Friday 5th September 2025, Kick-off 19.30
Southern Counties East League Premier Division
Little Common Recreation Ground, Bexhill-on-Sea
Admission: £7.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 156
A match decided by a 'goal' where the ball did not cross the line
A first league match for our new manager was a long Friday evening trek to Little Common for reasons unknown. The game had barely got going when Jack Webb-Olley misjudged a ball so that it was heading into the goal until a superb clearance by Stephen Hodge put the ball behind. With Little Common appealing for a goal the linesman, who was in no position to judge, set the tone for another dismal performance by the officials by guessing that it had gone over the line and that was the winner.
As expected with a few absences and looking to freshen the team up from the cup game last Tuesday, there were two new starters in Raheem Sterling-Parker and Levi Phillips. There was a bit of scare in the opening minutes as Noah Agbinone was laid out after a bang to the head but he was fine to continue. Little Common forced a corner after five minutes that was cleared. A free kick for us followed as Jason Stripp sent the ball into the box from the right. It was cleared and then returned to the box for the keeper to claim. The ball was sent down field and then as Jack Webb-Olley shaped to deal with the ball it bounced past him and headed to the goal. A sprint back by Stephen Hodge allowed him to clear the ball and send it behind. With the linesman well behind the ball and in no position to judge, under pressure from Little Common he indicated the ball had crossed the line. A pure guess that ignored the fact that if the ball was over the line how was Hodge able to put it behind for a corner? After a chat with the referee who was in no position to see either, it was a goal.
The pressure was on Webb-Olley but he punched a corner clear on 9mins and set up a move on the right starting with Hodge taking the ball clear and finding Raheem Sterling-Parker. He gave Levi Phillips a ball to chase but Little Common were able to clear. A couple of minutes later Conor Wilford got his head to a cross on the right and Webb-Olley easily took the follow up shot. On 16mins we had a free kick that Stripp sent into the box and the cleared ball fell to Sterling-Parker who sent David Heaton into the box only to be tackled. Little Common were targetting Bailey Neil-Gray at left back and just short of twenty minutes forced they way in from the right along the byline. Neil-Gray fought to win the ball back and then Heaton was awarded a foul to get the ball clear. On 22mins with possession outside the box on the left, space opened up for Neil-Gray to have a shot from distance that hit the foot of the post. A long ball across to find Neil-Gray on the left from Wilford let him attack down the wing to then give Sterling-Parker a shot that was blocked.
ADVERTISEMENT
On 28mins a free kick from Little Common managed to go through our box for Webb-Olley to claim. A ball from Wilford across to the left of their box was just too far ahead of Gus Ward. Inside the last ten minutes and Agbinone was able to hold off the attentions of Little Common to see Webb-Olley come and claim the ball. On 38mins Hodge did well to get his head to a high ball and clear it. A minute later Agbinone made a great tackle in the box under pressure. The defence was holding strong as another great challenge by Hodge with five minutes of normal time remaining got the ball clear. Wilford was able to get a block in and then win a foul. Just three minutes remained when another long ball was sent down the right to test Neil-Gray. He was able to delay the Little Common progress but they got a cross in that went off the post and was gathered up by Webb-Olley. In added time Wilford had a free kick on the left of the box that was wide of the left post.
Underway in the second half and just over five minutes in and Neil-Gray won the ball on the left and drilled the ball down the touchline to Ward. He cut in to look for space for a shot but ended up laying the ball back to Phillips who could not keep his shot down. Stripp was able to clear the ball out from the back and found Sterling-Parker on the left wing. He shielded the ball well and then won a free kick but we could not make anything of it. On 55mins it was time for a double change as Heaton and Lembisika were replaced by Richard Bull and Chace Hanmer. There was not much of note happening in the game for a while as we struggled to put together anything in the last quarter of the pitch and Little Common were just kicking it long to take advantage of their tall front man. On 61mins Charlie Gee came on for Levi Phillips.
On 64mins the lads put together a decent spell of possession, moving the ball well around the edge of the box. A final ball in from the right by Hodge found Ward and Charlie Gee at the far post but neither could get an attempt on goal. A few minutes later Gee put the ball into the box from the left and Ward pressurised the keeper and defender into conceding a corner. Nothing came from the corner but with twenty minutes left to turn the game around, Wilford sent the ball long to Gee who slid it though to Sterling-Parker only for the flag to go up. On 78mins Webb-Olley saved a free kick from the right and the rebound was put over the bar for a goal kick. A minute later Webb-Olley comfortably caught another free kick.
Ten minutes left and Agbinone was replaced by Devon Tacon making his debut. On 85mins Ward battled well to win and keep the ball so he could lay the ball back to Gee but he snatched at his shot and it was high over the bar. Two minutes remaining and a long ball from Wilford was taken by the keeper without anyone challenging him. In the final minute a free kick was deflected behind for a Little Common corner from the left. The corner was caught by Webb-Olley who was fouled in the process. Into added time Little Common thought they were in only to see the flag raised and after five added minutes it ended 1-0 to the home side.
A bad mistake by the officials that decided the game denied us a point that would have been a fair result. It is still early days for Liam Joyce but there were signs of the desired style of play starting to come through. A good performance in defence and some good play in midfield just needs things to link up better in the last quarter of the pitch to provide a greater goal threat. Time to look at the table and see that following the Saturday matches we sit in seventeenth place, level on points and games with Crawley Down Gatwick. AFC Varndeanians and Eastbourne United are two points further up but both teams lost. A further point away is Midhurst & Easebourne who got their first win of the season. All three sides have played more games than we have. Little Common sit in twelfth four points further up with a large gap opening up to those below. Lancing and Seaford Town are a point below us and at the bottom on 'nil points' are our next opponents Wick. They have won in the FA Vase and held Pagham to a draw in the Peter Bentley Cup, only to lose the shoot out, but lost all their other games so far. We gave Seaford Town their only league point so let us hope we do not show generosity on Saturday.
No comments:
Post a Comment