It was back to watching football on Tuesday evening, although the midweek matches are beginning to thin out at the moment as they generally do in December.
With an added week of training in the new job which I wasn’t expecting I didn’t plan on venturing too far, sleep was very much needed which limited the choices even further.
Deciding to stay on the doorstep as it were, I headed to The Sportsfield as Littlehampton Town hosted title chasing Sittingbourne, a game rearranged from a couple of weeks previous thanks to a waterlogged pitch.
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No such trouble this time around although the temperature had dropped quite considerably and definitely a night for the thermals, gloves and hat to make an appearance.
Bourne came into the game on the back of an eight match winning streak, whilst the Golds had a habit of relinquishing two goal leads in the previous couple of games.
A sticky and heavy pitch from rain earlier in the week meant it wasn’t going to be a passing classic, the visitors with more of the ball and the home side happy to keep shape and defend.
Chances though were an absolute minimum in the first half, Bourne had a couple of efforts they scuffed wide of Mac Chisholm’s goal while the Golds got in a few times down the left flank but delivery into the box found the head of a visiting defender.
With neither side able to find a shot on target the scoreline was blank at half time, neither the weather nor the football doing much to warm those watching on the sidelines.
The second half was on the front foot for Sittingbourne and they opened the scoring five minutes in, the ball falling nicely for James Bessey-Saldanha to slot home past Chislom.
A setback though for Littlehampton followed, a bad challenge on a Town player led to good sized brawl near the dug outs, Dion Jarvis dismissed for the home side after wading into the group of players and the task becoming a little harder for the Golds.
A goal and a man to the good, the visitors were able to play the second 45 at their pace and with no need to force the issue in front of goal, Town cautious about over-committing and leaving holes at the back.
Only one further chance materialised before the end of the game, a Sittingbourne effort crashing back off the crossbar in the final ten minutes and to safety, the points heading back to Kent.
A frustrating night for the home side no doubt as they were in the game and very able to nick a point on the counter attack at any time but just unable to fashion any chances despite the goal scoring talent on the pitch.
Sittingbourne will be glad to have come away with another vital three points in their quest to chase down Ramsgate, the unbeaten leaders losing that record on the same night also in Sussex at East Grinstead Town.
A surprising night for the hosts not to create any chances given the likes of Joe Benn, Rob O’Toole and Kieran Pamment starting whilst George Gaskin made an appearance from the bench. A tad close to the bottom four places currently, but plenty of time for them to string a run of results together and move upwards.
A healthy 212 in watching on such a very cold night, Sittingbourne once again travelling in great numbers to support their team, great to catch up with Brickies boss Ryan Maxwell afterwards, not surprisingly very delighted his side made up ground on the leaders, who in turn head to The Sportsfield this coming weekend.
