- 4 months ago
Matt Pole is joined by Sussex sport guru Steve Bone to discuss all the latest goings on at grassroots football across the county - including FA Cup action and a look ahead to the weekend's FA Trophy and FA Vase games.
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00:00Welcome to another episode of the Sussex Non-League Podcast where we take a look at all the latest
00:05goings on at grassroots football across the county. I'm Matt Pohl and on this edition I'm joined by
00:10Sussex sport guru Steve Bone and it will just be us, you lucky lucky things, chewing the fat this
00:15week as we discuss all the latest from across the county. It's been a few weeks since our last
00:19pod so we have plenty of league and cup football to catch up on. First things first Steve, how are
00:23you getting on? You alright? Not too bad. I think the phrase you're looking for is quality not
00:28quantity. I always used to prefer match of the day, I'm showing my age here but I used to prefer match
00:35of the day in the days when it was just Jimmy Hill introducing the games and Bob Wilson reading out
00:40the news headlines. It was fine, you don't need a sofa of four pundits or anything so just us two
00:47we'll be fine, we'll get through. A lofty comparison as well Steve, we've got plenty to love to if we've
00:53been compared to those two. I'd also like to mention that both of us are feeling under the weather so
00:57if we're a bit sniffly and snuffly we apologise. We do. We're delicate little things at the moment
01:03aren't we Steve? We are, yes we're struggling. Absolutely, we should probably talk about some
01:08football now. We will start this week by taking a look at how Sussex side fared in the FA Cup
01:13second qualifying round. Eastbourne Borough, Burgess Hill Town, Horsham, Chishter City, Stenningtown,
01:19Worthing and Whitehawk were all in cup action this weekend. How did they fare Steve and who will
01:23the advancing teams meet in the third qualifying round? Yeah so we started with, we had seven
01:28Sussex teams in the second qualifying round as you've just listed there. It was mixed I think
01:34we can say as you expect that number to be. We lost two of those in the initial ties on Saturday
01:41Whitehawk and Burgess Hill both went out in their initial ties which was a shame. We then had four
01:49teams going through to replays and one team going straight through. The team that went straight
01:53through is Eastbourne Borough. Straightforward win over Epsom and Yule for them so they're in the hat
01:57for the next round and then on Tuesday night Worthing and Horsham went with the form book really. Beat
02:03lower division rivals in replays but Chishter City and Stenning both went out. We should mention
02:11Stenning. They've had a great cup run actually. That was the fourth round they were in so
02:14you know they've done Sussex non-league proud really this year. They came through three rounds
02:22were then drawn against Tunbridge Angels of National League South. Got a quite a heroic
02:27tool draw against them at Stenning last Saturday. Tunbridge too strong in the replay as you would
02:32have probably have guessed they would be and it was 6-1 in the end but Stenning can hold their
02:37heads high. Chichester's exit was a bit of a surprise. They lost to Westfield, sorry not Westfield,
02:43Whitstable who are at step five so they will have been disappointed by that. But it gives
02:48us our three National South teams all into the third qualifying round which takes place on Saturday
02:54week and the ties are Wimborne against Worthing. Wimborne are Southern League Premier so step three
03:00so Worthing will be favourites there but that won't be straightforward. Similar for Eastbourne
03:07Borough they're away to Shoaling in the next round. They are also Southern League Premier
03:11and have started the season quite well so it could be a tricky one for Borough but
03:15they should be able to make their two status tell. And our only home tie in the next round
03:22is Horsham taking on Folkess and Invicta who have started very well. Another step three team
03:27so all three of our step two teams have played step three teams. Folkess and Invicta are right
03:32up at the top of the Eastbourne Premier League so far and I believe they've gone full time this
03:36season as well. So that'll be a tough one for Horsham but you would say Horsham will be favourites.
03:43You'd like to think we could get at least two of those three going through to the third
03:47qualifying round perhaps all three. We'll see. Yeah absolutely I would caveat that when Horsham
03:53were the Eastbourne Premier although it was only last season they never used to do well against
03:56Folkestone and as you said they're full time side so I fear for Horsham a little bit but
04:01I'd also like to give you yeah it is indeed I'd also like to give you a little bit of credit Steve
04:05you predicted every single club to go through didn't you? Yeah we had a little exchange on
04:12Tuesday didn't we and I said we did those replays I can't see Chichester instead of going through
04:16and I was basing for Chichester I was basing that on their home form this season which has been
04:21poor really they've not really picked it up at home yet hopefully that they'll change that soon
04:27but I could see them going out and they did sadly. Yeah and as I say it's a bit of a surprise to see
04:32Horsham and Worthen both taken to replays I know that they both hit respective teams for six in the
04:37replays but I don't think anyone would have predicted not to take away anything from the quality of the
04:42opposition we both expected a comfortable pair of afternoons at Horsham and Worthen didn't we?
