A grim wet and cold day in Epsom. The Spencer squad arrived and shared a common theme of how rough everyone was feeling. A mix of man-flu, a couple of hangovers and just feeling dodgy were the order of the day.

In the changing room Spencer counted their numbers and were a finger short, with only 9 players. The day just got tougher. OK, Epsom only had 11, but most were top players in the Premier Division a few years ago with other clubs and they put Spencer to the sword.

Spencer did score first, a charge forward by long pole Hugh Hobson, playing as a middie with two offside due to being a player down. The Epsom defence were not expecting such direct play and he slotted the ball into the bottom corner. It’s fair to say, Epsom then took charge.

The visitors soon moved to a 6-man zone to try and at least slow down the Epsom goal tally and this worked, more or less. Epsom had to at least make some effort to score and it was good zone defence practice for Spencer.

A surprise to everyone was Hugo’s second goal – another break up-field and a neat finish. One Epsom player asks if he was a regular attack player. But he was not done yet. Hugo scored Spencer’s third and final goal thanks to a long clear up the centre of the field from Colin, collected at pace by Hugo who left the Epsom long poles in his wake. The most deserved man-of-the-match award this season.

Despite the ruthless scoreline, Spencer left the field happy. The midfield competed, and arguably won the ground ball battle. It was just that the Spencer squad did not have enough ball control to keep possession when they got into attack. Taking away the two Epsom defeats, the worse next scoreline in the league this season was the 6-12 defect at the hand of London University. Spencer still have a double points game against unbeaten Northampton but their East Division Two status is safe for another season.

Spencer 3’s were:
Colin Byrne, Hugo Hobson (3 goals), Toby Rule, Rob Gooch, Gavin Park, Michael Sheahan, Jamie Weir, Andrew Mottershead and Ian Ballantine