PEACEHAVEN & T.  0  RUSTINGTON  0  (a.e.t) 

Peacehaven face a replay at Rustington after being frustrated in the Senior Cup. Despite dominating for virtually the whole match they were unable to find a way past their obdurate Second Division opponents, and now face a tricky assignment in West Sussex.

This match had twice been postponed, and unfortunately it was hardly worth waiting for. An ultra defensive visiting team and a misfiring home side combined to provide a rather dull match, and the prospect of the replay is not likely to set many pulses racing.

You got a sense of Rustington's mood from before the match when they refused the option of a penalty shoot-out should the match prove inconclusive, and their conservative approach was evident from their formation, with only one forward and a packed midfield. It was a little surprising, as Peacehaven have been rather vulnerable in Cup Competitions this season, and Rustington were fancied to create an upset.

Initially Peacehaven made some headway with Andy Wilkinson and Rob O'Toole stretching the visiting defence out wide and Ryan Bradley looking dangerous up front. That just pushed Rustington even further onto the back foot though, and by half time frustration was setting in for the home side.
The pattern continued after the break, with half chances for O'Toole and Bradley being Peacehaven's only real openings. Rustington were carrying out their game plan to the letter, but it wasn't making for much of a spectacle.

The closest Peacehaven came was when Craig Bunch's header came back off a post, but that was a rare opening in a contest that was increasingly becoming bogged down in midfield.

Peacehaven hadn't particularly helped themselves, as their tendency to over elaborate was allowing Rustington to set up in defence before they could make any headway. Extra time came and went without any major incident, and we will now have a replay (and hopefully not more of the same) on Saturday 22nd January.

Report by
Alex Panton

PEACEHAVEN & T. LINE-UP     1 Joe Adams     2 Craig Hall     3 Matt Hill     4 Adam Kneller     5 Craig Marshall  85       6 Aaron Gunn     7 Clive Snell     8 Ryan Bradley     9 Rob O'Toole  105     10 Tom Levitt  65     11 Andy Wilkinson       Substitutes     12 Craig Bunch  65     14 Harrison Cullinane  85   112     15 Freddie Barker  105     16       17                           Peacehaven Man Of The Match Adam Kneller