FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round
The Oval, Eastbourne
Admission: £7.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 149
Still wanting to take in as much football as enjoyably possible, whilst we are still able in view of the recent upsurge in Covid infection rates and the authorities starting to reimpose restrictions, this was the stand-out fixture for me in the FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round this evening, with the possibility of witnessing a major giant killing, with the home club plying their trade two steps below the visitors.
Little Common have been playing their home games at Eastbourne United's The Oval ground since 2017, although there are high hopes that they will be able to do the necessary ground improvements to their Recreation Ground home to enable them to return to hosting games in their home village in the not too distant future. I last visited The Oval just under a month ago, for the Eastbourne United - Lewes pre-season friendly, and the marquee in place that evening was not erected for this evening, but just inside the entrance, there was a table with hand sanitizer gel dispensers and, for track and trace purposes, a pad and paper plus a QR code to scan. As usual for Little Common over the years, the programme was good, well presented and laid out, mostly in colour, with some interesting articles and welcome messages to read, as well as stats and facts.
Little Common have opened their season in the Step 5 Southern Combination League Premier Division with three draws, after closing the abandoned last season in 13th place. To reach this stage, they have beaten AFC Uckfield Town 0-1 away, and then Stansfeld, of the Southern Counties East League Division One, 2-3 away. They exited the FA Vase at the first hurdle on Saturday, losing 0-4 at Southern Counties East League Premier Division outfit Fisher. Corinthian-Casuals, of the Step 3 Isthmian League Premier Division, opened their season with a 1-2 home defeat to Haringey Borough, after being in 19th place in the 22 club division when last season was abandoned. This evening would be their first game in the FA Cup this season, having reached the third qualifying round last season.
On a mild evening, and with a significant and vocal following supporting the visitors from south-west London, the first half was surprisingly even as, although the visitors did more of the attacking, they did not really create any gilt edged chances as Little Common more than held their own, and an upset still looked a distinct possibility at the half time break.
The second half was a different story, however, as the visitors eased into the lead four minutes after the break and thereafter cruised to a comfortable victory. The opening goal came following a corner and after an initial poked shot was blocked on the line, a scramble around the six yard box ensued, before Benjamin Checklit stabbed the ball home. And 6 minutes later, the visitors were awarded a penalty after Kevat Serbonij was bundled over near the edge of the penalty area, and Nathaniel Pinney drilled the ball home into the bottom left corner, sending the keeper the wrong way. Little Common kept battling hard to try and get back in the game, but it never looked likely, and the result was put beyond all doubt on 85 minutes when the ball was crossed from the right by Cheklit, and Little Common's Lewis Parsons headed the ball into his own net, before a Corinthian-Casuals probably would have converted anyway.
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