Hard fought battle yields vital points for the 1st's against Little Common

Man of the Match Sam Purvis had a fine game

A recent run of poor results was ended by a resilient performance from Herstmonceux 1sts, as they claimed all 3 points in a 2-1 victory against Little Common. This was thanks, in part, to an inspired tactical change from manager Ryan Reid, who elected to play 4-4-2 for the last 10 minutes, after a late equaliser from the home side.

The game began positively as the visitors, lining up with a 3-5-2 formation, were relishing the opportunity to play on a county pitch. Unfortunately, this proved to be the biggest disappointment of the afternoon, as it appeared to have more bumps and bobbles than the lunar surface. Russ Blewitt, Jack Nicholas and Conor Liron resumed their partnership at the back, and the first 15 minutes seemed fairly comfortable as both teams sized each other up. Indeed with CJ winning a number of early headers, there were hopes that we might even secure a precious clean sheet. Purvis looked in command at the back and with Jarvis and Budd also slotting into the midfield it looked like this might be a comfortable victory.

Responding to Reid's exhortations to step things up, Toby Guest began to crank up the pace on the wing, and with Connor Middleton looking lively up front, the home side were pushed onto the back foot. Some clever interplay involving Mark Stillwell, gave the greater midfield dominance to the 'Ceux midfield, and Middleton was unlucky to see his effort from the right strike the post and bounce to safety. The Common back 4, recognising the danger that Stillwell presented, then unleashed a series of cynical late tackles, to which Mark responded with his usual aplomb, and with the referee only seeing fit to punish these fiery challenges with free kicks, it was possible that we might have seen some serious injuries. Then with less than 5 minutes to half time, the ball ran loose to Artur Mendes, who seeing his opportunity, unleashed a terrific 25 yard effort which beat the 'keeper's despairing fingertips to put the visitors 1-0 up and, on the run of play, deservedly so. This is Artur's 3rd goal from outside the box this season.

Another thunderous strike from Mendes put him in a strong position for the leading scorer trophy.

The manager had a decision to make at half time and he reluctantly withdrew Stillwell to save him from further punishment and a possible red card, bringing on Josh Sheldon into the midfield, and pushing Mendes up front with Middleton. Straight from the kick off Artur shown his strength and ability to hold the ball up, and if it had not been for a very slow and inconsistent surface, 'Ceux might have been able to capitalise on this as they began foray after foray down both wings. The ever dangerous Toby Guest took on the back 4 time and time again, and was unlucky not to score on two occasions, one of which saw the Little Common keeper deflect the ball over the bar. Middleton too, after a driving run, found the target, but was frustrated by a good save by the busier of the two keepers.

But, as seems usual with Herstmonceux, there was at least one twist in this tangled tale. The opposition had suffered an early setback which saw one of their centre backs replaced in the first half, and his replacement had one of the longest set piece kicks I have seen at this level of football. His goal kicks were regularly landing first bounce deep in our half, and on two occasions he had launched free kicks from the centre circle goalwards, forcing good saves from Purvis. This use of the aerial ball, unsettled the back four and the visitors found themselves on the back foot. Common seeing an opportunity began to push forward, sensing the game was not gone, and after Liron had been replace by Whittlesey, they began to exploit holes in Herstmonceux's midfield. The inevitable equaliser came after a run down the right was crossed into the box where it hit the unfortunate Archie Guest on its way into the net.

Now it was rampant Little Common as, urged on from the sidelines, they pushed for the winner. Then came two turning moments. A double save from Purvis, and a crashing shot against the bar, kept Herstmonceux level. Then Reid changed to 4-4-2 with two flat back lines of 4 leaving Mendes and Middleton to push on and strike back. Guest was in the thick of the action again, on the left, and Sheldon two made the occasional incisive run down the right, but it was Middleton who popped up to round the keeper, slot the ball home and break Little Common's hearts. 2-1 and the last 5 minutes beckoned, but to all intents and purposes this game was open, although it was marred by a two-footed challenge on Guest which meant he had to leave the field of play for the last two minutes.

With three games left, it is now all in our hands. Victory against Rock A Nore next Saturday might be enough, but manager Ryan Reid is in bullish mood and wants to win two out of the last 3 league games, before we concentrate on the two cup competitions which remain to be played. Well done lads, this was a battling performance, and surely we can now go on and cement our division 1 status.