Bognor held... Chichester subs shine... double defeat for Pagham... Stags beat Blues

Here it is - your round-up of all the week's local football from around the Chichester, Bognor and Midhurst areas. The digest features the Rocks, Chichester City, Pagham, Selsey, Midhurst, Bosham, East Dean, The Unicorn and Chichester City Women. Read on!
Action from Midhurst's win over Selsey / Picture: Chris HattonAction from Midhurst's win over Selsey / Picture: Chris Hatton
Action from Midhurst's win over Selsey / Picture: Chris Hatton

Rocks 1 Kingstonian 1

Isthmian premier

A late Kingstonian equaliser denied the Rocks what would have been one of their best results of the season as the two Isthmian premier promotion chasers settled for a point apiece at Nyewood Lane.

Action from the Rocks' draw with Kingstonian / Picture: Trevor StaffAction from the Rocks' draw with Kingstonian / Picture: Trevor Staff
Action from the Rocks' draw with Kingstonian / Picture: Trevor Staff

Kingstonian got the game under way and Bognor looked to be on the front foot from the off Jordy Mongoy twisted and turned the Kingstonian defence before dragging a shot just wide of the post.

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On 16 minutes, Bognor won a penalty after Ashton Leigh was caught by Jerry Pueomo. James Crane stepped up calmly and despatched the spot kick.

Kingstonian had a great chance to draw level through Nyren Clums but he couldn’t find the target. Kingstonian had a couple of half chances before the break but it was 1-0 as the sides went in.

Bognor started the second half like they did the first half and Nathan Odokonyero and Mongoy both had chances to extend Bognor’s lead even further.

Pagham on the ball against Bexhill / Picture: Roger SmithPagham on the ball against Bexhill / Picture: Roger Smith
Pagham on the ball against Bexhill / Picture: Roger Smith

But Bognor couldn’t find a second and on 84 minutes Kingstonian equalised as Daniel Ajakaiye crossed for Elliott Buchanan to score. Man of the Match was Crane.

Chichester City 2 Whitstable 1

Isthmian south east

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Goals from second half subs Tyrone Madhani and Kaleem Haitham gave Chichester a comeback victory over Whitstable to snap a five-game winless run in the league.

Miles Rutherford’s side picked up just three points from a possible 15 in October and were knocked out of the FA Trophy, scoring just two Isthmian South East goals.

There were chances at both ends before Whitstable countered and took the lead against the run of play just after the half-hour as Muhammed Cham tucked home a measured Tom Carlton pass.

Haitham and Madhani came on for Ethan Prichard and Ben Mendoza in a double substitution an hour in and it changed the game.

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A super run by Rob Hutchings led to the set-piece from which Madhani levelled some 25 yards out in the 71st minute for his sixth goal of the season.

With 12 minutes to go Haitham skipped past two men, cut inside and grabbed what proved to be the winner with a lovely finish.

Chichester beat Crowborough 1-0 in the RUR Cup on Tuesday night and go to Sevenoaks in the league on Saturday.

Pagham 0 Bexhill 1

SCFL premier

Pagham failed to score for the first time since the very first match of the season and it cost them the points in a fairly dour game of few chances against Bexhill United.

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Very little happened in a slow first half, but the Lions, who had seven first team players out for various reasons, had the best chance to score. On four minutes Ryan Morey jiggled his way into the box but his low shot went agonisingly wide of the far post.

The second period started much livelier although goal chances at either end were still rare events. The two teams took it in turns to dominate things and during one of these Pagham were twice unlucky not to open the scoring. New signing Lukas Micevicius smashed a hard shot in from the left wing only to see the Pirates keeper Dan Rose pull off a great save to push it over the bar.

A few minutes later, Micevicius was desperately unlucky as another shot from the left bounced off the bar and over. The game was settled on 75 minutes when a corner on the right was flicked on, and Jack Shonk scored at the far post with a spectacular overhead kick. Pagham failed to create much after that, and the points went east.

Horsham 4 Pagham 0

Sussex Senior Cup

Pagham were given bit of a thumping at two-divisions-higher Horsham and but for a superb performance by keeper Lewis Boughton, it could have been worse.

