts found Ali Fofahan, but he was unable to find another blue shirt, and the attack fizzled out. From the resulting goal kick, Balham moved out of their half, and E&E were punished when a player had his shirt pulled, providing the visitors with an early opportunity to deliver the ball into our box. A free kick just inside our half should have been easily defended, but the cross found Balham’s No. 4, Jack Banks, unmarked, and he guided a powerful header into the corner of the net.

You would have hoped this would be the incentive needed for the Salts to “up their game,” but apart from a good passing move that ended with Ali Fofahan—his shot being blocked—and another promising attack involving Kionte Gillfillian-Waul and Carl Oblitey, which saw the final ball flash across the Balham goal, there was little in the way of clear-cut chances.

Balham nearly increased their lead in the 34th minute when a shot from a corner struck the underside of the bar and bounced clear. In the final minute of normal time in the first half, we conceded another free kick near the halfway line, earning Ethan Brazier a yellow card for pulling back a Balham forward. Luke Millar had a chance to deliver a cross in injury time, but uncharacteristically, his ball was too high and sailed behind all our players who had made their way into the box. Moments later, a quick Balham break found their attacker one-on-one with Kevin Kardell, who made the first of several excellent saves to keep us in the game. The whistle blew after a couple of minutes of stoppage time, and we went in at the break 1–0 down.

The second half began much like the first, with Balham on the front foot. They had an early opportunity to double their lead, but Marion Galivanes failed to hit the target. Epsom & Ewell tried to apply pressure, but genuine chances remained scarce. Adam Green was unable to hit the target with a header from a Luke Millar corner, and on the 59th minute, Kevin Kardell was called into action again, making a fine save from close range.

The Salts made a double substitution on the 65th minute, with Sean Michael Anderson and Conrad Essilifie-Conduah replacing Ali Fofahan and Ethan Brazier. The changes nearly paid off when a good move from Sean almost found Carl Oblitey. However, Balham remained dangerous, and another well-worked move down the left led to a cross flashing across our six-yard box. Once again, Kevin Kardell came to the rescue in the 75th minute, making a brilliant save to push the ball around the post for a corner.

Niall Stillwell produced an excellent run and, from just outside the box, fired in an effort that unfortunately went straight to the keeper—our first shot on target of the match. This, ultimately, was the key issue: plenty of effort but a lack of finishing. Kevin Kardell continued to keep us in the game with a couple more crucial saves, but the Salts failed to truly test the Balham goal.

In the 85th minute, Luke Millar was sent to the sin-bin, leaving us a player down for the final 10 minutes. Our bench protested that this was incorrect, as sin-bins are not permitted in cup competitions, but the referee stuck to his decision. Balham comfortably saw out the final moments, and our cup run—after 14 games across various competitions—came to an end.

We now turn our focus to our remaining league fixtures, starting with a trip to Knaphill on Saturday 1st March. Knaphill still have an outside chance of making the play-offs, followed by a home game against high-flying Cobham on Tuesday 4th March.

After the game, it was brought to the referee’s attention that he had made an error and should not have shown the “orange” card, which left us a player down for the closing stages. The unfortunate outcome for Balham, who were the better side on the night and deserved the win, is that the game will now be declared void and must be replayed as soon as possible.