Rottingdean Village 2 v 1 Broadbridge Heath Reserves

Saturday 12th October 2013
Sussex Intermediate Cup Round Two
Rottingdean Sports Park, Rottingdean
Admission and programme: Nil
Attendance: 32 (head count)
Match Rating: 3


Following my earlier game at Ovingdean, which kicked off at 1.30, I walked down to Rottingdean quickly with a view to catching a bus to Peacehaven time take in the second half at Peacehaven and Telscombe. However as I walked past Rottingdean Village's ground, I realized that their game was a 3pm kick off - not 1.30 as advertised on the Sussex League website - and so I stopped off in time for the closing minutes of the first half.

I had visited this ground as recently as May, but it was no hardship to revisit today, being extremely scenic and one of my favourite grounds at this level. Rottingdean have had an average start to their season, with two wins and a draw from their six league games and are in sixth place in the eleven team division. Broadbridge Heath Reserves have had an excellent start to their season,  with a 100% record from their four games so far in the Reserve Section West, the second tier, of the Sussex County League.

By the time I arrived Rottingdean Village were leading 1-0, Jamie Evans scoring on ten minutes. On the stroke of half time, they doubled their lead. A corner led to a flurry of blocked shots in quick succession, until Ross Curly hit the ball home from very close range. A slightly surprising two goal lead for the home team at half time, but well deserved by all accounts.

Into the second half and Rottingdean were looking very comfortable - perhaps too comfortable, as mid way through the second half they seemed to take their foot off the gas and showboat a little, and the visitors pulled a goal back on 61 minutes. A free kick was floated into the box and Chris Copestake got just about enough on his shot to bounce out of the reach of the keeper and into the far corner of the net. Very much game on now, although the game was really a midfield battle for the most part with few clear goalscoring chances being created, and the best of those fell to Rottingdean. Broadbridge Heath did apply a lot of pressure in the closing minutes, although the Rottingdean club linesman did his best to thwart their attacks by raising his flag every time Broadbridge Heath played the ball forward into a dangerous position, eventually the referee learning to ignore the flag. But in the end Rottingdean held on for a deserved victory that was a lot tighter than it needed to be.