Purley Walcountians: 1

Epsom: 4 (P.Atkinson, Midmer 2, Bhatti)

Travelling to local rivals Purley, Epsom knew this was a game they had to win and they started brightly, with Mike Atkinson carving out a number of chances from the right wing, the best of which fell to Brett Hosken who fired just wide. Following Epsom’s initial burst the first half then settled into an attritional midfield battle, with chances few and far between. Epsom were starting to regret the early misses, but they won a short corner just before half time, and Paul Atkinson converted clinically to give Epsom a 1-0 lead at the break.

The second half continued in a tight vein and it was again Mike Atkinson who made the difference, winning a short corner, from which James Midmer deflected home Oli Hildrey’s dragflick. At 2-0 in a tight contest, Epsom looked good value, but they lost composure and Purley were able to apply a lot of pressure throughout the second half. Having held out for a long time, Epsom eventually conceded a penalty flick and nerves were jangling as Purley’s Damian Hallett converted to make it 2-1 with ten minutes left. Fortunately Epsom continued to show a cutting edge going forward, and from a rare visit to the Purley half, Immy Bhatti and Sean Hebden combined to finally walk the ball home for 3-1. With Purley now throwing men forward, a superb pass from Brett Hosken found Paul Atkinson in behind a high defence, and he played in Midmer to make it 4-1.

This was a really gutsy performance from Epsom, who shrugged off some early misses, and some second half pressure, to grind out a game that could have gone either way.