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Wasteful Golds have to settle for a point


Littlehampton Town 2 Storrington FC 2, SCFL Division One, Saturday 26th January 2019

Following two weeks of being unable to make my mind up regarding my Saturday match choice, things were back to normal this week.

By Wednesday evening – with the assistance of my friend Mark, with whom I had previously attended the Worthing and East Preston matches this season – we had decided that the Littlehampton Sports Field would be the venue for my latest for my latest jaunt. The SCFL Division One between Littlehampton Town and Storrington being the match we had plumped for.
Now, this was not due to be my only game this week. I had also been planning a midweek trip to Eastbourne for the Sussex Senior Cup match between Eastbourne Town and Brighton and Hove Albion. Unfortunately, my hopes of an extra game were dashed as one of the teams were unable to raise a side. Albeit, not the one you may think.


In a rather bizarre development, Albion – who are said to have more than 50 players signed onto their development program – were somehow unable to field just 11 players for a match in nearby Eastbourne. If only the club who this week were ranked one of the 30 richest clubs in the world by the Deloitte Football Money League had access to the same resources as a Non-League side, hey?

In fairness, this isn’t a rant at Brighton so much as it is at the Sussex FA. Albion’s under 18s team had won a Youth FA Cup match against Manchester United just a couple of days earlier, and Brighton would probably initially have looked to field many of those players in the Eastbourne Town match. It’s understandable that they would contact the Sussex FA to look to try and get the match put back. However, when Seaford Town approached the Sussex FA with a similar request earlier this season, in the same competition, they were duly removed from it. Professional team Brighton, however, weren’t kicked out of the Cup (even though they clearly did have enough players to play; almost certainly unlike Seaford) hence the reason for my ire. It’s almost as if the Sussex FA don’t want the biggest supported club in Sussex, whose home ground is the venue for the Cup’s final, out of the competition. But I’m sure that couldn’t be the case. Could it?

Anyway, I digress. Back to the Littlehampton trip. Both myself and Mark are coaches at the 5Ways Soccer School in Brighton on Saturday mornings. So, following a quick dash to our respective homes to shower and change, I picked my friend and his partner’s eldest son, Finn, up from their Worthing abode at just after 14:20. We arrived at the Littlehampton Sports Field – at which a side outside proudly proclaims is the town’s proud home of football, cricket and, rather more oddly croquet – around 14:45.


Littlehampton Town has a really good set-up, with a fantastic upper-floor clubhouse/bar which affords onlookers a birds-eye view of the match (should they not wish to traverse down to the pitch – which we of course did). There are three covered stands along one side of the pitch – two terraced one seated – so there were plenty of areas where we could shelter to avoid the swirling rain that was to join us later in the afternoon. Admission was £6 (free for Finn) and a further £1 for a retro-looking program, which I have to say I really liked. There was also plenty of space for the younger member of our party to go and play with a friend he made during the afternoon.


The pitch also looked pretty decent from where I was standing. While I’m sure it was more bobbly and cut up when actually playing on it than how it looked from the sideline, it was still a fine example of how hard groundstaff at NonLeague clubs work to get their pitches looking good in the middle of the notoriously changeable British winter.


The first-half of the match was fairly even. Littlehampton saw more of the ball, but were restricted to mainly long-range efforts that were on the whole comfortable for visiting keeper Gary Elliott to deal with. Elliott would undoubtedly become his team’s star performer as the match went on, but we’ll come to that in a bit.

For all Littlehampton’s territorial advantage in the opening 45 minutes, it was the visiting Swans who came closest to breaking the deadlock. Their right winger broke free of The Golds’ defence, which did look vulnerable when Storrington attacked, only to blaze over from close range. There were suggestions that he may have been clipped by a chasing defender, but neither the ref or his assistant (nor me or Mark it has to be said) saw anything untoward. Much to the attackers’ chagrin.


If the first-half was even, then the second-half was about as one-sided as I’ve seen this season. I simply lost count of the amount of chances – good chances – that Littlehampton created but failed to capitalise on. This was in part due to brilliant goalkeeping from Elliott and some finishing that ranged from the unlucky to the comical.


The Golds had already missed a couple of gilt-edged opportunities when, completely against the run of play, Storrington took the lead ten minutes into the second half. Littlehampton goalkeeper Craig Stoner experienced a rush of blood to the head to get caught in no-man’s land, and The Swan’s striker, Jordan Suter - who worked hard throughout the 90 minutes without seeing too much of the ball - took full advantage, accurately curling home from a difficult angle.

This setback prompted a relentless spell of Littlehampton pressure. More chances came and went before James Thurgar, who became more influential for the home side as the game wore on, skipped down the left wing and squared into the box. Skipper Liam Humphreys eventually managed to bundle the ball home following a goalmouth scramble. 1-1 with half-an-hour left to play.


Then came a couple of minutes which summed this game up in a nutshell. (all of which can be observed in the videos below). Elliott produced a good save from a free-kick, only for a following-up Littlehampton player to somehow miss from a matter of yards. Seconds later a Storrington defender was deemed to have committed a foul in the area and a penalty was awarded. The Swans Twitter feed described this decision as dubious. Take a look at the video and make your own mind up.

It’s probably needless to say, that the spot-kick was saved (despite Elliott having been injured and requiring treatment in the build-up to the penalty), as was the chance from the ensuing rebound.

Despite their profligacy in front of goal, The Golds did score a second with just under 15 minutes remaining. Albeit in highly fortuitous circumstances. Thurgar again did well on the left, but his cross was misplaced and overhit. However, the ball sailed over the unfortunate goalkeeper’s head and into the top corner of the net. Finn later described the effort as having gone ‘top-bins’. Well, not quite, but they all count. The goal prompted one of the worst goal celebrations that I’ve ever seen – and something my eyes are still trying to recover from. I won’t try and describe it as words alone can't do it justice (or injustice). Thankfully Thurgar’s teammates bundled him before his odd gyrating could go on too long.


Even with their noses in front, The Golds continued to carve out chance after chance – two from within the six-yard box. All were missed.

The hosts had been so wasteful in the second half, that it probably didn’t come as a huge surprise to anyone when they were eventually punished. With the game just entering a lengthy period of stoppage time, a clumsy push in the box led to Storrington being awarded a definite penalty – despite futile claims from some of the home players that the offence was committed outside of the box. Aaron Hooker-Meehan duly smashed home the penalty to earn the visitors a point that they’re sure to be delighted with.

For Mark and I, it’s the second consecutive 2-2 draw we’ve seen (and the third draw this season). All in all, though, another decent afternoon at the footy.


Having already decided on next week’s destination, I’m counting down the days for a trip to Arundel. Let’s just hope Arundel and their opponents that day Pagham can get enough players together to field a side. After all, if it can happen to Brighton…  

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