Epping 1    v    Leigh Ramblers 0 (played at Leigh Ramblers)

A sluggish uninspiring performance by the Epping side in a game they relinquished home advantage to have the game played.  Nevertheless, their performance was littered with fundamental errors and slack play all over the park. The side struggled to come to terms with the poor pitch and were never playing the free flowing football they are capable of. With Peter Beaumont playing as an emergency left back following the late withdrawal of  Ollie Seymour due to illness the team lack the pace in and around the box that has been so important in recent games.

Despite their lack of form it was the Epping side that were creating the chances and looked the more likely to score.  Andy Mavin was at last driving from midfield again and he looked very impressive . It was from one of these drives that he was up-ended and the referee awarded a penalty. After a long delay Tony Whiteway stayed cool and slotted the ball home for his first ever Epping goal.

The second half was much the same, play being broken up by poor passing and missed chances . The introduction of Jamie Homer for his debut and the returning Dean Harper allowed Peter Beaumont to be pushed up and this certainly gave Epping more penetration . Nevertheless, only a fantastic save by Theo Buttigeg in the first minute of the eight minutes injury and strong defensive play by the increasingly consistent Tom Scriven gave Epping the victory they deserved against a dogged Ramblers side.

Team: Theo Buttigeg, Nick Dainton, Peter Beaumont, Tom Scriven, Andy Grey, Sam Shepherd, Andy Mavin, James Kelly, Danny Turpin, Chris Bailey, Tony Whiteway.

Subs: Dean Harper, Jamie Homer, Russ Geraghty.

Scorer: Tony Whiteway.

Man of the Match: Andy Mavin.