Little Common 2 Shoreham FC 2, Southern Combination Premier League,
Saturday 10th November 2018
To go to a game or not to go to a game? That was the
question that confronted me on Saturday morning, with my venue (and indeed my attendance
at all) still very much up in the air.
From the moment my mind turned towards which game I should
attend this weekend, I had been unable to make a firm decision regarding where
to go. Initially, I had planned to attend either the Dorking or Lewes matches
in the FA Trophy. Yet as the week dragged slowly towards the weekend, the
appeal of the trophy failed to grab me (not sure why). Instead I decided that I
would wait for league games to visit these grounds (or revisit in Lewes’s
case).
I then resolved to continue my unofficial, and entirely self-imposed,
mission to have visited all the grounds in the Southern Combination Premier
League by the end of this season.
With my Saturday morning football coaching commitments once
again restricting where I can get to (games at the further end of the county
will have to wait until half-term weeks; I’m looking at you Pagham, Chichester
and Loxwood) my choices were suitably narrowed down. Yet still I couldn’t make
up my mind.
Then, waking up on Saturday morning with a slight sniffle
and a weather forecast predicting wet and windy conditions throughout Sussex,
and far from relishing the thought of a morning and afternoon spent getting
completely soaked, I was seriously considering giving going to a game a miss this
weekend. Yes, I’m fair-weather!
However, by 11 o’clock, and with no sign of rain – contrary
to what my phone’s weather-app was still trying to tell me – I finally made up
my mind. Yes, I would go to a game. And that game would be at The Oval, home of
Eastbourne United AFC.
Not that I’d be watching Eastbourne United. AFC. In fact,
Eastbourne United AFC didn’t even have a game this Saturday. Instead I’d be
watching Little Common take on Shoreham.
The Common are ground-sharing with United for the duration of
the season while work is done on their own ground. Therefore, this visit gives
me a chance to tick off two teams at once (although, I will still endeavour to
go and watch an Eastbourne United match at The Oval at some point, too. It somehow
seems like cheating otherwise).
With my two boys having had a late night the night before,
having attended the WWE wrestling in Brighton (cool Dad points for me there – from
them anyway), and both having had training the following morning, it’s decided (largely
by me it has to be said) to let them spend a relaxing afternoon at home.
Therefore, I’m on my own for the short journey to Eastbourne.
Which means one thing is guaranteed. A peaceful afternoon!
After a hassle-free journey, I manage to park in the road
right outside the ground. Admission costs £5 (the joint cheapest I’ve
encountered this season for a league match) and there’s the bonus of a simple
but perfectly adequate program being thrown in for free.
The Oval features one small-ish main seated covered area,
and a similar-sized covered terraced area, along one side of the pitch. There’s
also a small covered area behind one of the goals. I’m assuming this was either
once a seated area, or is soon to become one, as the stand currently features what
appears to be seats without the key component of an actual seat attached to the
metalwork.
There’s also a well-stocked and decent sized bar/club house,
and a separate room selling refreshments. Popping in to the latter room to grab
a pre-game coffee, my senses are quickly assailed by the tantalising aromas of
fried bacon and burgers. Had it not been for the fact that I knew I was due to
be having a roast dinner upon my return from the match, I would almost
certainly have succumbed to the temptation to scoff. That I didn’t displayed a
force of will-power that even I didn’t know I possessed.
Little Common made a fast start to the game and were rewarded
in just the sixth minute, when a raking long-range pass sent Jamie Crone clear
of the visiting defence, and he kept his cool to slot the ball past the
advancing Shoreham goalkeeper.
While the Musselmen did grow into the game as the half wore
on, they struggled to create any real clear-cut chances, although the same
could be said of The Common, who were also being kept at arm’s length.
The equaliser, however, arrived on the half-hour mark. It
came in slightly controversial circumstances. A Shoreham attacker burst into
the box, but was sent sprawling by a chasing defender. Although the referee
initially waved play on, his assistant immediately waved his flag to signal
that there had been contact and a penalty was duly awarded.
Ryan McBride, the larger than life striker who would become
the main target of the home supporter’s ‘banter’ in the second half, made no
mistake from the spot, confidently sending Matt Cruttwell the wrong way.
If Common made a fast start to the opening 45 minutes, it
was the Musselmen who came out all guns blazing in the second-half. Within a
minute or so of the restart, McBride capitalised on a horrific lapse of
concentration in the home defence, and while saying he ‘raced’ clear to double
his own personal tally and give the visitors the lead may be overstating things
slightly, he nevertheless did enough to hold off the covering challenges and
notch his second of the game.
This goal really seemed to knock The Common’s confidence. For
the next 20 minutes they struggled to get anything going. The home supporter’s
anguish as yet another pass either sloppily went astray or went backwards was audible.
While it can hardly be said that Shoreham carved out chance after
chance to put the game to bed during this period, they did look extremely
comfortable. They also posed a sporadic threat on the counter, with Martin Mutungi
looking their main dangerman.
However, Little Common aren’t on a five-match unbeaten run
for no reason, and as the game entered its final 20 minutes they started to
improve and began creating some decent chances. Much of this good work was
coming from veteran Wes Tate, who was really starting to pull the strings in a
more advanced midfield position. Yet with James Broadbent in the Shoreham goal reacting
well to everything that The Common had to offer, it seemed that Shoreham would
hold on for the three points.
Yet with the clock ticking towards the 90 minute-mark, Crone
was once again given too much space in the area, and he was able to find a way
past Broadbent to grab a late equaliser.
Buoyed by the goal, Common pressed for a winner in injury
time, and while they managed to get themselves in some decent positions, they
couldn’t carve out another clear chance. In fact, it was the visitors who came
closest to snatching it, when McBride – who had been a nuisance to the home
defence all afternoon – just failed to get a decent cross from the left under
control at the far post. Much to the relief of the small section of home fans
who had been barracking him mercilessly for most of the second half. I get the
impression he isn’t the type to pay that sort of stuff much attention, though.
So the match ended in a competitive draw which, while I
couldn’t describe it as thrilling, was certainly entertaining enough.
As a footnote, the day’s forecast rain did eventually
arrive. About 15 minutes after I got back from the football. In fact, it absolutely
bucketed it down! Had it been like that in the morning then there’s simply no
way I would have gone to a game.
Groundhopping and me. I guess some things are just meant to
be!
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