Mid Sussex League Division Two South
Adastra Park, Keymer
Admission & Programme: None
Attendance: 30 (approximate)
Games were a little thin on the ground for this Bank Holiday Monday, although fortunately for me there were plenty of games to choose from in one of my local leagues, the Mid Sussex League, and even more fortunately, a treble would be possible thanks to a handful of games of scheduled for 2pm, a couple of games at 6.30pm with the majority kicking-off at 11. I had already been to the majority of venues in the top two divisions from the selection of morning kick-offs, with the remainder currently inaccessible due to being on private land. I opted for an appealing looking game in the fourth tier, between two clubs who have had decent seasons and either could yet achieve a runners-up spot.
Adastra Park is located on the border between the villages of Keymer and Hassocks, and is quite a large and well appointed recreational facility which is easy on the eye. Just inside the main entrance, there is a small car park, a garden of remembrance and a village hall. The main park is split into two, first passing through the South Field, which has a skate park and a cricket field, with a couple of modern and unusually styled pavilions located to one side. From the South Field, a path leads between a bowling green to one side and a children's playground and tennis courts to the other, into the North Field, where the pitch that Ditchling currently uses is located, behind the bowling green. The setting is pleasant enough, closely lined by a hedgerow separating the pitch from the car park up to the half way line along one side, and with trees forming a slightly more distant boundary along the remainder of the length and behind one goal, and the tree line then continues out around the edge of North Field, some distance behind the remaining football pitch length, before meeting up with the hedge row which runs by the playground and then the bowling green, behind one end. The trees are varied and colourful enough in May, but presumably would be a particularly pleasant sight in late summer. There is no football furniture, although there are a couple of wooden park benches behind one end. Ditchling have been playing their home games here this season, a couple of miles westwards from their home village and the club's usual home at Ditchling Recreation Ground, and Adastra Park used to host Hassocks FC up to the early 90's, when they moved to their current home of The Beacon on the other side of Hassocks village.
Ditchling came into this game in third place, following eleven wins and a draw from their 16 league games, and right up to last Saturday they were still in with a very good shout of winning the division, but they lost the crunch game against Cuckfield Rangers II 1-2 at home, which pretty much sealed the title for Cuckfield. Second place was still very much up up for grabs though, and they would seal it by winning their two remaining league games, including today, as they were two points behind second placed Eastbourne Rangers II, who only have one game left to play, today. Burgess Hill Rhinos, who I watched win convincingly at Fletching 1-6 on Easter Monday, were three points behind Ditchling, also with two games left to play, following nine wins and four draws from their 16 league games. They are guaranteed to finish no lower than fourth, but could finish as high as second. When these two clubs met back on the opening day of the season, Burgess Hill Rhinos won 4-3.
On a fairly sunny morning, but with quite a stiff breeze making conditions feel chilly, this was a really entertaining game to watch, and Ditchling took the lead with just three minutes on the clock with a good finish, low across the keeper and into the bottom right corner. Ditchling looked dangerous on the attack, and duly doubled their lead on 27 minutes following a long thrown in, from which a curling shot forced the keeper to parry the ball at full stretch, but the ball fell to a Ditchling player beyond the far post, who dinked the ball back into the six yard box and was tapped into the roof of the net from very close range. Burgess Hill Rhinos gradually forced their way back into the game, gaining more and more possession without looking particularly threatening, until the 36th minute when a long and very high, wind assisted punt downfield by the keeper caused the Ditchling defenders problems as the ball dropped, allowing the Rhinos forward to gain possession and run into the area, before being pushed over and the referee awarded a penalty, which was converted into the bottom right corner by Alex Strange.
The strong breeze was causing the players plenty of problems, and after probably playing a big factor in the Rhino's goal, it certainly did when Ditchling restored their two goal lead on 54 minutes when a fierce long range shot was fired goalwards from outside the area, and the keeper parried the ball up high, only to see the wind carry the ball back and bounce just over the line. The visitors gave themselves a sniff of getting something from the game on 85 minutes when a peach of a cross from the right was headed home by Keith Porter, but Ditchling held on in the remaining minutes to claim the three points, and with second placed Eastbourne Rangers II only managing to draw their final game today, Ditchling will claim the runners up spot as long as they avoid defeat away at Ringmer AFC II on Saturday. Burgess Hill Rhinos are assured of a fourth place finish, irrespective of how they get on against champions-elect Cuckfield Rangers II at home on Saturday.
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