04:46They were both playing teams from two divisions below I think weren't they? Yeah.
04:50It shows not straightforward in the FA Cup is that you can't just assume that a club from a higher
04:58step of non-league is going to beat a club from a lower step it'd be a bit boring if it always
05:02happened like that wouldn't it? Yeah absolutely. I guess the main thing is for Worthing and Horsham
05:06is they got through in the end they got a little bit of revenue from a home replay as well so
05:10not all bad. Yeah couldn't have put it better myself. Staying with cup football the first round of
05:16the Sussex Senior Cup was played last week. There were 16 ties played up and down the country last
05:21Tuesday and Wednesday. What were the highlights and who is through to the second round Steve?
05:26Yes so the second round draw which we'll come to in a minute takes place this Saturday 20th September
05:31it's on BBC Sussex I believe about 5.45 after all the afternoons football. So in the first round
05:38of the Cup last week which the higher place clubs in Sussex don't have to play in
05:44as you say 16 games and all settled on the night by penalties if not in the 90 minutes.
05:49Talked you through a few of the highlights a few of the sort of bigger winners really on the night
05:53were Salt Dean beating Oakwood 3-0. Lansing who have had a tricky start to the season but did well
06:00in this they won 3-0 at infinity. A couple of clubs hit five. Seaford Town put five past AFC
06:06Upfield in a 5-1 win. East Preston beat Arundel 5-2 and away from home Crobra beat Billingshurst 5-2.
06:16So they are among the clubs that have gone through from the first round to the second and we're left
06:20with now the higher place clubs do come into things in the second round. We're left with 32 clubs
06:27in the draw and I'm quickly going to talk you through those 32 in alphabetical order.
06:32Excellent. I'm going to test you and see if you can see which notable club is missing
06:36at the end of this. So in Saturday's draw are AFC Vondinians, Bognor, Brighton-Nove Albion,
06:45Broadbridge Heath, Burgess Hill, Chichester City, Crawley-Down-Gatwick, Crobra, Eastbourne-Borough,
06:50Eastbourne Town, East Grinstead, East Preston, a lot of Easts in there.
06:54Classic Hastings, Haywards Heath, Horsham and Horsham YM. That's a bit of a tongue twister as well.
06:59Jarvis Brook, Lansing, Lewis, Little Common, Littlehampton, Lockswood, New Haven, Peacehaven,
07:08a few other havens maybe, Rockley, Salkdeen, Seaford, Three Bridges, Whitehawk, Wick and
07:14Worthing are in the hat for Saturday's draw. Who's missing?
07:18Crawley Town, football league at Crawley Town for another year I believe.
07:22Yes, you sometimes do get one or two of the bigger clubs in the county not taking part
07:31in the Sussex Senior Cup for different reasons. They may feel it's sort of one competition
07:35too many for them. I don't think we've heard officially yet from Crawley Town as to why
07:39they're not in there, but they're not. It's a shame in a way I think because if one of the
07:44smaller clubs could have drawn Crawley Town at home, that's quite a big occasion for them
07:48really. They could have got a decent crowd in, but I'm sure Crawley Town have got their
07:51reasons for not taking part and I guess we'll hear about them in the days to come.
08:00So 32 clubs there. It's any ones to win or lose at the moment. The National South sides
08:08and Brighton, people like that, will be all hoping to avoid each other at this stage and
08:12looking to get through to the final at the Amex. Horsham, of course, have won it twice
08:16in a row, so they'll be going for three in a row, which hasn't been done for a long time
08:20I don't think. And we will have news of that draw on Sussex World either over the weekend
08:26or on Monday morning.
08:28Purely speculative. I wonder if it's because Crawley obviously have got the EFL trophy,
08:33haven't they, which is kind of, without meaning to knocking it, it is a reserve team competition,
08:38isn't it Steve? I wonder if that might be why.
08:40They may be foreseeing a clash between a Vertu trophy game and a Sussex Senior Cup game,
08:47thinking if we have to play those two in the same week, how will we do it? I don't know.
08:51But a bit of a shame, but there have been other clubs of withdrawal in recent years.
08:57Lewis, I know, didn't take part once or maybe twice recently.
09:02So each club has got to sort of take it on the merits and that's the decision from the Reds this year.
09:10Yeah, absolutely. It's one of the three biggest trophies in world football to me, Steve.
09:13Premier League, Champions League, Sussex Senior Cup. That's the Holy Trinity.
09:16Yeah, we always turn up for it, don't we, for the finals?
09:19Yeah, it's a great luck.
09:23We'll be there again in May, I'm sure, whoever's there.