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Poor finishing by the hosts and a string of fine saves by Boughton kept the score reasonable but almost the entire game was played in the Lions half of the pitch.

Pagham did make the occasional break, Jack Langford bringing a good save from the Hornets keeper and Joe Clarke having a 25-yard blast saved at the second attempt.

Horsham, having had a shot cleared off the line a minute before, took the lead on 12 minutes, the Lions defence failing to clear a corner and Shamir Fenelon scoring from close in. Six minutes before half-time an unmarked Danny Dudley converted a cross at the far post.

Horsham extended their lead after 56 minutes when a deflected shot fell at the feet of Charlie Hester-Cook, who had an open goal to steer the ball into.

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Despite countless corners, the Hornets didn’t make it four until 78 minutes when a shot saved by Boughton was headed in on the rebound by Jack Brivio.

Midhurst 2 Selsey 1

SCFL division one

Billy Connor and Liam Dreckmann scored the goals that earned Midhurst victory over Selsey - and kept them top of division one of the SCFL.

It was 2-0 at the break before Tallon Burns got one back for the Blues but they couldn’t find an equaliser.

In the fith minute a long ball was played up to Evan Harris, who beat Stags skipper Harry Farr to the ball and found himself through on goal but shot straight at Stags keeper Josh Bird.

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Selsey again got in behind the Stags back line with James Henton rounding Bird, who pushed the attacker wide.

Stags went ahead in the 26th minute. Robbie Tambling guided a header in the path of Connor, making his debut, and he coolly lobbed Syd Davies from 25 yards.

In the 40th minute Connor, Chris Wyatt and Tambling combined to set up Dreckmann who cut inside and scored.

Selsey pulled a goal back in the 70th minute with a well struck shot from Burns from edge of penalty area.

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Stags boss Andy Ewen said his side were lucky to get the three points, saying: “Selsey deserved something from the game, the big difference was we were clinical and they wasted some good chances.

“We’re having to keep making changes to our spine and it’s causing us a few issues at present. I’m hoping to have a few back for the Arundel game.”

Selsey boss Daren Pearce said: “After a good midweek cup win against Worthing United with a commanding 4-0 win, we arrived at Midhurst with confidence high.

“It was a good game of football from a neutral’s point of view, but we felt hard done by not getting anything out of the game in which we dominated large periods and created a good number of chances to secure at least a point.

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“Sometimes you don’t get what your performance deserves in football and Saturday was one of those days. We will no doubt play worse and win, and with the desire and work-rate the lads showed we will win more games.

“Saturday sees us back at home after three away games as we host Forest Row.”

Bosham 3 Southwater 2

SCFL division two

Three headed goals brought an end to the Robins’ losing streak in the league as Southwater were brushed aside to relieve some of the pressure on management duo Tony Hancock and James Wilson.

Nick Edgington was on target and Lewis Rustell scored a dramatic late winner for the resilient Reds.

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Jordan Jarvis got his chance to shine between the sticks with his first start for the Robins.

Bosham got off to a bright start with Graeme Dowden and Kieran Hartley showing good pace and quality on the ball. Approaching the quarter hour, Hartley went close to breaking the deadlock but his stinging effort brought a quality save from keeper James Marsh.

Tom Bayley, back for Bosham after a lengthy absence, showed strength and agility to out-muscle a defender before setting up Hartley who blasted over.

Not long after the half-hour the Bosham pressure told with Edgington on hand to put the Robins into a deserved lead from a Dowden corner.

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Just before the break Southwater suffered a needless red card to a member of the management team in the dugout following the referee overturning a linesman’s offside flag in Bosham’s favour.

The Reds’ good work was undone after the break when Ben Lewis converted from the spot to draw the Blues level. But minutes later he was shown a second yellow and a red.

Bosham made the numerical advantage pay when, with only a few minutes left, Edgington headed in a corner from sub Bradley Miles.

However, Bosham switched off from the restart and Southwater surged through allowing Dan Wright to produce a superb chip over Jarvis’ head and in.

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With the home support willing them forward, Bosham piled on the pressure as the game entered injury time.

