Epsom endured a frustrating afternoon on Saturday, playing some decent hockey in patches but failing to put a number of chances away and succumbing 1-0 to visitors Trojans.

After a disappointing performance against UCL Academicals the previous week, Epsom were in determined mood and started brightly, with Mike Atkinson looking lively on the right hand side. As with last week however, Epsom committed too many men forward and were hit by an early counter attack, with the Trojan's left back firing a diagonal aerial over the top to find two strikers, who combined well to give the visitors the lead.

Epsom responded well to this set back, raising the tempo and controlling possession, although they created few chances from open play and squandered a number of penalty corners to go in 1-0 down at the break. The second half saw Epsom dominating both possession and territory, with the Trojans sitting back and protecting their lead with disciplined defending.

Epsom continued to win penalty corners through some skilful running and accurate passing, but they found the Trojans goalkeeper in inspired form, and were lucky not to go two down as goalkeeper Clive Hunt made an alert save. With time running out Epsom cranked up the pressure further, and Trojans started to see men sent to the sin bin, but the home side still couldn't find an equaliser, with the Trojans defence staying stong.

The visitors deserved their victory for their tenacity, shutting out 17 short corners over the course of the match, and Epsom need to be more ruthless in attack if they are to progress in this league. Epsom play at home again next week, against Oxted 2's and will be looking for a positive performance to kick start their season.

Match report by Jimmy Midmer