Photograph courtesy of Chris Gregory (@chrisgregs)
Tuesday night was cup night for local rivals Littlehampton Town and Wick for a place in the Peter Bentley Cup Final.
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When it gets to the business end of the season it’s a case of cramming as many games in as you can and there is certainly a lot more on the line than back in those early days of the season.
My Tuesday night destination was Arundel’s Mill Road ground, overlooked by the castle and the scene set for the Peter Bentley Cup semi-final between local rivals Wick and Littlehampton Town.
Contrasting seasons so far for both sides separated by just a few miles, Wickers marooned in mid-table with this game their last chance to make something of the season while Town are flying in all competitions they are still in contention for.
Golds joint boss Mitch Hand went for a fairly strong line-up with this being their 2nd game of 4 in seven days whilst Wickers boss Lee Baldwin wasn’t missing too many from his starting line-up.
The game set it’s stall out fairly early, Town having most of the possession and trying to feed Lucas Pattenden and George Gaskin down the flanks while Wickers were aiming to play on the counter to that and despite both wingers seeing a lot of the ball Zack Harris wasn’t getting too much service in front of goal.
Neither side fashioned too many chances in a scrappy first half, Wick’s Harry Williams heading over James Binfield’s bar from a set piece while Keelan Belcher was equal to anything coming his way leading to a scoreless first forty-five minutes.
The second half appeared to mirror the first half to begin with, then Wick seemed to come out and play a little more, Town making the game too narrow to force anything positive to happen.
Then pretty much out of nowhere just before the hour mark Wick went in front but deservedly so. Johan van Driel’s lovely cross found Ben Gray at the back post and the striker slotted home to open the scoring.
Not surprisingly Wick sat back on the lead, happy to defend and invite Littlehampton to break them down. Gaskin thought he had brought the Golds level nine minutes later but instead brought a fine save out of Belcher low down to his right.
Whilst Town continued to press and made substitutions to try and find a way through Wickers were holding firm and despite a flurry of balls into the box and around the edge of the penalty area Golds were frustrated at every turn.
Just as it appeared Wick would be taking their place in the final, up popped a goal worthy of winning a semi-final. Pattenden received the ball on the right hand flank and cut inside to unleash a curling shot with his weaker foot past Belcher and the lifeline for Town they were craving.
Despite a huge amount of stoppage time added on, Town couldn’t find a breakthrough as Wick defended for their lives with the winner to be decided on penalty kicks.
Clarke and van Driel both scored the opening penalties, Zack Harris scored for Town whilst Wick skipper Andy Chick sent his effort over the crossbar. Jordan Layton gave Town some breathing space with the third converted for Town, Jack Bingham hitting the post for Wick leaving Pattenden to score a perfect four from four to send Littlehampton into the final of the Peter Bentley Cup due to be played on Monday 2nd May.
Very harsh way for Wick to lose the game, third time I’ve seen them this season and easily the best performance they’ve put in, kept Littlehampton on the edge of the game until the equaliser.
Not to take anything away from their opponents but Town were certainly nowhere near their best on Tuesday evening, too narrow for me and at times forcing the play rather than being patient. A wonderful strike from Pattenden got them out of jail but they will need to find a few more gears in the coming days to take six points off Crawley Down Gatwick and AFC Uckfield to continue their title challenge.
Can’t finish without mentioning the excellent picture from Chris Gregory’s drone before the game, captures everything about Arundel and not just the football ground bathed in light, he does some fantastic picture work for the Southern Combination League and you can see more of this work at www.scfl.org.uk
Footnote: Littlehampton beat Crawley Down Gatwick 3-1 on Thursday evening to move back to the top of the table ahead of Saturday’s home game.