And from a short corner, Miles sent in a teasing cross and Rustell pounced instantly to head in at the near post to send the home support wild in celebration.

This week Bosham face beighbours Fishbourne in the County Cup.

ALAN PRICE

Harting 5 East Dean 1

Centenary Cup

East Dean are out of the Centenary Cup after their second 5-1 defeat to Harting.

Harting took the lead on 15 minutes through an own goal.

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They doubled their lead with a header at the back post. A third was added when East Dean failed to clear a corner.

Brad Silvester and Brad Hounsome went closest for the Dean but their efforts rattled the woodwork.

Harting scored a fourth and fifth midway through the second half. Jason Houghton scored a consolation for East Dean, tapping in from close range after the keeper fumbled Silvester’s cross.

Woking 2 Chi City Women 3

Gaby Hobday opened the scoring for Chichester City on 39 minutes and Molly Jones doubled the lead a minute later.

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Three minutes after the hour mark, Woking reduced the deficit and 15 minutes later, the hosts equalised. However, Chi found a late winner to claim all three points.

Hobday opened the scoring when Long played a great ball behind the defence and the Chichester No11 made no mistake finding the far corner.

Only a minute later, Jones made it two as she ran on to a long pass over the Woking defence and spotted the goalkeeper off her line and calmly lobbed it over her.

On 63 minutes, the hosts got a goal back through an error in the Chi defence.

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Fifteen minutes later, a long-range effort from the Woking midfielder caught Simmonds out and the game was level.

Chichester won it in stoppage time. An excellent through ball found Jones and she was able to take the ball past the goalkeeper to fire into an empty net, winning the points for Chi.

Chichester City Women return to action on Sunday at Oaklands Park for a 2pm kick-off against Southampton Women’s Reserves.

MARCUS LEE

Unicorn 1 Lavant 0

West Sussex premier

Jake Hawker continued his remarkable scoring spree to blast Unicorn into the thick of the title race.

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The Uni won 3-2 at Lavant on the opening day of the season and were given another tough battle by their opponents from the Chichester area.

“Sam Garnett whipped in a free-kick, the Lavant goalkeeper wasn’t able to hold it and I was the first to react,” said Hawker.

He was returning to Wick’s Crabtree Park, Bognor-based Unicorn’s home ground, for the first time since leaving the Dragons in the summer and added: “That’s five goals in four games now.

“I’m really enjoying playing in attack for the Unicorn and decided to switch from being a defender to being a striker for a new challenge.

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“It’s working out really well and I’m having fun as I’m the hottest forward in the league right now.”

Unicorn are fifth in the table with nine points from just four games and if they win their game in hand they will be just three points behind leaders Capel with two games yet to play against the table-toppers.

“We’re going well but can still get better,’ Hawker added. We’re right there in the mix with everything to play for.”

SCHOOLS FOOTBALL

More than 100 young footballers arrived at Westbourne House School in Chichester to play their first tournament in 18 months.

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Fourteen schools from across the south east, Sussex, Hampshire and Surrey attended the Under-11 IAPS 7-a-side football qualifying tournament at Westbourne House and played their hearts out.

Schools attending from Sussex were Oakwood, Westbourne House, Brambletye, Seaford College Prep, Ardingly College, Highfield School, St Christopher’s Prep. From Hampshire Prince’s Mead, The Portsmouth Grammar, Twyford, Walhampton and Durlston Court and from London, Arnold House School.

The top three teams, Westbourne House School, Seaford College Prep and Prince’s Mead, now qualify for the finals day at Millfield School on November 28.

Westbourne House School head of boys’ sport, Kevin Smith, said: “We were delighted to host and win this prestigious qualifying tournament. The top three schools have all made it through to the National Finals at Millfield School in November and we are looking forward to the next challenge.

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“The overall standard of football was incredibly high. The effort, commitment and sportsmanship from all the players was outstanding.

“Our school motto at Westbourne is ‘Be the best you can be’ and I think all the under-11 teams achieved this.”

Westbourne House headmaster Martin Barker said: “It was a wonderful day and delightful to host so many schools at Westbourne House, and see and hear how pleased the children are to be back playing team sport. Well done everyone.”

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