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Peacehaven &
T. 1 AFC Uckfield
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Mon 26th Dec, 2011.
Sussex County League, Division 1 |
Match Details Below
Peacehaven's hunt for an
elusive home victory continues, as they fell to
defeat against AFC Uckfield in a game they will
feel they should have at least gained a point
from.
There were three changes to the
Peacehaven line-up which had lost to Shoreham on
Boxing Day, with Jake Buss and Harry Coker
returning to the side, and left winger Jordan
Lang making his first appearance since signing
from Eastbourne Town.
As they did against Lancing a
fortnight ago, Peacehaven got off to the perfect
start, scoring with their first attack. Rob
O'Toole controlled the ball just outside the
area, and his fierce shot rifled past the
motionless Shayne Goldsmith in the away goal.
You felt that this, at last, would be
Peacehaven's afternoon, but there was a warning
shot to come from AFC within two minutes. |
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With their first attack, Jack
Divall's low, hard cross found Andy McDowell in
the 6 yard box, and Jake Buss produced a superb
reflex save from point blank range to keep Haven
in front. Peacehaven
were unlucky not to extend their lead after 15
minutes when Craig Hall's looping forward ball
seemed to fool Goldsmith before dropping on to
the bar and away to safety, and then the
wood-work was to come to Peacehaven's rescue as
Divall's rocketing shot crashed against Buss's
post.
As the half was wore on, so
Uckfield where starting to win more possession,
and on the half hour the scores where level when
Craig Manton touched in a low cross at the near
post. No one could argue that the score was a
good reflection of the first half, but within
minutes of the restart Uckfield took the lead in
bemusing fashion when James Rhodes' seemingly
harmless shot from outside the box was deemed to
be "safe" but bounced in off the inside of the
post to leave Peacehaven facing a familiar
situation.
Uckfield were happy to contain
the midfield for the next 30 minutes, with
chances few and far between for either side
until Peacehaven were seemingly thrown a
life-line with 15 minutes remaining when Andy
McDowell collected a send yellow, and Uckfield
were down to 10 men.
For AFC, it was now all about
survival, whilst Peacehaven poured forward
looing for the equaliser. There was a flurry of
chances for them with Ryan Bradley producing a
shot which skimmed the bar, and Goldsmith making
a top-class save from Rob O'Toole.
You could sense a goal was
imminent, and so it was - but not at the end the
home fans wanted to see. With minutes remaining,
Peacehaven where caught on the break, and
substitute Tom Swancott broke free before
driving into the bottom corner to put the result
beyond doubt.
With the still injured Adam
Kneller, Tom Levitt, Craig Bunch and Ashley Rees
all watching from the stand, it was a
frustrating end to a frustrating year, but
Manager Shaun Saunders was still in a positive
frame of mind after the game saying, "We're
still in a great position to move forward and we
have a strong group of players with a good
attitude. We've been really unlucky with
injuries, but we have to stay focused and look
at this as a long-term project. I'm really
looking forward to 2012, it's going to be an
exciting year for the Club" |
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