Miserable Day for Below Par Slade

Conditions: Hell

Slade took to the 3G pitch amidst horrific conditions of gale force winds and hail storms. Injuries and absentees depleted the squad but Portslade were still confident of getting a result. In came the Spanish Crab Matt Hornsby, Dave Funnell from the seconds with Adam Ivimey-Simmons making his debut upfront with Liam Reyland in a 4-4-2 formation. Jon $tubbs, Ben Graves & Rob Johnston added cover on the bench.

The wind was to play a huge part in the game. Slade faced playing against a gale force wind in the first half. Pressure was expected from the off but Buxted couldn’t really find a way past the solid defence. With Slade looking solid and Rich Smith handling the ball superbly early on it was surprise when Buxted took the lead. A vicious cross on our right hand side caught the wind and flew into the top corner. 0-1 !

Slade continued their solid defensive play while looking to break quickly. Half chances fell to either team but no real saves had to be made by the goalkeepers. HT.

The second half should have resulted in a push from Slade to steal the match. However that never really happened and Buxted sunk Portslade with a sucker punch in the 51st minute. A low cross was tapped in with ease. 0-2

Four minutes later and it was game over. Another quick break allowed the Buxted right winger to get in on goal and that was that. Game over. 0-3 !

The game was summed up when Jacob Everett smashed a ball off the inside of the post in the 75th minute. As it dribbled agonisingly across the goal and past the post, so did Slades hopes of getting anything from the game.

A truly miserable day with a lot of unusually poor performances. Stand out players were Sean Trend and debutant Adam Ivimey-Simmons int the first half but MOTM has to go Rich Smith whose handling was superb throughout and he made a fantastic save in the second half under very difficult conditions.

1. Smith 2. Hornsby 3. Funnell 4. Collins 5. Goffin 6. Trend (c) 7. Boddy 8. Reyland 9. Adam 10. Sutton 11. Everett. SUBS 12 Stubbs 14. Graves