09:26No doubt.
09:27Now we will take a look at how our sides are faring in their respective league campaigns.
09:32And we will start on the National League South, where Horsham, Worthing and East Vaughan Borough
09:34have now played eight league games.
09:36As we mentioned at the top of the pod, it's been a while since we've last rounded up these leagues.
09:41How have they been getting on since the last pod?
09:43Yeah, I'm going to say that all three of our sides in National South are showing good signs.
09:50They've all three have had mixed starts to the season, but Horsham and Worthing have both taken seven points
09:55out of the last nine available with two wins and a draw.
09:58East Vaughan Borough are still looking for their first win, although their last league game is going back a while now.
10:06I think it was at home to Hemel, and although it finished nil-nil, there were some positive signs in there as well.
10:13East Vaughan Borough, as we've said, have since had a good win in the FA Cup.
10:16That would have given them all a lift, and that might just sort of kick-start their league campaign as well.
10:22But looking at where our clubs are in the table, Worthing now up to 10th after, last time out,
10:29they had a very good 5-2 win at Dagenham, which I think will have made a few people set up and take notice.
10:34Although Dagenham are struggling so far, they're still fancy to do well.
10:37And for Worthing to go there and score five, that was very good.
10:40Obviously, Worthing also were also in good goal touch against Jersey Bulls in the Cup of the Week.
10:46So they're moving in the right direction.
10:48So are Horsham as well.
10:50I think if you'd said Horsham at the start of the season, you'll win three of your first eight.
10:54You know, you'll win three, draw two, lose three.
10:56I think they'd have been quite happy with that.
10:58It's important to get that first win and just to get a bit of momentum and get yourself into mid-table,
11:02which is what Horsham have done.
11:04So East Vaughan Borough are the ones to worry about still, but a few sort of green shoots,
11:09a few good signs down there in recent performances.
11:12Still looking for their first win.
11:14They've only got three points from their first eight.
11:16That's a long way from there up to the sort of fringes of the playoff race and so on.
11:21But the first task for them is to get off of the bottom and away from the bottom four.
11:25And we'll be mentioning their game this weekend, I think, a bit later on, won't we?
11:29So we'll come back to them.
11:31But I think all three can say moving in the right direction.
11:36I'd like to heap a little bit more praise and motion, if you'd allow me, Steve.
11:39Those three wins have come against Torquay.
11:42Torquay, I can't remember the beating now.
11:44How embarrassing.
11:45Torquay, Mainston and East Vaughan Borough, three sides who were in the playoffs last season.
11:50That's three.
11:50Very good wins.
11:52No mean feat.
11:53And the one, their most recent win at Mainston, obviously, went on that wonderful FA Cup run last season.
11:59They've, yeah, it's been a positive start and hopefully it continues on.
12:03In fact, just thinking, all three of those wins are against teams that were in the playoffs at the end of our season,
12:12which is where Horsham are in terms of, you know, needing to be taken seriously by other clubs in that league.
12:19Yes, absolutely.
12:20It's just a shame they've got about 12 fit players at the moment.
12:23It'll be interesting to see what happens when it gets to the new year and, yeah, injuries amount up.
12:28But I'm positive that all three sides of ours will do very well this season.
12:34Dropping down a division into the Isthmian Premier, our four Sussex sides, Lewis, Chishita City, Whitehawk and Birdseal Town
12:40have all enjoyed relatively successful starts to their respective seasons.
12:44What's the latest from this quartet, Steve?
12:46Yeah, they've all had similar starts, really.
12:49They've all won games.
12:50They've all drawn games.
12:51They've all lost games.
12:52And they're all bunched between 6th and 13th in the table at the moment.
12:56Lewis were, I think, were top briefly for a week or two.
13:01They've levelled out a bit, but they're in 6th place.
13:05Chishita City just behind them in 8th, which is pretty good considering that Chishita have had a couple of really poor home results.
13:15They've lost at home to Welling, who themselves are struggling.
13:18They've also lost at home to Potter's Bar in a game that Colin Bowman was at for us
13:23and spoke to Miles Rutherford afterwards and Colin said to Miles, was that just a bump in the road?
13:30And Miles said it was more like an earthquake that's left a big hole that I want to bury myself in.
13:37He thought it was one of their worst performances for a long time.
13:40And I've spoken to Miles since, and he's a bit puzzled as to why they're struggling at home.
13:44Whether it's the pressure of being at home, now being expected to win games at this level a little bit, don't know.
13:50But away from home, they've had some very good results, which is why they're up in 8th.
13:53They've won 3 in their first 7th, so they won't be too concerned overall.
13:57They just need to sort that home form out if they're going to stay in that sort of position.
14:02Whitehawk, after a slow start, have been pretty good.
