Title contenders Rye proved too good for Selsey, winning 3-0 in a full-blooded match at the High Street Ground.
Selsey battled hard for the majority of the game but defensive mistakes and good finishing from the Rye strikers ensured they left with the three points.
Manger Richard Towers couldn’t hide his disappointment but is confident things will get better for his side.
He said: “It was a very disappointing result. We started too slowly and found ourselves 2-0 down early on, and against a side like Rye it’s difficult to get back into the game.
“I’m disappointed with how we’ve started the season. We need to start games a lot brighter and sharper, and it hasn’t helped that we’ve had big players missing like Rob Wimble and Graham Bush.
“But I’m confident things will get better as when all our players are fit we have a decent side.”
The home side started brightly, knocking the ball around nicely but without any end product, but Rye took the lead on eight minutes against the run of play when powerful striker Andy Atkin scored with a thumping header from a corner moments after Jack Bingham’s last-ditch tackle denied a certain goal.
The goal had a negative effect on Selsey and they lost their momentum, and Rye took full advantage when shortly after their first goal Jordan Woodley drilled a shot into the bottom corner, giving his side a two-goal lead.
The away side dominated for long periods of the half but could not add to their lead.
The second half started as the first ended, with Rye applying all of the pressure and Selsey failing to take any control of the game, and both sides began to lose their discipline as the ref failed to deal with fouls committed by both teams, which frustrated both managers.
Selsey tried to create chances to get back into the game but had no real threat up front and Rye completed the scoring in the 73rd minute, Atkin finding the back of the net again with his second headed effort of the game.
Selsey’s host Hailsham Town on Saturday.
SELSEY: Joyce, Poole, Bingham, Heggarty, Lee, Miller, Hagger, Wood, Danny Towers, Scott Towers, Woolf, Subs: Coluill, Miller, Hinshelwood, Fallich.
JOSH HARRISON
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