AFC Wimbledon Youth 1 Epsom Eagles 1
West Surrey Premier Elite - Sunday 18 September 2005
On the day's play, AFC Youth were perhaps a trifle unlucky not to secure the victory, because they were the better side, especially in the second half. However, despite dominating possession AFC were unable to create many clear-cut chances against a well-organised and resilient Eagles defence that defended deep and in numbers. Cheam were at full strength apart from William Taylor who was sidelined with a foot injury.
Epsom should have taken an early lead when Billy Dunn found himself goalside inside the area, but he shot straight at Nick Greaves who saved comfortably. In a sterile first half both defences looked fairly comfortable, but in the midfield Sonny Russell and Tee-Jay Ryan seemed more effective than the opposition. After 25 minutes some nice footwork by Troy Murray played in Timi da Silva, but with only the keeper to beat he lost control, and his shot was deflected for a corner. Nick Greaves then did well to keep out a long-range effort from the Eagles. Another chance went begging when Timi da Silva penetrated down the right flank and delivered a great cross into the goalmouth, but somehow Sonny Russell failed to connect at point-blank range. Five minutes before the interval Timi da da Silva was bundled over in the area, but the referee was in a good position and he waved the penalty appeals aside. A few minutes later AFC had better luck when the same player was flattened by an Epsom defender, and this time the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot. Troy Murray converted coolly with a penalty that sent the keeper the wrong way.
On resuming Timi da Silva was diverted to the left flank, Jack Malin sent up front and Sam King detailed to the centre of the defence. Nick Greaves was soon forced to make a good save from a long-range effort, and then Timi da Silva ran the Epsom right flank ragged but the final cross lacked accuracy and the visitors managed to clear their lines. Epsom then equalised when a bungled clearance landed straight in the path of Joe Firmager, and the midfielder netted with a terrific shot from the edge of the penalty area. Timi da Silva continued to roast defenders down the left at will, and eventually Troy Murray converted a cross with a crisp shot, but the goal was disallowed for offside. Epsom rarely threatened now, but their central defenders were on top form cutting out numerous balls and making excellent saving tackles. With the game entering the closing ten minutes, the Epsom left-winger stole in on the blind side of the AFC defence, but he dallied on the ball too long and his shot was deflected away for an unproductive corner. Troy Murray then had the ball in the Epsom net again, but it was clearly offside. The last chance of the match fell to Jack Malin, who combined with Timi da Silva to volley a return pass at full stretch over the bar from eight yards out.
A draw was probably a fair result in view of the inability of both sides to create many scoring chances and the dominance of both defences. Epsom set themselves out as if they came for a draw, and in a couple of weeks time the two sides meet again in the League Cup at Epsom. Man of the match goes to Timi da Silva who created all sorts of problems with his rapid footwork, but there were good performances elsewhere, especially from Sam King, Sonny Russell, James Snishko and Charlie Dennis.
Reporter's man of the match: Timi da Silva
Team: Nick Greaves; Sam King, Jack Malin, James Snishko, Charlie Dennis; Matthew O'Brien, Sonny Russell, Tee-Jay Ryan, Luke Ewing; Timi da Silva, Troy Murray. Sub: Scott Fullerton, Sahil Patel.