A good crowd of 149 were provided with an entertaining game, and it seems our Friday night home matches are attracting a good following. Epsom & Ewell made three changes from the Cup victory against Risborough Rangers. Emmanuel Limpo came in for Ethan Nelson-Roberts, and Brendan Murphy-McVey and Andrew Herring replaced Niall Stillwell, who was injured, and Toby Young, who was suspended after the red card v Casuals. Kionte Gillfillian-Waul was also making his 50th appearance, joining Callum Wilson and Craig Dundas in achieving this so far this season. Well done gents. We were also facing our former keeper Harvey Keogh.

In the first minute we had the bizarre incident of the ref tripping over his own feet, much to the amusement of the fans. After a little attention he was able to carry on, but we do wonder, if he had been injured and unable to continue, would we have had to find an official amongst the crowd?

We started the brighter of the two teams, as you would expect, and our first real chance came in the 11th minute when Kingsley Anoyke, playing against his former teammates, was brought down just outside the box on the right-hand side of the “D”. A couple of players stood over the ball, but it was Brendan Murphy-McVey who stepped up and forced a good save from Keogh. A minute later McVey nearly put Kingsley through again, but a defender got his foot to the ball and it bounced up. Kingsley was unable to put any force into his header and it went behind for a goal kick. Knaphill had their first chance a few minutes later when McVey was adjudged to have committed a foul when it looked more like he played the ball and was kicked. The wall did its job but it was a dangerous bounce that suddenly dipped behind the goal for a corner. It may well have just crept in.

We played some really nice controlled passing around their box and in the 19th minute Luke played Andrew Herring in, and he was brought down. Penalty to The Salts, which Captain Adam Green took, sending Harvey the wrong way. That is his 5th penalty of the season, long may it continue.

Epsom & Ewell 1-0 Knaphill

In the 24th minute, again some excellent play on the right-hand side, and Luke once more put Herring in on goal. This time he was nudged off the ball before getting a shot away. There were calls for another penalty but it was waved away. The Salts continued to put pressure on our visitors, but in the 29th minute they had their best chance of the first half. A good move found No. 7 Elijah Hopwood, whose strong shot was matched by a fine save from Faebian in the Epsom & Ewell goal, tipping the ball over for a corner.

The Salts extended the lead in the 33rd minute. Another fine quick passing move found Anoyke in the box and, cutting back onto his right foot, he slotted the ball over Keogh in the Knaphill goal.

Epsom & Ewell 2-0 Knaphill

With The Salts really on top and wondering when we might score again, a pretty harmless ball into our box was dropped by Faebian and, in his attempt to grab it, a Knaphill player went down. We are not sure if the ref had given it, but he went over to the assistant ref who pointed to the spot. Whether it was a penalty is not clear, but Witter dropped the ball, giving the ref an opportunity to even things up. Knaphill No. 19 Ben Mitchell drilled the ball home.

Epsom & Ewell 2-1 Knaphill

We continued to create chances up to half-time without really challenging Keogh in goal. In the 43rd minute, a poor clearance from Harvey found Kingsley, who took the ball into the box, but a fine block tackle from Knaphill captain No. 6 Dale Burnham took the ball out for a corner. Had Kingsley shot earlier we are sure he would have scored, with Keogh out of position trying to get back. We went in at half-time in the lead but very disappointed to have given away a goal. We were by far the better team but just didn’t take our chances.

HT: Epsom & Ewell 2-1 Knaphill

Andrew Herring had the first chance early in the second half but his shot deflected off another Epsom & Ewell player and went away for a goal kick. Minutes later Herring made a superb covering tackle on the halfway line and moved on before finding Luke, whose shot was weak and easily collected by Keogh. In the 55th minute Stefan was fouled by Knaphill No. 18 Aidan King, which earned him a yellow card, but in falling he landed awkwardly on his right shoulder and appeared to dislocate it again, meaning he had to leave the field and was replaced by Callum Wilson. This made a major change to the game. Stefan had been winning the ball fairly comfortably and, without Toby Young as well, Knaphill started to pressurise us with balls into the box.

In the 58th minute Knaphill No. 16 Jack Carrod went on a run and carved his way through The Salts’ defence. He hit a strong shot which Witter could only parry, but fortunately the follow-up shot cleared the bar. Knaphill were starting to come back into the game, but we still had a couple of chances to increase our lead. A great move by Kionte saw him reach the goal line, but his cut-back was cleared. The ball found its way to Kingsley, who tried an audacious shot from outside the left-hand corner of the box, but it went well wide. Limpo then went on a dribble and, using some real skill, left three defenders standing until he was unceremoniously dumped outside the box. McVey took the kick again. He curled it round the wall but it went safely into Keogh’s hands. Just needed a bit more “umph” in the shot.

In the 75th minute Knaphill had a good move outside our box. Adam had a tug of a shirt and when Nazareth made an excellent tackle, the ref called it back for the previous infringement. Hopwood stepped up to take the kick and hit a great shot to the top left of our goal, but a diving Witter managed to push it away. Great free kick – fine save. The ball was played back in, which Faebian went for, but he was clattered by Knaphill No. 5 Stewart. There was a bit of argy-bargy amongst the players before it calmed down. The ref went over to his linesman for a chat but couldn’t decide who had done what, so just gave a free-kick to The Salts. Pretty poor really, as we could see from the other end of the pitch.

In the 82nd minute Luke and Andrew were replaced by Obasanjo Akinniranye and Kallum Peart as both teams tried for another goal. There were still a couple of chances for us, but Knaphill also put pressure on. A needless foul by Kallum not only earned him a yellow card but gave them the opportunity to put a ball into the box. Hopwood duly obliged and Knaphill captain Burnham got his head to the ball at the far post. A free header really, and you have to ask should Faebian have come for it? Maybe the thump he got a few minutes earlier stopped him, but there it was – the equaliser.

Epsom & Ewell 2-2 Knaphill

In the 90+2nd minute a great sweeping move down the left from Kionte moved the ball across the pitch and it was laid up nicely for Peart as he ran onto it in the box, but his shot lacked composure and went high and wide over the bar, the stand and the netting behind the goal. One of the locals has a nice new match ball for their troubles.

The ref had signalled 7 minutes of injury time, which he kept to, and the game ended 2-2 with what felt like a loss for The Salts. Certainly, our joint manager could be heard in the team talk around the centre circle after the game. We think if we had held on it would have been deserved, but you can’t ignore Knaphill’s second half, and they probably felt they deserved a point after going two goals down in the first half.

Joint assistant managers Connor and Chris spoke after the game of the team’s disappointment, but there was still a good feeling amongst themselves. They also said that we probably need to score at least three goals to ensure victory, and a third today would have done that. Both teams stayed in the clubhouse for quite some time after the game, which I believe shows great team spirit in the two camps.

We move on now to Tuesday evening with an away game at Badshot Lea, who sit 2nd in the table, although they have played three more games than us. They were relegated from Isthmian South-Central last season but had a complete restructuring, so are going well. KO 7.45 at the Operatix Community Ground, Westfield Lane, Farnham. As always, the boys will look forward to your support before the Cup game on Saturday.