Cuxton 91 0 v 5 Sutton Athletic

Saturday 24th July 2021, Kick-off 14.30

Pre-season Friendly

Cuxton Community Ground, Cuxton

Admission: None

Programme: £1.00

Attendance: 35 (approximate)

I was rather limited in the range within which I could travel today, as I had a a wedding reception to attend in the evening. Initially, I had planned to revist a local ground, but eventually I chose the much more preferable option to take in this game to visit a new ground, having seen and heard some very good things about Cuxton 91 FC and the development of their new ground, as well as the promise of a printed programme.

The Cuxton Community Ground is located just to the west of the small village of Cuxton, and after Cuxton 91 previously playing their home fixtures over the road at the Cuxton Recreation Ground, the pitch outside the Cuxton Social Club was extensively redeveloped last year for Cuxton 91 to call their new home, and the results are most impressive. Spectators enter the ground in one corner, with the gate manned under a gazebo, where spectators were required to leave track and trace details and use hand sanitizer. A 20 page full colour programme was available for purchase, covering all of the club's scheduled pre-season friendlies and containing a welcome message, a report and photos from the club's cup final win in May, and presentations of the home club and each of the visiting clubs. A very decent publication, and certainly much appreciated. Behind the end closest to the entrance is the Social Club building, which is smart, modern and spacious inside, with a good range of drinks available, whilst outside there are plenty of picnic tables and benches on a paved area in front of two white container units housing the changing rooms. Further seating is also available under an awning, with bar tables placed on a paved area behind the goal for those who want to enjoy a drink whilst watching the game. There is wooden pitchside fencing behind this end, continuing up the corner and along the length above a steep grass bank. This area provides an excellent view of the action, and gravel has been laid along this length to provide hard standing. Permanent dug outs have been built on the half way line at the bottom of the bank. The remaining end and length are not intended to be accessed. As well as the excellent views available, and a very good looking pitch, the setting of the ground is really attractive and peaceful, with the ground closely lined by trees but there are also views looking out around the valley. Full credit to all those involved who have clearly put in a lot of hard work to create a very decent facility for the level the club currently play at, and it looks like there is scope to be further enhanced if required.

Cuxton 91 currently play at the notional Step 8 of the non-league pyramid, in the Kent County League Division One Central & East, and have been in mid table in each of the last three season (including the last two abandoned seasons). Sutton Athletic have been playing Step 6 football since 2011, generally finishing in the top half of the table, and are currently members of the Southern Counties East League Division One.

On a rather muggy and mostly overcast afternoon, Sutton opened the scoring in 18 minutes when a low shot from the edge of the area crept inside the post, but barely a minute later, Cuxton perhaps should have scored themselves, when a cross to the back post was headed just wide. On 23 and 29 minutes, Sutton saw headers hit the crossbar, while on 37 minutes, Cuxton had a player sent off for a bad tackle. It is questionable whether a red card was really necessary in a friendly game, surely an enforced substitution would have been much more preferable. And a minute later, Sutton scored their second when a poked shot crept in between the keeper and post. Just before half time, Sutton came close to a third following a ball forward, it was knocked to the side of the oncoming keeper before being struck towards goal, but the ball was cleared by a covering defender.

Into the second half and on 50 minutes, Sutton scored their third, with a delicate chip over the keeper. Cuxton had a decent chance on 53 minutes when a free kick was played in to the box and headed towards goal, with the keeper parrying the ball and the rebound was hooked over the bar. But a minute later, Sutton scored their fourth when the ball was played across goal and after the initial shot was parried, the ball fell kindly to the Sutton player, who side stepped the keeper before slotting into the empty net. Unfortunately, some of the Cuxton players then started to lose their discipline somewhat, and on 63 minutes, a Cuxton player protested why the referee overruled a linesman's decision and was sent to the sin bin, but the Cuxton player persisted with this protestations, until the referee showed him a red card. And five minutes later, Cuxton were reduced to eight men when they had their third player sent off, when he aimed his fist at the side of a Sutton player's head. Unsurpisingly, Sutton dominated possession for the remainder of the match, and that they didn't add several more goals to their tally was mainly due to their forwards overplaying in and around the box, passing the ball around rather than taking a shot on goal, but they did add a fifth on 78 minutes when, again looking to pass the ball around inside the penalty area, a shot was parried  by the keeper, and the loose ball was tapped home. To their credit, even with eight men, Cuxton did try to play some good football in the closing minutes and managed to get forward a couple of times, as their team thankfully regained their composure. The referee blew the final whistle with 83 minutes on the clock, bringing to an end an eventful game and a most enjoyable afternoon for me.