Peacehaven 3 AFC Uckfield 1, SCFL Premier Division, Saturday 9th March 2019
Family commitments – in other words wifey needing the car – meant that the only way I would be able to get to a game this weekend would be to stay local.
Having already visited Newhaven, Seaford and Saltdean this season, my thoughts instantly turned to Peacehaven’s Piddinghoe Avenue – one of only three SCFL Premier Grounds that I’m yet to frequent during 2018/19. (Sort of. More of that in a bit).
Fortunately, a quick glance at the fixture list revealed that Peacehaven and Telscombe were indeed at home this weekend, taking on AFC Uckfield in the SCFL Premier Division. The Groundhopping Gods were smiling on me. They evidently enjoy reading this blog!
Being a Newhaven native (and former Peacehaven Youth player
many, many, many years ago), it will come as no real surprise to learn that
this was far from my first ever visit to Piddinghoe Avenue. It’s a ground I’ve
visited many times before – as both spectator and player.
In fact, my last visit to the ground came as recently as July 2018 when I took my eldest to watch a pre-season friendly between Peacehaven and Cobham. However, as I decided to reset my ground’s visited tally ahead of my inaugural groundhopping season, I figured that that visit didn’t actually count, so I still needed to tick it off before the end of this season.
Having once played for Peacehaven’s under 16s is not my only tenuous connection to the club. Two former schoolmates (and indeed youth football teammates) are currently involved in Haven’s management set-up. Mark Shutt is the first-team manager, while Brett Powell is the physio – sorry sport’s therapist. Not actually sure what the difference is, but I’m sure there is one. Probably.
Anyway, by 14:45 I had arrived in familiar surroundings having paid £6 entry and then a further £1 for a decent little matchday program.
Piddinghoe Avenue has a main seated stand along one side of the pitch (the opposite side to where you enter the ground), and then a small covered terraced stand behind one goal. There are also a few rows of seats behind the far goal, where it looks like there was – or maybe still is – an intention to build another small covered area, but as yet this remains an unfinished project (if indeed a stand is what it was meant to be).
There is also a large covered area alongside the well-appointed clubhouse, which is the area where most of the fans tend to gather. You often need the cover at Piddinghoe Avenue. It’s one of those exposed grounds that always seems to be cold and windy, even when the temperatures aren’t that low or the wind that strong. This afternoon was no exception.
Until today, Peacehaven and Telscombe were the only team in the SCFL Prem that I was yet to see play this season. Not that I’d been avoiding them, you understand. Just one of those quirks of the fixture list. By contrast, this was the third time that I’d seen AFC Uckfield in action, having watched them lose narrowly at home to Horsham YMCA on the opening day of the season and then win in Loxwood on a wet and windy miserable December afternoon.
It was the Uckers who started this game the brighter, and they should have been in front within the first ten minutes when Dee Okojie got free in the area, only to be denied by home keeper Alieu Secka.
Haven had hardly posed a threat when, from out of nowhere, they took the lead. The game was approaching the 15-minute mark when Jack McDonnell worked himself a yard of space on the left before sending over a decent cross which Curtis Ford prodded in from the edge of the six-yard box.
Other clear-cut chances were at a premium in the first-half, with two fairly evenly matched teams largely cancelling each other out.
Whether it was down to the recently contested RUR Cup semi-final between the two teams (which Peacehaven won 2-0) there did appear to be a little bit of added needle to this fixture, with lots of niggly confrontations going on all over the park.
Aside from the goal, there were only two other main talking points in the first-half. First was an off-the-ball confrontation from an Uckfield corner which led to Peacehaven’s Jake LeGrange lying prone on the ground. Following a brief consultation with his assistant, the referee deemed no further action necessary, much to the disgust of some home players and supporters.
Then, with the clock ticking towards half-time, John Ateuo appeared to push Reilly Grant in the face. This time, after once again consulting with his assistant, the referee brandished a yellow card. A decision which once again angered the Peacehaven fanbase. In true Arsene Wenger fashion I did not have a good enough view of either incident to form a conclusive opinion.
In the second half, Uckfield came out clearly fired up, and began to put the hosts under a sustained period of pressure – both physically and tactically. The equaliser arrived on the hour mark. Uckfield player-manager Anthony Storey’s weak free kick was not dealt with by Secka, and following a goalmouth scramble, Ryan Welch eventually forced the ball home (see video).
In a match which had been largely short on quality to this
point, aside from some fancy touches from Haven’s Callum Hart, the last
half-hour did bring two moments of really good play. Both of which resulted in
goals for the hosts.
In the 66th minute a brilliant surging run from substitute Gus Burton was ended by a clear foul in the penalty area. Jake Brocklebank stepped up to take the spot-kick, and despite a one-step run-up (which I am far from a fan of, by the way) I have to admit that his penalty was as good as I’ve seen at any level this season (see video).
While I’m on the subject of the Ultras, it’s great to see another set of fans (aside from Eastbourne Town’s) really trying to create an atmosphere at a county league ground. It’s something I’ve been a fairly vocal supporter of in previous posts on this blog.
One criticism, though was some of the language used. Now I’m not a prude. I fully appreciate that you will hear swearing at football matches. No problem with this at all. It comes with the territory. However, chanting (loudly) you’re f***ing s**t over and over again, isn’t really called for, especially at a club which successfully models itself as a community club – there were probably more under 18s present at this game than what I’ve seen at any other ground all season. In fact, many of the Ultras looked around this age group, so maybe their over enthusiasm can be put down to this. Look, I’m sure if they’re reading this, they won’t care a jot what I think (and why should they?) but it’s just my opinion. I love the chanting, guys, but maybe come up with some more original (and less sweary) barbs at the opposition.
Anyway, back to the game. For the most part it continued in the same vein as before. Two evenly matched teams going at it hammer and tongs, and lots of fouls being committed all over the park. How the game finished 11 v 11 is beyond me, although this is in no way a dig at the ref. I certainly wouldn’t have fancied being the man in the middle today (not that I would normally, but you know what I mean).
It was the hosts who had the last word on the game. And it was the moment of the match. Having dispossessed a careless Welch on the halfway line, Josh Marshall took the ball forward before launching a fantastic shot into the top corner from 20 yards out. The Ultras once again went wild, although this time wisely decided to celebrate with the players, rather than further goad the visiting bench.
With 13 minutes left it was game over, with the visitors not really threatening again from this moment on.
The full-time whistle was blown just as tempers once again look set to overstep the mark. Thankfully they didn’t, and the customary post-match handshakes swiftly took place, bringing to an end a scrappy, hard-fought match which just about managed to refrain from boiling over.
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