Sussex Women's Challenge Cup First Round
Hill Park, Saltdean
Admission: Free
Programme: Online
Attendance: 35 (estimate)
With my partner unusually having to work on a Sunday, the opportunity presented itself to take in another game today. After yesterday's wet and windswept adventures at Totton & Eling yesterday, I did not fancy travelling far, and with more rain forecast today, I decided to drive, to a ground I last visited in 2016, for an interesting looking women's county cup fixture.
Hill Park remains one of the more picturesque venues, with rolling hills all around and a superb panoramic view can be had from the top of a steep grass bank along one length. A stand with bench seating is set half way up the hill and straddling the half way line, whilst on the opposite side, additional seating has provided with a fairly long metallic metallic stand. Hard standing is available around three sides, and the area behind one of the goals is inaccessible. No admission was taken today, but the clubhouse bar and tea bar window were in full operation today, and the NHS Track and Trace QR Code was prominently available for scanning. A 20 page programme was produced and available for download online and was in full colour, nicely designed and included welcome message from the editor and manager, player profiles, a recent match report, club fixtures and results, news from the development squad, and plenty of action photos.
There was the potential of a major giantkilling this afternoon, with two steps between the clubs and the underdogs at home. Saltdean United play in the fifth tier of the women's game, in the London and South East Women's Regional Football League Premier Division, and they have had a great start to their season, winning both of their opening league games, and they had a great run in the Women's FA Cup, making it through four rounds before finally succumbing to Actonians, who play a step above Saltdean, 6-2 away. Chichester & Selsey play in the third tier, in the FA Women's National League Southern Division, and have had a steady start to their season, winning two and losing the other two of their four games played so far.
After heavy rain fell ahead of kick, happily it relented in time for the game, during most of which there was bright sunshine, although when cloud returned during the second half, conditions became decidely chilly. This game started evenly, and with nine minutes on the clock the visitors took the lead, when a ball down the left enticed the keeper to come out, but the Chichester forward got to the ball first to chip the ball over the stranded keeper and into the net. On 21 minutes, the Saltdean keeper found herself in no-mans-land, but this time a chip dropped just wide of the far post. On the half hour mark, Chichester doubled their advantage, and a real gift it was too. A goal kick was played short to a team mate inside the area, a Chichester player raced in to close the ball down, the ball was passed back to the keeper, and as she went to pass the ball back out, the ball rebounded off the striker's boot and rolled into the net. The remainder of the half passed by without much incident, with the favourites holding a comfortable half time lead, but Saltdean were far from out of it, having played well and an early goal for them in the second half could have made things very interesting.
But they struggled to build up a head of steam, and the visitors had the first real chance of the second half on 57 minutes, when a corner was met with a header, with the ball going just over the bar. And within a minute, it looked like game over when they scored their third, following a weak kick out by the Saltdean keeper, the ball was intercepted and passed forwards towards the penalty area, and the Chichester player curled the ball past the keeper. But within a minute, Saltdean pulled a goal back. The ball was played forward to the outer corner of the penalty area, the Saltdean forward showed good strength to gain possession of the ball, before crossing the ball low to an unmarked Tia Perry in front of goal, and she passed the ball into the net. Credit to Saltdean, they started to create some good attacking moves and had a few chances to pull another goal back, but the visitors scored their fourth to seal progression to the next round on 85 minutes, when a corner was whipped in above the keeper, and the ball was headed home amongst a crowd of players. There was still time for Saltdean to score another consolation four minutes into added on time with a lovely floated shot from outside the area by Millie Carter which went over the keeper and into the net. With regards to the goalscorers, Jane Yeates scored a hat-trick for Chichester, with Sophie Phelps scoring their other.
So, as might have been expected, it was Chichester & Selsey who made it through to Quarter-Finals, where they face a home tie against Eastbourne United Association. They deserved their victory, but Saltdean deserve a lot of credit for putting in a very good performance today, for long periods there was little to choose between the two sides, but some crucial moments in the game went against them.
The electronic programme can be viewed by clicking here
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