Roffey up and running after win over Forest Row – Worthing United too strong for Wick

Forest Row 1 Roffey 2

by Sam Chapman

After the first two games where they had been within minutes of three points, but only secured one, Roffey earned their first victory of the season and ended the hosts 100% record. They made the short journey to Tinsley Lane without Ricardo Fernandes, Luis Correia, Mark Bevan and Charlie Leach with Alex Thynne taking over in goal and Damien Fortune partnering Shaun Findlay in the heart of the defence. Terrell Joseph made his first start of the season in midfield.

The Boars started confidently, showing patience as Row set up with a low block ready to break whenever they could. Kelvin Lucas and Devon Fender had already got behind the defence a couple of times when on 10 minutes Lucas’ slide rule cross was turned in at the far post by George Cousins.

See 34 pictures from Worthing United’s win at Wick – by Stephen Goodger.

Roffey continued to look comfortable but were unable to increase their lead with Fender breaking clear to miss the far post by inches and then driving a loose ball over the bar from 10 yards. Towards the end of the half Forest Row came more into the game and Thynne had to deal with a dangerous cross and two shots that required acrobatic saves. HT 0-1

The second half started in similar fashion as the first although kicking down the hill Row started to press higher up allowing Roffey more space to break and after 52 minutes Cousins turned his man on the edge of the box and drove the ball home with the aid of a deflection.

At 0-2 the home side had nothing to lose and started to throw more men forward and Thynne had to go down to his right to save a shot from outside the box. Roffey’s backline were coping with the increased home attacks until with just 6 minutes remaining the referee awarded a Row a free kick a couple of yards outside the penalty area. Scott Faber was not happy with the decision and was sin binned. To make matters worse Liam Holden stepped up to curl the ball into the net to halve the arrears. So down to ten men and only one goal in front; surely the three points were not going to slip away again. This time Roffey dealt with the pressure with few alarms and with the stoppage time allowing Faber to bring them back up to full strength for the final few minutes the Boars had the first maximum of the season.

Roffey: Thynne, Pearse(Maher), Baldwin, Faber, Findlay, Fortune, Lucas(Hastings) Wanstall, Cousins(Andrade), Fender, Joseph(Goodman),

Wick 1 Worthing United 3

report from Worthing United...

A good start with Dan Hills beating the offside trap and lobbing the keeper in the 5th minute.

A second was added midway through the half by Brad Hunt after great work by Liam Appleton.

Indeed it was Appleton who provided us with a three goal cushion soon after the restart with a sublime run and finish.

Our hosts pulled one back towards the end from a corner but we successfully saw the game out to secure the points that our performance deserved.

report from Wick…

Wick head to Mile Oak on Saturday seeking their first SCFL Division 1 win of the season after a disjointed defeat to Worthing United.

The Dragons were widely regarded as one of the hot favourites for promotion this season after reaching the playoff final last term.

But they have yet to celebrate their first victory after a 4-4 draw at home to Roffey and another share of the spoils at Montpelier Villa was followed by an underwhelming performance against the Mavericks.

Worthing United needed just four minutes to take the lead with Dan Hills bursting through to beat goalkeeper Keelan Belcher and the offside flag.

They then added to their advantage when Brad Hunt was at the far post to turn in the rebound after Belcher dived to his left to tip away a Liam Appleton drive.

Wick were sent out early for the second half but fell further behind after just a couple of minutes as Appleton found the bottom near corner.

The Dragons, without key players through injury and suspension, huffed and puffed but they couldn’t force their way back into contention despite George Bingham turning in a corner for his first goal of the season.

Worthing United substitute Drew McGill showed a clean pair of heels and tremendous pace under threat after making a big mistake but it wasn’t to be Wick’s day and they will seek to kickstart their season at the weekend.