Southern Combination League Division Two
Falmer Sports Complex, Falmer
Admission: None
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 50 (estimate)
Fancying some midweek action, the return of prolonged heavy rain this week resulted in most games within Sussex being postponed. Fortunately this game was never in doubt thanks to a plastic pitch, and although a trip to the Falmer Sports Complex would be a revisit for me, it is a very different ground now to the one I visited in August 2015, in the the early stages of Montpelier Villa's debut season in the Southern Combination League.
The Falmer Sports Complex is part of the University of Sussex campus, which itself sits immediately opposite Brighton & Hove Albion's Amex Stadium, with the A27 dual carriageway running inbetween. Parking is limited in the immediate vicinity of the sports centre, but plenty is available on the main university campus, or Falmer train station is about a 15 minute walk away, mostly uphill. On my previous visit, the ground was just a roped off grass pitch, but had leafy surroundings, with all four sides accessible to spectators. Since then, a plastic pitch has been installed, and the pitch is also marked out for American Football, with its goal posts installed behind the football goals. Entrance is gained in one corner, with programmes available at the gate, and along most of this length is hard standing, covered by a curved white plastic roof. A mesh wall separates those watching the game on the main football pitch from those watching the action on the adjacent multi sports plastic pitch, and team line-ups are written on a large whiteboard posted on this wall. This length is the only area accessible to spectators, with the rest of the pitch being closely lined by high cage fencing. Refreshments are available from the centre's pavilion a short walk away, this evening only from vending machines, but usually a spacious bar area is available. Montpelier Villa have applied for promotion to senior football, but whilst facilities here are certainly above average for Step 7 football, with floodlights and cover, it is hard to see how the ground could be allowed to host Step 6 football as it stands, with no seating present and only one side of the ground accessible. The programme was very decent for this level, with a lengthy welcome message and the necessary stats and facts to preview the match.
Montpelier Villa certainly look favourites to do enough to achieve promotion on the field, having won 13 of their opening 14 league fixtures, scoring 66 goals in the process, and only dropping points in their opening game of the season, which they drew 3-3. They came into this game seven points clear at the top of the table. Rottingdean Village were in 12th place in the 14 team division, following two wins and two draws from their 13 league games. In the reverse fixture of this evening's game played in late August, Montpelier Villa won 0-4.
The originally scheduled kick-off time of 7.45 was put back to just after 8 after traffic problems caused by the A27 being closed due to an accident. On a dry but very chilly evening thanks to a cool breeze, the opening quarter of the game was quite even, scrappy, but with the visitors were looking just as dangerous as the hosts - indeed, with just 2 minutes on the clock, Rottingdean had a shot from the edge of the area deflected over the bar. But on 21 minutes, Montpelier Villa were awarded a penalty when a run jinking past challenges into the penalty area was halted by a defender's trailing leg. Chris Grant struck the ball from the spot into the bottom right corner, sending the keeper the wrong way. And on 29 minutes, Montpelier Villa doubled their lead, Joshua Rondel going on a super surging run from the half way line, gliding past several chances, before passing the ball low from the edge of the penalty area inside the keeper's near post. And within a minute, it was all but game over, when a low cross from the right was clipped past the keeper by Mitchell Ford. The visitors were really struggling to cope with Montpelier Villa's attacking play now, and they conceded a fourth on the 44th minute when Rondel tapped in at the far post.
Within a minute of the restart though, Rottingdean pulled a goal back, when a cross from the right was deflected past the wrong footed keeper, and they did have a decent change to pull another goal back on 50 minutes, but the ball was stabbed just wide of the far post. But on 57 minutes, Montpelier Villa restored their four goal cushion following a lovely aerial diagonal ball towards the corner flag, and following a dribble to the byline, the ball was crossed low for Shay Tobin to turn the ball home. The game rather petered out after that, with Rottingdean looking a beaten team and the hosts seemingly happy to see out a comfortable victory.
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