East Preston 2 Pagham 2, SCFL Premier Division, 29th December 2018
And so to my last groundhopping match of 2018.
Having spent much of Christmas week unable to decide whether
to take a step closer to completing my target of visiting every ground in the
SCFL Premier or to attend a game at a higher level, I ultimately turned to Twitter
(again) to determine my destination.
With only one SCFL Premier team whose ground I haven’t previously
visited scheduled to be at home this weekend, East Preston were the obvious
choice to be one of my Twitter poll’s options. A quick scan of the fixtures in
the higher Bostik leagues led me to pick Three Bridges as the other option (I thought
I’d go for a straight shoot-out this time out, rather than having multiple options).
Ultimately, it was East Preston’s match with Pagham which
comfortably won the poll. This meant not only would another SCFL Prem ground
get ticked off my metaphorical list (only five more to go), but I would get to
see the only two remaining sides in the Premier Division who I haven’t yet seen
play this season. Technically I haven’t seen Peacehaven in a competitive match
yet, but I did see them take on Cobham in a pre-season friendly – this still
counts, right?
It also meant an ideal opportunity to meet up with my
Worthing-based friend, and 5Ways Soccer School colleague, Mark, and his
partner’s two children (who just so happen to be the same age as my own two kids) and
attend a match with him for the second time this season. I only hoped that
this would be a more entertaining encounter than the previous game we’d been to
together – a dour goalless draw between Worthing and Burgess Hill back in
August.
Unfortunately, my eldest didn’t feel like attending the game
(think he may still be slightly scarred from his visit to a freezing cold, wet and windy Loxwood a couple of weeks ago). However, the flip side was
that there would enough space in the car to give Mark and his young charges, Finn and
Stan (and Fin’s new ‘pet’ Steve the Tamodatchi – they’re still about; who
knew?) a lift rather than them having to
catch a train. It also meant that my children could take a much-needed break
from each other for a few hours, having severely started to wind each other
(and me and their mother) up over the past few days.
Following a 40-minute drive to Mark’s house, then little
more than a ten-minute drive to East Preston, we arrived at our destination and
parked outside the Lashmar about 15 minutes before kick-off. Having paid £6 to
get in, and £1 for a simple but effective double header program (all three kids
and Steve were waved in for free) we made our way into the ground.
The Lashmar is a standard county league ground, with a
couple of covered terraced areas and a smallish, but not unattractive, covered seated
stand along one side of the pitch. Tucked away behind rows of fir trees around
much of the ground, it’s a really pleasant setting in which to watch football.
With my companions’ two young charges having been fairly
frequent visitors to the more salubrious (in comparison) surroundings of Lewes,
Lancing and Worthing, Finn was quick to remark on quite how small the
ground seemed.
It made me smile as I recalled the near identical reactions
my own two children had to similar sized (and indeed even smaller – this is not the
smallest ground I’ve been to this season my any means) grounds we visited earlier
in the season. They’ve become more used to it now, no longer commenting on
things like the lack of scoreboards, tunnels and other things that once seemed
conspicuous by their absence. They’ve slowly become sanitised to the world of
non-league football, which in my opinion can only be a good thing!
For the first time this season, I opted not to stand at the
side of the pitch or decamp to the covered seated area. Instead, we made our
way behind the nearest goal, feeling that as there weren’t many people there if
the kids felt the need to burn off some post-Christmas energy, they would be able to
do so without overly bothering anyone. From my own point of view, it was also good
to watch a game from a slightly different perspective (even if doing so did
ram home the fact that I really need to start taking my glasses with me to football
matches for when the action is up the other end of the pitch!
The hosts started the match strongly and were almost ahead
from their first serious attack, James Binfield reacting well to turn Jack
Barnes’ long-range strike behind for a corner. The home fans didn’t have too much
longer to wait for the opening goal, though. The resulting corner was well
worked, and culminated in Asa Nicholson sending a stooping header beyond
Binfield’s despairing dive and into the top corner.
In the opening 20 minutes, Pagham’s defence struggled to get
to grips with the searing pace of Lucas Patterson who was a constant thorn in
the visitor’s side.
However, midway through the opening 45 minutes, having
weathered the early pressure, Pagham began to turn the screw and became increasingly
dominant, keeping the host’s pegged back in their own half for lengthy periods.
For all their possession and territory, though, they struggled to create too many clear-cut chances. That said, East Preston were indebted to two fine saves
from their keeper George Bentley, and a miscued shot from Scott Murfin, to keep
their lead intact at the interval.
Parity was restored, however, barley a minute into the
second half. A clear handball from Josh Etherington (so clear that literally
not one player complained about the decision – this never happens, ever) led to
the referee awarding a penalty which was confidently dispatched by Dan Simmonds (see video).
From that moment, the game continued in a similar pattern to
the first half. Pagham seeing more of the ball but not creating too much; East
Preston only really looking dangerous when Patterson was on the charge.
With the game seemingly meandering towards a hard-fought draw,
the kids started to become restless and began running relay races behind the
goal. They weren’t the only ones getting restless. The constant beeping from
Steve suggested that he too craved action (although according Finn he was merely
hungry and in need of the toilet – technology, hey!).
With around ten minutes left, Mark and I had no sooner
agreed that neither side looked like nicking a winner, when a moment of magic
by that man Patterson handed the hosts the lead. He beat two players before
calmly placing the ball into the bottom far corner of the net from 20 yards
out. A goal that we believed had signed off our 2018 football spectating in
style.
Once again, though, falling behind seemed to spur Pagham
into action and within five minutes they had levelled for the second time in the match.
There was more than a hint of luck about the equaliser, though, as Daryl Woller’s
attempted deep cross eluded everyone, including Bentley, and ended up in the
net.
During the celebrations that followed, East Preston had
Stephen Herbert sent off. This was presumably for dissent. But to be honest, in
a moment not too dissimilar to the classic Chris Kamara Soccer Saturday incident
at Fratton Park a few years ago, we all completely missed the red card, and
were only alerted to the fact by the Pagham goalkeeper, who seemed as confused
as the rest of us.
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Courtesy of Mark Shelton
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Pagham pressed for an equaliser in the little time left, but despite playing the majority of the remainder of the match in the
host’s half, they couldn’t fashion any memorable chances.
At full-time, the boys – and Steve, of course – rushed over
to high five some of the rather bemused, yet amused – and polite – players (and
the even more bemused and amused, yet equally polite, match officials) as they
headed into the changing room.
It was a fun way for my 2018 goundhopping journey to end.
So that’s it then. No more games to go and watch, or grounds
to visit, until next year.
Or, to be more specific, until Tuesday when I’ll be going
to watch Lewes take on Burgess Hill. I’m looking forward to it already.
Happy New Year everyone.
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