Tense but Wick make it ten on Trot!

It was tight, it was tense, but at the end as Macca said sometimes it's the result that matters, as the 1sts ensured all 3 points over a dogged Brighton team and avenged their 4-2 loss at Blatchington earlier in the season. The scorers always take the plaudits but it was a moment of determination and inspiration by ex skipper Matt Vokes that helped turned this game on it's head as Southwick hit 2 goals in 2 2nd half minutes to go from 2-1 down to 3-2 up and gain an important win that coupled with Saxons loss in Hailsham puts their promotion hopes back in their hands

Things started well for Wick, when after a pretty even 10 minutes John Glover was on hand to sweep home from close range at the near post after a big hit into the D from Anthony McAlistair after Brighton had failed to properly clear a short corner. With Taf and Birdy hitting on the break Wick looked quite comfortable, despite one horrendous pass by (the mainly solid) Grant Packham that put one of their strikers clear through on goal. However Wick lost some momentum after Taf Mpandawana found himself at the bottom of a large pile up and came off nose streaming with blood, (Wick did not even get a short) and Brighton clearly fired up seeing the top scorer leave the action came back into the game. Despite a couple of good saves by Joe Davis they broke through with a goal from a short corner and then took the lead with a close range strike after a goalmouth scramble. Birdy nearly equalized just before half time with a neat run but the Brighton keeper (having an inspired display) kept hi out from close range

Taf came back on the pitch and unlike some pampered footballers did not need a face mask, however his return did not spark an immediate revival for Southwick who behind were struggling a little bit to come up with a way of breaking down a stiff Brighton defence intent on holding on to their 2-1 lead. When Ellis Stevrons was poleaxed by the Brighton keeper and nothing was given a sense of frustration threatened to boil over especially with Taf getting a green card after reaacting to a strong Brighton challenge. However just when it looked like it might not happen for Wick Matt Vokes made a timely intervention that fired up the watching supporters and on pitch players alike. He tackled the Brighton centre mid and drove forward through a couple of tackles into the D before laying it off to Birdy who smashed in an equalizer. There was just under 10 mins to go and it was 2-2, but not for long! Taf charged up from the restart winning the ball and him and Birdy exchanged a neat one two around the keeper for Taf to net his 20th of the season in all competitions and make it 3-2.

Despite some nerves Wick saw it out to put themselves where they wanted to be with a trip top of the table Saxons up next

Also nice to see ex player Gavin Scott - though it's a shame he was in Brighton colours!