Gore Court: 3

Epsom: 4 (Joubert 2, P.Atkinson, Hosken)

Epsom displayed some clinical finishing at short corners to record a hard fought away win at Gore Court

Having made the trip to Sittingbourne- Epsom started brightly and were ahead early as mercurial forward Wade Joubert flicked home their second short corner after 5 minutes. The lead did not last long as Gore Court almost immediately won their first short corner and dangerman Aaron Glass powered in a low dragflick to level the scores at 1-1 after 10 minutes. Epsom retook the lead from their third short corner after 12 minutes, with Paul Atkinson slamming home to make it 2-1. Epsom then briefly exerted further pressure on the Gore Court circle but a number of half chances were snuffed out by the home side. Then, in the 15 minute run up to half time, Epsom were put on the defensive by some determined attacking play by Gore Court. Having done a lot of defending, Epsom were grateful for the half time whistle and a chance to regroup at 2-1 up.

The second half started in dramatic fashion as a speculative aerial ball from Epsom resulted in a short corner and a yellow card for Gore Court's key defender Paul Surridge. From the subsequent short corner, Mike Atkinson’s shot was saved but Brett Hosken was on hand to score from the rebound. With Gore Court now down to 10 men, Epsom attacked again and were awarded another short corner. Joubert converted with a high dragflick to make it 4-1 and Epsom started to look in full control with the man advantage. However, Surridge’s subsequent return to the pitch sparked an impressive Gore Court revival. First Ali Murrell slipped at a crucial moment to let in Glass, who evaded a bad recovery challenge from Murrell, and the advancing Matt Tuppen to roll the ball home for 4-2. Murrell was deservedly sin-binned for the attempted challenge, and with Epsom now down to 10, Gore Court soon won another short corner which Glass dispatched via a high dragflick. From 4-1 up Epsom had let it slip to 4-3 but with Murrell returned to the pitch, the away side regrouped and passed the ball much better in the last 10 minutes, a task made easier by another yellow card for Gore Court, this time their left back being sent to the sin bin for deliberately obstructing Mike Atkinson. Gore Court refused to give up in the closing stages, firing over some accurate aerials and Epsom had Tuppen to thank for saving two more Glass short corner dragflicks- the last on the final whistle.