Peacehaven & T.  1  AFC Uckfield  3

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.

 
   
  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"

 
 

 

 

Report by

 
Keith Parris
               

 

     
               
     

Sat 31st Dec, 2011.      Sussex County League, Division 1

Peacehaven & Telscombe

1 - 3

AFC Uckfield

Jake Buss

1

Shayne Goldsmith

Craig Hall

2

Justin Harris

Matt Hill

3

Ryan Knight

Aaron Gunn  56

4

Ben Dartnell

Connor Saunders

5

Craig Manton  31   65

Wes Millis  70

6

Dan Pollard

Harry Coker

7

Jack Divall

Brad Murray  47

8

James Rhodes  48  56

Rob O'Toole  4

9

Andy McDowell  63   78

Ryan Bradley  35  

10

Brad Manton  85

Jordan Lang

11

Joe Dryer  75

Substitutes

Matt Fleming

12

Drew Greenhall

Jack Loraine

14

Tom Swancott  85   87

Chamal Fenelon  56

15

Steve Davis  56

Harrison Cullinane

16

Alex Burton  75

Josh Heyburn

17

Chris Gould

Referee:-  Frank Meilaik

Line 1:-  Katie Wilde

Line 2:-  Ken Brook

 

 

 

 

 

g.d

Pts

1

Rye United

24

+37

53

2

Pagham

22

+30

52

3

Lancing

24

+26

47

4

Hassocks

24

+20

46

5

Three Bridges

19

+15

43

6

Peacehaven & T.

23

+13

39

7

Lingfield

22

+18

38

8

Redhill

21

+26

37

9

AFC Uckfield

25

+8

36

10

East Grinstead T.

28

-12

36

11

Crowborough A.

27

-

34

12

Sidley United

25

-11

33

13

Horsham YMCA

26

-19

29

14

Selsey

22

-5

28

15

Shoreham

25

-19

24

16

Worthing United

24

-23

24

17

Arundel

23

-25

23

18

Ringmer

23

-14

22

19

St Francis Rang.

28

-28

15

20

Chichester City

20

-37

8

     
     
     
Peacehaven Man Of The Match
Harry Coker
 
     
     

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