Wimborne Wayfarers: 4
Epsom: 4 (W.Hunt 2, Midmer, White)
Following a home abandonment due to the ‘Beast from the East’, Epsom hit the road again to visit Wimborne Wayfarers. Several players had mysteriously disappeared for this five-hour round trip, but two noble volunteers stepped up in ‘PowerPush’ creator Drew Vermeulen and target man Alex Pizzey. Epsom’s leading all-time goalscorer Paul Atkinson stepped into the breach at centre-back completing a clean sweep of outfield positions for the season.
The match started in damp, misty conditions and became very open from the outset. Epsom took an early lead with a slick move finding the path of the onrushing Will Hunt, who finished neatly for 1-0. Wimborne soon equalised when a counterattack played in forward Todd Clark who smashed home a brilliant rising shot from wide on the left. 1-1. Epsom then took a counter-attack turn with Liam White switching a slick move to James Midmer who fired home a fierce shot from the top for a 2-1 lead. Both sides then traded a lot of short corners but there was no further score until halftime, Epsom went in 2-1 up.
The second half continued in the same vein with both sides trading attacks and a constant stream of unconverted short corners. Wimborne soon equalized when a free-hit was slung in and deflected home at close range, but midway through the half Epsom finally converted a short corner through Liam White’s low flick. 3-2. Epsom had chances to pull away but didn’t convert and they were stung for this when, with 7 minutes to go, Wimborne made it 3-3 from close range following some good work down the left baseline. Worse was to follow as Wimborne then converted a late short corner for 4-3. Fortunately, Epsom had enough left in the tank to come back and Paul Atkinson strode up from the back to set up Will Hunt to fire home his second with the aid of a looping deflection. 4-4. With seconds on the clock a brilliant ball from Vermeulen found Tom Smith at the top; the youngster drove in and crashed a rising shot but Wimborne’s goalkeeper made a smart save. This was literally the last play of the game and Epsom were left with a solid point for the 100 mile drive home, won against a very lively home side.