The Under 18's long unbeaten League run came to an end at St Francis Rangers this morning in a game which had everything - including own-goals, a near dramtic fight-back and a dismissal.

The game started at a frantic pace with Peacehaven missing a decent chance from Matt Lago in the first minute, but it wasn't long before the visitors were in front. Good work by Barker set up Matt Lago again, and this time he made no mistake in opening the scoring.

The next 15 minutes saw the Peacehaven totally dominate the game. Again good work by Freddie Barker saw him find Charlie Miles, and his shot smashed against the bar from 10 yards.

St Francis' first real attack, and goal, came in the 25th minute when a searching cross found the centre-forward who finished from close range.

Five minutes after the goal, confusion in the Peacehaven box saw Josh Heyburn 

The game was now end to end with further chances falling to Lago and Barker, before more uncertainty in the Peacehaven box saw Joe Panther slice the ball into his own goal to give St Francis a 3-1 lead at the break. This forced Shaun Saunders hand into a double substitution seeing Connor Saunders and Harrsion Cullinane introduced for Steven Whelan and Ahmed Shaker.

The second half saw the visitors camp in St Francis half, and got a lifeline when Steffan Robinson-Webster burst through to score and make it 3-2. The Saints where now under severe pressure,
and the Peacehaven thought they had equalised when Robinson -Webster converted again, only to have the goal ruled out, for what many considered a questionable offside decision.

Further chances saw Jimmy Thompson and Joe Panther miss from close range and we had to wait until 20 minutes from time to see the host first attack of the 2nd half. A foul by Tom Tyler on the right winger gave the home side a free-kick 25 yards out, and the resulting kick caused havoc in the Peacehaven area. Heyburn spilled the cross, and the ball was bundled over the line to make it 4-2. Mayhem then  broke out with a scuffle which saw Josh Heyburn booked again and receive his marching orders.

Joe Panther took over in goal, and this took the sting out of the game. The visitors still pressed on and hit the bar again but time was against Peacehaven, and so their unbeaten run came to an end.

A disappointed Shaun Saunders was in a philosophical mood after the game saying "This was just one of those days. We should have been 3 up before they scored, but we missed Connor and Cully in the first half. I thought they changed the game in the second, But well take it on the chin, train hard this week on our finishing, and be better next week thats for sure. Fair play to St Francis, I thought they worked really hard for their win."

Report by
Keith Parris

PEACEHAVEN & T. LINE-UP     1 Josh Heyburn  71     2 Tom Stutters     3 Tom Tyler     4 Charlie Miles     5 Jimmy Thomson     6 Joe Panther      7 Steffan Robinson-Webster  47     8 Ahmed Shaker  HT     9 Matt Lago  2     10 Freddie Barker     11 Steven Whelan  HT       Substitutes     12 Harrison Cullinane  HT     14 Connor Saunders  HT     15       16       17                       Peacehaven Man Of The Match Freddie Barker