Selsey's first competitive game of the new season saw debuts given to six new faces on Saturday, and six was the order of the day as that was the amount of goals they put past Steyning Town in the Peter Bentley Cup. The Youth Policy at the Club was still very evident, despite the new faces at the Club, as the side was set up with a sixteen year old and seventeen year old playing up front. The two lads in question, Joe Clarke and Lindon Miller, did superb jobs in leading the front line. They shared three of the six goals between them and with their skill and pace they will be a threat throughout the season to any team. The defensive set up also looked very strong albeit they conceded two goals, but these were both from dead ball situations, a great strike by way of a free kick and the other a penalty. The midfield had a lot of possession and controlled long parts of the game and all in all things look good after their first game.
The first half was dominated by the home side and it was surprising that they took until the 21st minute to open their account. James Kilhams scored from a corner kick when he was left unmarked at the far post to open his tally for the season. A rather innocuous tackle resulted in a foul to Steyning Town in the 26th minute which resulted in an equalizing goal scored by Chad Milner. His free kick giving Jordan Smith no chance in the home goal. Joe Clarke got Selsey's second in the 32nd minute and Lindon Miller added to this four minutes later to put the home side 3-1 up at half time.
The second half was also very comfortable for Selsey. Strong performances from defenders James Kilhams and Howard Low ensured that Steyning did not get into the game at all and Smith in the home goal had little to do. The pace of Clarke and Miller kept the away side on their toes and on a couple of occasions they could have done better. The inevitable substitutions came midway through the half and it took a while for one or two to adapt to the game. Billy Chatfield in particular was caught out when his tackle on Field was mistimed and he gave away a penalty in the 76th minute. Field picked himself up and scored his second of the afternoon to set up a potential nervy last fifteen minutes or so. This was put to bed when Chatfield made amends for his earlier misdemeanour as he scored Selsey's fourth in the 86th minute and within three more minutes Miller, and Captain David Rough, had added further goals to record a 6-2 victory.
Manager Steve Bailey was very satisfied with the performance and result. He picked out the two up front and said "these two lads will be a handful for anybody this year. They are still very young and need to be left alone to just play and enjoy their football. There is no pressure on them and they will naturally progress and get better as they get older and more experienced. I would also say that I am very pleased with the way that the new players have settled in and delighted that our youth policy is ongoing." He added that the pre-season programme had gone well with positive results against Littlehampton, Sidlesham and Nyetimber Pirates. Bailey would like to think that the side will take confidence from this result and be able to put in another good performance at home to newly promoted AFC Varndeanians next Saturday.