Southern Combination League Division Two
Shooting Field, Steyning
Admission: £5.00
Programme: Online Only
Attendance: 70 (rough head count)
Unfortunately, a lack of fixtures anyway combined with some really poor wet weather and rail engineering works meant that i have been unable to really make the most of being off work between Christmas and New Year fir groundhopping this year. And with the last Saturday of the calendar year falling on New Year's Eve, there was a real dearth of games available today, with realistic options for me confined to games in the Dorset Premier League or the Southern Combination League Division Two. My favoured option was Bournemouth Sports, being a new ground for me to visit, and with a printed programme available, but very wet weather in the previous days, running into today, meant that I was unwilling to risk the long journey down to Dorset for a midday kick-off, with no back-up options available, despite the club being very confident that the game would go ahead. Their confidence proved well founded, although apparently conditions were pretty foul there with no shelter available. Instead I opted to stay within Sussex for a safe revisit and a local derby. On Thursday, Storrington switched this fixture from their usual grass pitch at the Recreation Ground to the plastic pitch at the Shooting Field, the home ground of Steyning Town, in consideration of the poor weather forecast for prolonged rain. It proved a very sensible decision, as the game would not have taken place on grass, and it attracted plenty of other groundhoppers.
Storrington were relegated to Step 7 football at the end of last season, having finished bottom of the Southern Combination League Division One last season, and at the moment, it's looking unlikely that they will be making an immediate return to the National League System, as they came into this game in eighth place in the 14 club division, following five wins and four draws from 14 league games. Upper Beeding are having a tough time so far this season, coming into this game second bottom, following just one win and three draws from 13 league games. The two clubs have already met in the reverse fixture back on August Bank Holiday Monday, with Storrington winning 2-3. Upper Beeding are certainly no strangers to the Shooting Field, having shared the ground for the 2020/21 season, with ambitions to move up the pyramid, but that ambition has since faded and the club now plays their home games back in their home village, just a couple of miles away - closer than Storrington, who are based about seven miles away.
I was rather concerned whether I would make kick-off for this game, as an accident at the roundabout by the Amsterdam Inn between Shoreham and the A27 meant that the bus I was travelling in was held for over half an hour while the road ahead was cleared. But fortunately, I did arrive in the ground about ten minutes ahead of kick-off, and sought shelter from the rain which fell throughout the first half in the covering standing area between the entrance and a corner flag. With just six minutes on the clock, it was the visitors who took the lead when Josh Warner swung in a free kick from the right wing, and the ball evaded a crowd of players before finding its way inside the far post. But Storrington got back on level terms just five minutes later when the ball was threaded through for Jordan Suter to run onto and clear of the defence, and with the keeper rushing out of his area but getting caught in no man’s land, Suter showed good composure in lobbing the ball over the keeper and into the empty net. The rest of the half was even, with both sides creating chance. Storrington’s Lysander Reid forced an excellent fingertip save at full stretch in the 34th minute, while in the 44th, an Upper Beeding cross from the left evaded a team mate at the near post, but the ball pinged off the boot of Storrington defender Jay Hide towards his own goal from about six yards out, and was extremely fortunate to see it bounce back off his keeper.
After an even first half, Storrington gradually seized control of the game after the break. They took the lead on 53 minutes, when a lovely cross from the left wing was met with a glancing header by Sean Culley to send the ball into the net. And they opened a two goal cushion on 70 minutes, when the ball was played forward and although the defender looked favourite, Lysander Reid did well to outmuscle the defender before running on and and striking the ball past the keeper and into the net. Storrington saw the remainder of the game out quite comfortably to gain the double over their local rivals, and earn their reward for enabling the game to go ahead with the ground switch.
No comments:
Post a Comment