Sidlesham go east to find promised land

Sidlesham and Yapton overcame East Dean and Petworth in the cups, while Lavant and their reserves had mixed fortunes in the latest round of West Sussex League games.

East Dean 1 Sidlesham 6

Centenary Cup

Sidlesham continued their good start to the season with a convincing win over a spirited East Dean side. Within five minutes, a fine ball down the right was latched on to by Ben Evans, who crossed for Paul Barnes to open the scoring with a header.

John Philips added a second on 23 minutes, followed by the goal of the match on 24 minutes by star man Paul Barnes, with a superb volley from 18 yards after a good move down the left.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Sidlesham then sat back, which led to East Dean getting one back from the spot.

The non-stop running of forward Tom Bailey was rewarded by the fourth in the 33rd minute.

The second half started with more pressure and good inter-play from Sidlesham and was again rewarded in the 55th minute with a goal from sub Bradley Miles, who had come on for James Brown, who had a back injury.

Further injuries to Barnes and Gary Jones left Sidlesham with nine men for the final five minutes after they had made their other changes, but they still managed a sixth after good teamwork allowed Hounsome to score.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Sidlesham host Newtown Villa on Saturday – their first home game of the season.

SIDLESHAM: Keene, Jones, Brown, Grantham, Whitehead, Hounsome, Philips, Evans, Bailey, Barnes, Rawlins. Subs: Bassil, Simmons, Miles, Carragher, Rogers.

Sussex Intermediate Cup first round

Petworth looked set to end their recent winless run, sweeping into a two-goal lead thanks to a double from Dan Warren, making his compettitve debut for the season after returning from an injury picked up in a pre-season friendly.

His first came after 15 minutes via the spot after good work from Dave Torode resulted in a Yapton player handling the ball inside the area.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

His second arrived soon after half-time when he was set up by player-manager Paul Jefford.

But Yapton responded well, pulling one back soon after and then grabbing an equaliser deep into injury time.

Petworth seemed deflated in extra-time and Yapton advanced to the second round.

PETWORTH: Fumagall, Naldrett, Hotston, Burrows, R Torode, D Torode, Wells, Pafford, Jefford (Holden 85), Levett, Warren.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

* Tim and Jackie Carter, landlords of The Star pub in Petworth, have agreed to sponsor a brand new kit for Petworth’s first team.

Barns Green 0 Lavant 2

West Sussex League division one

Lavant travelled to Barns Green and secured three points that took them second in the table.

In a tight game, it was half an hour before the visitors took the lead when Mike Bartley headed home a Mike Neville corner.

Lavant could have gone 2-0 up two minutes later when Ryan Seacombe was upended in the box, but he fired the spot-kick wide.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Lavant did extend their lead when a delightful move on the right saw midfielder Matt Stevens run from deep and cross for Seacombe to score.

The visitors were instructed to close out the game and apart from Adam Rice shooting inches wide for Barns Green, Lavant saw it out comfortably, Bartley forcing a fine save from Barns Green’s keeper Jason Dumbrill.

LAVANT: Sanson, Ockwell, Purgavie, Lyttle, Coe, Neville, Brooks, Stevens, Bartley, Seacombe, Cole. Sub: Grace.

Selsey A 3 Lavant Reserves 2

Division two south

A last-minute change in venue meant Lavant arrived late. From kick-off, a well-prepared Selsey team took the upper hand creating chances and forcing keeper Craig Seacombe into action.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

On 20 minutes, Selsey’s route-one approach paid off. Lavant’s defence failed to clear, allowing the home side’s striker to run through and round the out-coming keeper and open the scoring.

Selsey grabbed a second as a through-ball allowed a Selsey striker to outpace the Lavant centre-back and coolly slot home.

From the restart Selsey continued to dominate but the Lavant rearguard upped their game.

Lavant left themselves exposed at the back and a Selsey counter-attack paid dividends.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

David Payne came into Lavant’s midfield and Louis Weller moved up front, and Weller scored to reduce the deficit. This gave Lavant belief and Mark Fegus and Alex Berry went close.

Goal No2 came as Fegus took on the Selsey back four before scoring a fine individual strike.

It was a nervy final ten minutes for the home side but they held on, leaving Lavant bosses Cliff Massey and Mel Milburn with work to do to bring about improved results.

LAVANT RES: Seacombe, Richards, Ayers, Pinder, Berry, Maclean, Wiggins, Massey, Weller, Fegus, Green. Sub: Payne.