Southern Combination League Premier Division
Community Stadium, Crowborough
Admission: £8.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 435
For this year's Boxing Day action, I decided to visit two clubs I used to visit fairly regularly when I lived in the area, starting with this local derby, with less than ten miles along the A26 separating the two clubs.
On the pitch though, there seems to be quite a wide gulf between the clubs this season, with Crowborough pushing hard for promotion to the Isthmian League for the first time since their one season stay there in the 2008/9 season, while AFC Uckfield Town look like having a tough battle ahead to avoid relegation to the second tier of the Southern Combination League. Crowborough came into this game in second place in the table, level on points with leaders Newhaven but with a game in hand, following 14 wins and 2 draws from their 18 league games, and have won nine of their last nine league games, and lost just once from their last eleven league games. AFC Uckfield Town were down in 19th place in the 20 club division, following two wins and four draws from their 20 league games. But their last win came way back in mid August, and had lost their last five league games, including 7-0 and 6-0 defeats, the latter coming on Saturday.
Unfortunately, with a cooked breakfast intended to set me up for the day late in being served, I unfortunately missed the first few minutes of this game, entering the ground just as the first goal was scored, on 6 minutes, when Harvey Killick met a cross with a diving header. It soon became apparent that this would be a very one sided encounter, and the game was as good as over with barely a quarter of an hour on the clock. The home side doubled their lead on 15 minutes, after an initial shot was cleared on the line but eventually the ball was bundled home by Lewis Unwin, and within a minute, Crowborough scored their third, when a peach of a cross was guided home by Jacob Feasey. At that stage, it was looking like things could turn very ugly for Uckfield, so in control were the hosts and the biggest impact the visitors could make was strong challenges and fouls. However, the game settled down and surprisingly there was to be no further scoring, with the second half proving to be something of a non-event, with Uckfield much improved and looking a lot more solid, while Crowborough had clearly taken their foot off of the gas. But it mattered little as Crowborough kept the pressure up at the top of the table, remaining level at the top of the table with Newhaven, who also won their local derby at Peacehaven this morning.
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