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With so many games postponed due to the weather in January it means an influx of games coming up in February and some pushed into March no doubt.
There are one or two clubs I’ve noticed that will need snookers if the weather turns again to get their fixtures completed by the end of April and with the potential for a little cold spell in the coming days in the South there could be some Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday schedules for a few.
Tuesday night saw me get back to football after a Saturday off and just a few miles down the road. 3am work starts this week for the full rota meant travel needed to be light to get some sleep in before the unruly hour.
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That meant heading to Nyewood Lane and Bognor Regis Town for the second time this season. The Rocks have suffered a disappointing campaign so far and have spent most of it on the foot of the Isthmian Premier Division table.
A change of manager following a 7-1 thrashing from Chatham Town has brought little reward so far but seemingly finding out what was previously thought, an unbalanced squad lacking in fitness too.
Their visitors on the night were what most would describe as a marmite club, Hashtag Utd. Born from YouTube, they turned from an online club into a non-league Saturday afternoon outfit but one without a substantial live support base, nor their own ground, we’ll see where this one ends up.
A cold, crisp evening in West Sussex, and pretty much everyone was only just in their spot for the night when the first goal arrived. Just a minute on the clock and the home side were in front, centre half Harvey Rew prodding home for a Bognor Regis lead.
Hashtag looked very comfortable on the ball all across the park, but they couldn’t find a way through the Rocks back line often enough to create clear cut chances whilst at the other end some excellent blocking kept the home side from adding to their early goal, a slender lead at the interval.
The second half was all Hashtag. Pressure was put on the home side right from kick off, but to be fair they stood up to the task very well and defended their penalty area including their keeper Ryan Hall.
With the game almost exclusively being played in the Rocks half, the feeling around was the need for a second goal to defend and 15 minutes from time it duly arrived.
Rew’s centre half partner Chad Field with a low drive from all of 20 yards out, low and arrowed into the bottom corner and seemingly on the way to victory.
But, as has been familiar with their season so far, Bognor ran out of steam despite having made a couple of changes to shore up the game. Hashtag pulled one back on 87 minutes, Misha Djemaili ensuring the ball ended up in the net, the nerves back for the home supporters.
The unthinkable of ten minutes earlier then happened as Utd grabbed an equaliser a minute later, Mert Apat the scorer and disappointment plus silence around Nyewood Lane.
Neither side added to their tally, a 2-2 draw the final score and a feeling of what might have been for the home side. The win would have taken them off the bottom and only three points behind Sussex rivals Hastings Utd, that was the position after 75 minutes.
15 minutes and stoppage time later the Rocks remained on the bottom of the table, a point behind Bowers & Pitsea and five more adrift of Hastings Utd.
The home side had shown shades they were better than the side I saw back in October and away at Lewes in November, but still fragile enough to fear they won’t escape from this one.
They do still have 13 games in which to save themselves, but it doesn’t get any easier with title chasing Billericay Town heading to the Sussex coast on the weekend but wins need to start coming from somewhere.
Great hospitality from the Rocks, and good to put a face to the name of Carl Eldridge, the programme editor and one of the clubs I write for this season, introducing me to Simon Cook who I know has been a fine stalwart for the Rocks for a number of years.
