Epsom: 2 (P.Atkinson, Harris)
Winchester: 2
A freezing cold afternoon saw Epsom battle out an even 2-2 draw with league-leaders Winchester.
Winchester arrived on the back of 9 straight wins and took an early 1-0 lead via a clinical counter-attack down the right. Epsom shrugged this off and looked in decent touch for the rest of the first half. They were soon level from the penalty spot, calmly converted by Paul Atkinson, and had several more chances as the half wore on, but Winchester held firm and it was 1-1 at half time.
Winchester came out much the sharper of the sides after half-time and applied strong pressure for about 20 minutes. But on 55 minutes, out of the blue, Epsom won a short corner and James Harris crashed it home for 2-1. Just 15 minutes remained and Epsom dug in. Time ticked on and Epsom looked to be doing enough, backed by some fantastic saves from Ed Burton-Brown. 5 minutes from time Winchester won a short-corner and scored a clinically-worked deflected routine. The match finished 2-2, probably a fair result given the first-half, second-half switch in play.
Epsom have fought hard in some tricky fixtures in the last three weeks, but two draws and a loss have seen them slip to sixth in the league following good results for the sides around them. Epsom now travel to fourth-placed Basingstoke next week for a big game to finish the year.