Sussex Senior Cup 1st Round
The Beaconsfield, Hailsham
Admission: £5.00
Programme: 50p
Attendance: 83
With an absence of fixtures in the Southern Combination League this evening, my attention turned to finding a game in the opening round of the Sussex Senior Cup this evening, and I decided to continue my tour of local clubs in midweeks this season with a visit to The Beaconsfield, for this evenly matched looking tie.
A couple of cosmetic improvements have taken place around The Beaconsfield since my last visit in September 2019. Above the turnstile block, an eye catching sign in club colours of green and yellow spelling out "Hailsham Town" has been installed, and a similar sign has been installed along the top of the covered terrace steps. Also, the simple whiteboard showing team line-ups, which was hung on the exterior wall of the clubhouse, has just been replaced with a much larger board which is now "permanently" attached to the wall, again in club colours and with the club crest on. Covid precautions were extensive, with track and trace mandatory via the NHS app or by paper, temperatures were taken, and gel was available. Signage was plentiful, and the clubhouse complied with the requirements in offering either takeaway or table service, as well as having a one way system in place. Hailsham continue to produce an excellent paper programme, and excellent value at just 50p, consisting of 36 pages covering interesting features to read, stats and facts of the league season, and a presentation of the opposition - amongst many other items of interest.
This fixture would be between clubs both competing in the Southern Combination League Division One, and a glance at the league table suggested an evenly matched tie, both clubs not making the best of starts to their campaigns. Hailsham had won one and lost the remainder of their five league games played for, conceding 21 goals in the process, and bowed out of the FA Vase at the first hurdle, losing 0-3 at home to AFC Varndeanians. Roffey have won two and drawn one of their seven league games. The two sides have already met at The Beaconsfield in the league this season, less than a month ago, with Roffey winning 0-5, during a nightmare opening to the season for Hailsham, coming after a 1-6 defeat at home to Littlehampton Town and a 7-2 loss away at Mile Oak.
On a mild and dry evening - thankfully so after rain fell towards the end of the working day - this was a surprisingly one-sided game, with Hailsham impressing with good intensity and hunger in their play, always seeming to be first to the loose balls, harrying the Roffey players into mistakes, and as a result the visitors never seemed to get going and seemed half a yard off the pace. Hailsham took the lead with just two minutes on the clock when, playing on with advantage following a foul, Joey Pout saw his low shot from outside the area take a deflection and the ball nestled in the far left corner. They doubled their lead on 17 minutes, Ellis Webster crossing the ball low from the left wing, and Rhys Taylor drilled the ball home first time from the edge of the area. Roffey did then manage to create a couple of half chances to half the deficit, but it was Hailsham who scored their third goal on 40 minutes, Pout crossing the ball low from the left for Taylor to guide the ball home.
The tie really was all over as a contest on 52 minutes when Hailsham scored their fourth, following good build up play and Connor Townsend whipped the ball past the keeper on the turn. Roffey had nothing left to play for but pride by now, but they conceded a fifth on 65 minutes. A free kick from close to the corner flag was whipped into the near post and Pout glanced the ball past the keeper. And on 78 minutes, Hailsham scored their sixth when his waist heigh shot from outside the area took a big deflection to divert the ball past the wrong footed keeper. And so it was Hailsham who proceed to the next round, and gained some revenge for their five goal home defeat in the league last month.
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