Common host first floodlit game

Common will entertain fellow Sussex County League Division Two side Mile Oak in round three of the Sussex RUR Charity Cup. Kick-off at the Recreation Ground is 7.15pm.

Player-manager Russell Eldridge said: “It will obviously be a good occasion. It’s a massive thing for the club and one that we’ve been waiting a long time for.”

Three floodlight pylons were put up on either side of the pitch in early July. Common can use the lights between September and April six times per month and on Saturdays.

The floodlights are part of the club’s £68,172 development project which also included the 50-seater stand that was installed in May and a pathway from the changing rooms to the pitch which was laid before the end of last season.

Common’s first home midweek game under the floodlights was due to have been against Crowborough Athletic back in October, but that got postponed because the club didn’t possess the necessary certification.

The lights were re-tested in the second half of last month, though, and Common got the all-clear to starting using them in senior matches.

Common moved up to third in the league after a last gasp 2-1 victory away to Seaford Town on Saturday having won 4-2 away to 11th-placed Mile Oak on November 17.

Another victory over Brighton-based Mile Oak tonight would set up a home quarter-final against Division One high-flyers East Preston or Dorking Wanderers.

Planning permission to install floodlights and a spectator stand at the Recreation Ground was granted back in January 2010 despite opposition from a number of local residents.

Follow @SimonNewstead on Twitter for in-play updates and see Friday’s Bexhill Observer for a full report.