Cheam Mens 1st XI 0 - 2 Epsom Mens 1st XI

Cheam’s fantastic run in the Surrey cup ended with defeat to a strong Epsom side on Saturday in a game in which the score line didn’t tell the whole story. Although Cheam were beaten by a team who play leagues above us, we weren’t outplayed.
Cheam started the first game under Steve’s new captaincy with a new system and in the first half it was largely successful, with the only goals scored by Epsom coming from short corners or our own mistakes.
A particular highlight of the first half was a perfectly timed tackle by Gunny, which stopped an almost certain Epsom goal. Unfortunately, it was with his feet and the resultant shorty went in, but these were only minor details.
Cheam did also create problems going forward and had their own chances to score. Harry and Jamie in particular played well down the right. Unfortunately when the forwards did get the ball in the oppo D they couldn’t find the net, probably out of surprise at having the ball so far forward. In Cheam’s D, Steve, despite conceding a few goals, also pulled off a string of top saves, a particularly memorable one with his face!
In the second half the game opened up as both teams tired, but Cheam couldn’t quite break through, despite giving a good account of themselves.
Although we exit the cup at this stage, it was a good run out to run off the Christmas dinners and try out the new system. Bring on Saturday!