COWHC Men's 1 vs Epsom 1 - 17th Feb 2018

As the great Vince Lombardi once said "It's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get back up". Now the Croydon boys will definitely have to focus on the latter part of that saying coming into next Saturday's game against Barnes to keep their top table finish hopes intact, after an uncharacteristic performance in the Hampshire/Surrey Regional Div 1.

The crisp winter's morning trip across to Epsom's home ground...15 miles away in Cobham, made for some early pre game issues. Once regrouped, albeit a little later than first planned, the team got themselves together ready for what has been dubbed "The Battle of Notre Dame"

The early stages of the game saw Croydon on the back foot up against an eager and well drilled Epsom 1st XI. Absorbing the pressure, Croydon pushed back finding the runs of Mark "Wing Commander" Collard, and Ewan "The Valiant" Quince. Unfortunately no end product was found and Croydon were made to pay, after a slicing passing move into the away sides D put Epsom a goal up.

Croydon fought back valiantly, some good link up play between midfielders Tim "Maestro" Davies, and Rob "Magnetic-Feet" Fullerton-Batten found an attacking stick in the D. Fresh from his conquests in Bristol/Bath, Dominic "Geography obviously not his strong point" Coe-O'Brien took the ball past 2 bruising defenders and rifling the ball into the back of the net! As both teams set up for the restart, two of Surrey's finest met in the middle for a quick chat, only for the opposite ended, eagle eyed whistle blower to rule he had seen the ball strike an attackers foot. Goal chalked off, Croydon were still one down.

The battle continued and after a break through the defence an Epsom attacker found himself 1 on 1 with Croydon shot stopper, David "Sat-Nav" Roche. Standing tall he pushed the attacker away from the goal, physically. The damage was done in the form of a short corner and a serious knock to the arm in the process. Roche soldiered on, but Epsom took note and slotted the ball down the keeper's damaged right side.

Another swift attacking move and some loose defending from Harry "Winging-It" Heitman followed, allowing a baby faced assassin Epsom forward to slot another goal in before break. 3-0 at the halfway point.

After a rousing team talk, orchestrated skipper Ben "Churchill" Bernard, Croydon were looking to re-start on the front foot. However, they could not have wished for a worse start. The ever reliant Andy "Granite-Wall" Dalman found himself stranded with the ball on the baseline. The Epsom attackers, like a pair of junkies, sniffing an opportunity pounced upon him in a pair and mugged him of the ball before slotting it home.

Croydon fought back with some mazy forward runs from Huw "The-Engine" Barrett and Elliot "Braveheart" Baker penetrating the Epsom defensive lines, supplied by the industrious playmaking of Mat "The-Consistent" Roberts. Eventually being awarded a short corner for their courageous efforts, the ever prolific Coe dispatched it in a somewhat uncharacteristic manner, however this stood and Croydon had pegged it back to 4-1.

What followed was the Achilles heal to Croydon's efforts at the battle of Notre Dame. The bounce of this newly laid fortress Epsom called home was getting the better of the away team, leaving defensive lines vulnerable to the quick break away and leaving Paul "Hells-Angel" Henthorne and his defensive partners stranded. 2 goals followed and Croydon found themselves with a big uphill battle to the end.

Croydon had yet another goal chalked off by Surrey's finest and frustrations set in, resulting in 4 yellows being dished out in quick succession. The attacking line did manage to peg one back for the away side in the dying minutes, a swift move allowing Coe to pop up with yet another goal, taking his tally this season one short of the 40 mark.

With minutes to go, an angry sniper in the tree line took a pop at one of Surrey's finest, only for him to have to be stretchered off and a replacement was sought. Despite Baker offering his national league services, Surrey's finest turned down the offer and their assessor took the pitch. This surely was the final straw for them hunting out any top marks. Despite being shot at, the departing official sent off Coe once again and awarded a goal as his final bow out. This made the final score 7-2 to a victorious Epsom HC.

Croydon left the arena licking their wounds and working out what had gone wrong in their battle plans, with plenty of time to do this on the journey alone back to the home teams clubhouse. The next fight will be Croydon's bounce back ability midweek as they prepare for the next tussle with Barnes this Saturday, 1600 at Croydon High.