Steyning score seven to warm up for Cup – Roffey beat Mavericks – Wick win in Sussex Senior Cup

Steyning 7 Little Common 1

SCFL premier

by Richard Woodbridge

Steyning continued their fine early-season form with a thumping win over Little Common on Saturday. Town showed no hangover after the excitement of Tuesday night’s FA Cup victory against Hadley as they set about their business in a ruthless manner – and were essentially out of sight at half-time, leading 5-0.

Town were set on their way early on by another goal from young Charlie Meehan who finished well after being slid in. Town added a second as Sam Remfry charged down middle and finished with a lovely lob, sidefooting the bouncing ball over the advancing keeper.Harry Shooman made it three with another cool finish after a flowing stunning move to continue his great goal scoring form. On 38 minutes, Meehan added a second with another good finish.Shortly before half-time youngster Charlie Towning scored his first goal for Steyning with the pick of the bunch, a lovely curling right foot shot from outside the area,5-0 and time for a breather on a uncomfortably hot day.MacAuley Scott making his debut in the Steyning goal was dealing with possession well but had little in the way of shots to stop.Predictably, the second half slowed up somewhat as it was essentially over the contest and the heat was blistering. Town had to wait until the 73rd minute to add a sixth as excellent work down the left from Meehan resulted in a low cross and unselfishly leaving Remfry with a small tap in. There was still time for a seventh as Jack Langford returning from injury swept home with a fine finish.Right at the end of the game there was time for a Common consolation goal as a fine free-kick was struck home from 25 yards and whistled past Scott much to the frustration of Steyning’s defence.Overall a fine performance from Town and five out of 5 wins in the league and an undefeated start from the first 11 games. Next up – it’s Maidstone at the Shooting Field in the FA Cup on Saturday. A huge crowd is expected.

Roffey 2 Worthing United 0

SCFL Division 1

by Sam Chapman

Roffey welcomed the team they replaced at the top of Division 1, Worthing United, without several key first team players.

Jack Stafford, Shaun Findlay, Dan Pearse, James Pearse, Charlie Maguire and Charlie Leach were absent thorough a mix of injury and unavailability, but it is a sign of the strength of Jack Munday’s squad that he could still field an experienced team and bench, with Pat Gibbs making his first appearance of the season.

The visitors started fast and not for the first time Roffey took a while to get into their stride. Luis Corriea, having been a virtual spectator in recent games, was quickly into action, pushing away a shot from the edge of the box. From the corner the ball was cleared to the edge of the box where a United player shot through a crowd of players and against the post. The rebound was hit into the side netting and the chance had gone.

Roffey first threatened when Gibbs headed wide from a Jahobi Maher corner. Then Correia saved from a United break that could easily have resulted in a goal. With the Boars now in the ascendency, Maher crossed for Devon Fender in front of goal and he was bundled to the ground with the referee inexplicably allowing play to continue.

Next Kelvin Lucas went on a mazy run before playing a delightful reverse pass to George Cousins who may have got a bobble from the pitch as he hit his shot over the bar. HT 0-0

The second half began with Ricardo Fernandes bringing a good save from the United Keeper. The breakthrough came on 70 minutes when Terrell Joseph broke down the right and crossed for Cousins to finish clinically at the far post.

Fender nearly made it two when his close range shot went over the bar. Roffey continued to control the majority of possession and in the closing minutes, Fender combined with Cousins and his cut back was fired home by Maher to make the points safe.

The Mavericks had only conceded 5 games previously and had as expected provided the toughest opposition the Boars had faced for a while. The three points keep Roffey top of the table on goal difference from Dorking Wanderers.

Dorking Wanderers B 3 Wick 0

SCFL Division 1

Wick missed leading scorer Josh Irish, currently enjoying the bright lights in Las Vegas, as they failed to hit the jackpot against ten-man Dorking at a scorching-hot Meadowbank Stadium.

Temperatures hit 35C on the pitch and a youthful Wanders team with no player aged over 18 adapted better to the sizzling conditions.

Impressive Sebastian Taota-Caballero fired the home side ahead four minutes before half-time although it could have been a different story if Dave Crouch, the Dragons’ hat-trick hero in the 5-1 win against Copthorne the previous Saturday, had scored his sixth goal of the season midway through the opening period instead of seeing his close-range effort deflected behind by a defender.

The tide appeared to be turning in Wick’s favour after the interval when Dorking centre-half Jay Richardson saw red for fouling George Bingham on the edge of the Wanderers area.

But instead of making the most of their numerical advantage for the remaining 33 minutes, the Dragons were punished as Dorking rolled the dice on the counter-attack.

Substitute Jacob Todman stroked his finish into an empty net from the edge of the Dragons area after beating Keelan Belcher to a lovely 75th minute through ball and six minutes later, he tapped in his second to seal maximum points.

Wick, who ran out of steam in the suffocating heat, won’t meet as many sides as strong and skilful as Dorking’s kids despite their players not being old enough to celebrate victory with a pint in the clubhouse bar.

Wick 3 Loxwood 1

Sussex Senior Cup

Two goals from Liam Conolly helped Wick take their second scalp in a fortnight as they beat Loxwood in the Sussex Transport Senior Cup.

The midfielder was the centre of attention in a matchday publication and lived up to the hype at Crabtree Park as the Dragons followed their Sussex RUR Cup success at Saltdean with another victory over Premier Division opposition.

Conolly ended a strong run with a low finish into the bottom far corner in the 41st minute to give Wick the lead at the break. They frittered that advantage by conceding a soft equaliser two minutes into the second half but scored twice in the next five minutes with Jake Hawker heading home and Conolly converting a spectacular blast from 30 yards.

Keelan Belcher saved a late penalty and Dragons manager Lee Baldwin said: “We lost 3-0 at Division One leaders Dorking on Saturday - that’s how you bounce back.”

UNDER-15 FOOTBALL

Roffey Robins Atletico 4 Ashurst Wood 3

Roffey Robins Atletico U15’s kicked off the season in style with victory over Ashurst Wood under a baking hot sun on Saturday morning. The tight scoreline didn’t reflect the performance as Roffey should have scored more, and gave away a couple of silly goals.

They took the lead after only two minutes. A foul on Dan Campbell 25 yards from goal in the inside left channel was in the shooting zone for Aaron Woodhams. His shot took a deflection off a defender leaving the goalkeeper stranded.

Rodrigo Ferreira doubled the lead with a solo effort. A poor goal kick went straight to him, he dribbled the ball into the penalty area and calmly slotted the ball past the ‘keeper.

Ashurst Wood pulled a goal back mid way through the half. Atletico responded well though, with full backs Henry Dinsdale and Will Anderson linking well with the midfield, where Woodhams, Campbell and Ethan Douglas worked relentlessly to dominate the game.

Atletico scored their third as Harley Quy found Douglas who went past two defenders to beat the goalkeeper.

Ashurst Wood scored a second before Quy netted the fourth, after good work from Ferreira. The opposition started to attack with more freedom, Romario Moratalla, Dan Klamm and Fin Ledingham were solid in defence and although they pulled back a third goal, Atletico saw the game out.

Manager, Ricardo Moratalla said :“I’m proud of the boys not only for their performance but also for their resilience in the heat. We have started well, and I hope we can take it through the season.”