Mile Oak 1 Worthing United 3, Southern Combination Football League Division One, Saturday 30th November 2019
It’s stopped raining! Finally.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, there’s still been plenty of rain about during the week. There’s still been a few games postponed in and around the southern counties this weekend as pitches have failed to recover from the deluge that they’ve been subject to for the past few weeks. But… Friday was dry. And so was Saturday. At last!
So, after choosing to miss a game last weekend, there was no question that I'd be at a game this weekend.
Having had to cancel recent planned visits to Mile Oak and Roffey, both of whom play in Division One of the SCFL, due to weather-related postponements, I’d decided earlier in the week that I’d definitely be visiting one of these two teams come Saturday.
With both grounds within easy travelling distance from my house, even when accounting for my Saturday morning coaching commitments, I merely decided to leave it until Saturday morning to make my choice.
Ultimately, my choice was made for me. Roffey’s game against Seaford was one of those aforementioned matches to be postponed, but with Mile Oak’s match against Worthing United still on it was just west if Brighton I would be heading.
In truth, I’ve been looking forward to watching The Oak for most of the season. Their manager, Curtis Foster, was a former 5Ways Soccer coaching colleague, right back when he was starting out on his coaching journey. In fact, he was so young at the time that I used to have to give him a lift as he didn’t drive.
I arrived in Mile Oak at around 14:30 and parked in a residential road close to Mile Oak Recreation Ground. Being able to see the floodlights, but unsure of exactly where the entrance to the ground was, I walked up another road and noticed a gate which led to the pitch.
It swiftly turned out that this was the back entrance, however, and there was no one on hand to take my entrance fee. Being the honest sort, though, I immediately headed to the other side of the ground, found the correct entrance, paid £5 to get in, received a fairly basic – but still much appreciated – paper printed programme, then headed off to the nearby community hut (located outside of the ground) for a cup of coffee.
Mile Oak’s ground is fairly basic, yet in-keeping with many others at step 6. Somewhat unusually, the main covered seating stand is located behind a goal, while a similar-sized covered terraced stand runs along the side of the pitch.
Given the amount of rain that’s fallen in recent weeks, the pitch looked in decent enough condition, although there is a pronounced slope (unsurprising considering how hilly Mile Oak, located at the foot of the South Downs, is).
The hosts have had a strong start to the season and before kick-off sat in fourth place, one of the six teams who at this moment seem to realistically be battling for promotion. With Worthing United ensconced firmly in mid-table, nine points behind Mile Oak despite having played three games more, I couldn’t help but feel a fairly comfortable afternoon for the hosts lay ahead.
Had I bothered to do a bit more research, something regular readers of this blog will know isn’t a particular strong point of mine, then I may have re-considered these initial thoughts. After being winless in their first nine games, it turned out United were actually on a four-match winning streak and one of the division’s form teams. I really should check these things ahead of time. It’s a good job I’m not a gambler!
Still, the match started pretty much how I’d expected it to. The Oak spent much of the early stages dominating possession and did look like they would be the team more likely to open the scoring. However, for all their decent play in the build-up, they were struggling to make correct decisions in the final third, and too often promising positions were wasted.
That said, the opening goal did go the way of the hosts. An Adam Dine free kick from the left was crossed into the box, appeared to be missed by everyone and ended up in the back of the net. The Mile Oak Twitter feed did seem to suggest that Jack Marriott got a slight touch on the ball to divert it over the line, but from where I was standing it certainly looked like it went straight in from Dine.
As the half progressed, Mile Oak continued to look largely comfortable in possession. Aside from a few dangerous runs from Tshikume Phadagi, United threatened only sporadically.
Yet on the half-hour mark, somewhat against the run of play, the visitors were level. In a sign of what was to come in the second-half, the Mile Oak defence went completely missing, allowing Zane Richardson a free header from a corner, which the United defender duly nodded into the net to equalise.
For the rest of the half, Oak continued to control possession, without ever really looking overly threatening.
The game’s key moment came about five minutes into the second half. When visiting striker Dan Hills threw a bit of a diva strop, moaning to the ref about a free-kick he’d been penalised for even though he'd quite clearly committed a foul, he was sent to the sin bin for ten minutes. Something that prompted the striker to stomp sulkily to the side of the pitch.
With a man advantage for the next ten-minutes, it seemed inevitable that Mile Oak would finally start converting some of their superior possession into clear chances. They didn’t.
In fact, during this period it was Worthing who came closest to scoring. Jack Phillips sloppily lost possession on the halfway line allowing United’s Josh Brown to race free. His effort was well saved by Aaron Stenning but the rebound feel straight to the feet of visiting skipper Dilon Nagle, who somehow prodded the follow-up wide with the goal at his mercy.
After a ten-minute wait – which actually seemed closer to 15 (I swear the ref’s watch must have stopped at points during the second half) Hills was finally allowed back onto the pitch. He was clearly still fired up regarding the wrongs he’d believed he’d suffered, but was evidently aiming to channel this frustration in the right way.
With twenty minutes of normal time remaining, another Phillips error presented the ball to Hills completely unmarked on the edge of the area. The striker made no mistake, ramming the ball hard and low past the helpless Stenning.
This set-back prompted some much-needed urgency from the hosts, and suddenly there were attacking with real vigour for the first time in the afternoon. During a five-minute spell they had at least four relatively strong penalty appeals turned down. The ref certainly wasn’t endearing himself to either sets of players, benches or fans.
Mile Oak were so intent on attacking that they seemed to completely forget about matters at the other end of the pitch. With 80 minutes on the watch (well, my watch, anyway; not sure what it said on the refs’) United broke, and following good interplay between Nagle and Hills, the latter gleefully dispatched another shot past Stenning for his second of the afternoon. Cue some wild Worthing celebrations.
Despite laying siege to the United goal in the 20 minutes that still somehow remained, during which time two more penalty appeals were waved away and Dine twice came close to reducing the arrears, it never really felt like a comeback was truly on. United defended determinedly and when the ref finally blew his whistle to bring the game to a conclusion, Mile Oak had been well beaten.
All in all, it had been a decent enough, well-contested game, with a clash of two contrasting styles ultimately going the way of the more direct team.
Best of all, though, it was just nice to watch a game without getting soaked!
Enjoyed this blog post? Then you may be interested in reading my kindle book which recounts my 2018/19 groundhopping journey (take a look, it’s only 99p).
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