Bosham Cop a defeat ... wins for Selsey and Petworth

Copthorne 3 Bosham 2

SCFL division two

Mistakes and a sending-off undid Bosham at Copthorne.

Bosham started strongly and in the second minute went n front thanks to Alex Barnes, who thumped in a rebound after keeper Jamie Caven had saved at the feet of Josh Mines.

Copthorne grew into the game and started to cause a few wobbles at the back for the Robins but the likes of Nick Edgington and Pat Bulbeck kept the hosts at bay.

For Bosham Ollie Hawkins created opportunites but his teammates were wasteful in front of goal.

They were made to pay when, just after the half hour, Oscar Weddell drew Copthorne level after a Ryan Fenton cross.

A minute later, Hawkins terrorised the Copthorne defence and produced a quality ball to far post where Nathaniel Monk restore the lead.

Five minutes after the re-start Harvey Weddell picked up a second yellow card and was sent off, leaving Bosham to play against ten men.

Against the run of play Copthorne levelled when Oscar Weddell converted a penalty after a trip in the box.

Team numbers were level again when Bulbeck had a moment to forget, picking up a second yellow card and receiving his marching orders.

Bosham were dealt another blow when keeper Jack Hickman was forced off with a knee injury with Josh Mines going between the sticks to deputise.

Mines was picking the ball out of his net when, with ten minutes to go, Bosham failed to stop a surging run from Miguel Figuerda-Donne who fired low past his despairing dive and put the hosts in front.

Bosham threw everything at Copthorne in the time remaining but couldn’t find the equaliser.

This week Bosham entertain league leaders TD Shipley at Walton Lane.

Bosham manager Tony Hancock said: “I’m gutted as I feel it was definitely one that got away from us. Five minutes of madness in the second half, along with other mistakes, proved our undoing.

“We didn’t play badly and deserved to come away with something.

“Our next game will be a tough challenge but, rest assured, we will be ready.”

ALAN PRICE

* There were contrasting fortunes in division one of the SCFL for Selsey and Midhurst.

Daren Pearce’s Blues enjoyed a 3-0 win at Storrington thanks to goals by Ryan Chittock and Cameron Jenkins (2).

But Midhurst slipped to a 3-2 home defeat to Bexhill, Jake Slater and Lewis Hyde their scorers.

Selsey host Worthing United on Saturday and go to Wick on Tuesday. Midhurst are at home to Hailsham on Saturday.

Petworth 3 Storrington Res 1

WSFL Championship south

Petworth won their first home match of the season with a good performance.

In a half they dominated with numerous chances they finally got the breakthrough just before half-time with a Mark McManus header from a corner.

Storrington were much improved in the second half and caused Petworth more problems than in the first half but the hosts doubled the lead with a neat Tony Scutt finish.

Storrington pulled a goal back with a well-worked move and good finish, but with five minutes to go Dan Warren finished well to secure a well deserved win.

Barnham Trojans 6 East Dean 1

WSFL Champ south

East Dean started poorly and were on the back foot from the kick-off.

A barrage of attacks and corners eventually lead to Barnham taking a 2-0 lead and it could have easily been more before half-time with plenty of goal-line scrambles and clearances .A couple of half chances for Daniel Richards and Oliver Hagger were all the Dean had to offer.

A regroup and chat at half-time meant the Dean knew what had to be done in the second half. But yet again, they started poorly and were instantly under pressure.

However, the Dean managed to claw their way back into the game when Oliver Hagger profited from a mistake by the Barnham keeper and tapped into an empty net for an easy first goal of the season. This did not breathe life into the Dean’s attacking as they had hoped it might.

The Barnham attacks continued and eventually the pressure and mistakes took their toll. At the final whistle, another Four goals had been scored leaving the score at 6-1. It could have comfortably been more and the Dean will have to learn their lessons quickly and work hard on the training ground to build back up their confidence.

Kingston Ranger 3 Unicorn and Wick 2

Sussex Challenge Cup

A bizarre own goal and a late finish from a tight angle sent Unicorn and Wick tumbling out of thecup.

The Bognor Sunday side were on course for an upset against Kingston Rangers, from a higher division, when they bounced back from going a goal down.

Nathan Ediker equalised with a superb near-post diving header before half-time then a glorious left-foot drive into the bottom corner from Danny Miller put Uni ahead midway through the second period.

But Unicorn made the long journey home from the Ringmer Academy reflecting on the mishap which saw an angled pass from Dale Hayes squeeze past goalkeeper Luke Munt and over the line.

The tie appeared to be heading to extra-time when the hosts bagged the late winner.

“The own goal would have been a thing of beauty if it was scored at the other end,” said chairman David Phillips.

Unicorn manager Dennis Barclay added: “We played well against a side who are meant to be better than us and we could have gone through.

“Fair play though, they were a good side who played football the way it should be.

“We thought we should have had a late penalty when Harty Williams was pushed over when through on goal but apart from that the young referee had a very good game and was to be commended.”

Lancing Rangers U15 1 Bosham U15 2

Finally, it is lift-off for Bosham U15s.

After some extremely encouraging performances from their first five league games, Bosham finally got the result they deserved.

This victory sees Bosham climb off the bottom of the table, and with a home game against Ferring on Sunday (25th) another victory would see Bosham leapfrog them into eighth position.

Sunday's victory against Lancing was hugely encouraging with every one of the squad putting in an incredible shift. Goals in the first half from Theo and Charlie B were enough to seal the points.

The management and coaching team, consisting of Nick Edgington, Charlie Northwood, Kai Toogood and Harley Redman have all been encouraged by the players' performances and development this season. With 20 players regularly attending training, it has been a tough job selecting the squad of 15/16 each week.