14:04They've got a game in hand over most sides around them, but they sit nicely in 9th.
14:09Burgess Hill had that flying start.
14:121-2 drew 1.
14:14They've played 6 games, all of which have been away from home.
14:17And again, we'll talk about their homecoming later on in the podcast.
14:22So, 2 wins, 2 draws, 2 defeats for them.
14:24So, they're sitting there in 13th place.
14:26Again, it's not bad.
14:27You know, they're a promotion start.
14:28They're finding their feet at step 3 still.
14:30So, I think we sort of put extra pressure on them at the start of the season by saying
14:34they might be the top Sussex team to finish in that division this year.
14:38So, you know, they've got a bit of work to catch up with the others.
14:42But again, I don't think any side in there will be too carried away with their start.
14:47But none of them will be too despondent either.
14:49Yeah, absolutely.
14:50We're moving on to the Eastman South East.
14:52We have clubs battling at both ends of the table, albeit at this very early stage.
14:56How have our seven sides been getting on since we last spoke, Steve?
14:59Yeah, three bridges continue to be the trailblazers for Sussex in this division.
15:05Now, this division, you have to have a sort of caveat here.
15:09It's very uneven in terms of number of games played.
15:12You've got a few teams in there who have played all seven games that they're supposed to have played.
15:16And you've got some that have only played four.
15:19And you've got poor old jersey balls who have only played three league games
15:21because they've been involved in FA Cup and FA Trophy and that sort of thing.
15:25So, it's going to take a while to settle down in terms of teams having played an even number of games.
15:31It's always like this at that level at this time of the season because the Cup and the Vars take up more weekends than the league, it seems.
15:37But three bridges will be delighted with their start.
15:40As we've said, they've had – they were – just missed the playoffs last season.
15:43They were in the playoffs the season before that.
15:46The playoffs, I think, will be the minimum aim for them this year.
15:49They might even have an eye on the title.
15:51They're currently second place and they're only a point behind AFC Croydon.
15:55So, they're going well under Jamie Crelin.
15:57I think they're out of most of the Cup competitions now.
16:01So, the old cliche, they can concentrate on the league and they'll be looking to maintain that good start.
16:05The top half of that table contains three other Sussex sides.
16:11Eastbourne Town, other ones to watch here, only took one point from their first four, but they've won three in a row since, including a couple of Sussex derbies as well.
16:20They most recently beat Broadbridge Heath in midweek 2-1 at home and that would have been Broadbridge Heath's first defeat as well.
16:28So, Jude McDonald's got them going after a slow start down there.
16:33Had to play their first couple of games away from home because of work on the floodlights.
16:37But – so, they're nicely up into the top half now.
16:40Hassek's doing well as well.
16:42They're one of the sides that have missed a few games.
16:44They've only played four and they've won three of them.
16:46So, they'll be delighted with that, having come up from step five for the first time in their history.
16:50Broadbridge Heath just behind them with two wins from their first five.
16:54They're 11th.
16:54And then moving downwards from there, Crowborough, a little bit inconsistent so far, two wins, three defeats.
17:02Hastings United, another side who have only played four, two of them are draws.
17:06So, that's going to – you know, you draw too many, you're not going to be climbing the table too quickly.
17:11But, again, early days for Hastings and they've added two or three players to their squad this week.
17:17Some experienced people they've brought in, a striker called Bruno Tavares who scored on his debut for them.
17:24A way to Sittingbourne the other night.
17:27Lee Carey's got high hopes for him and a couple of other players they've brought in.
17:31One of whom is actually a Philippines international, Mark Swainston, who was at Lewis for a little while.
17:38So, again, he brings a bit of experience with him.
17:41So, Hastings will be looking to climb pretty quickly.
17:44The real worry in this division at the moment is East Grinstead.
17:47Played six, lost six so far.
17:48Been a tough start for them.
17:50They've had a couple of heavy defeats as well.
17:5118 goals conceded.
17:53Not sure what's going on there.
17:55They're not a club that sort of we're too close with.
17:58But, again, you know, six games played.
18:01So, plenty of time for them to move up from there.
18:03But the way they've started will, I'm sure, be causing a bit of concern.
18:09Yeah, fingers crossed they can turn that round.
18:11Staying in step four, Little Hampton Town and Bognor Edistown have experienced contrasting fortunes, to say the least, in the Eastman South Central.
18:19What's the latest from the Golds and the Rocks, Steve?
18:22I think you can sort of sum up the seasons or the start to the seasons that both of those have had by what happened on Tuesday night.
18:30Both were away from home.
18:32Little Hampton were away to South Park.
18:34Bognor were away to Moneyfields.
18:36Bognor went 2-0 up at Moneyfields.
18:38And you thought, well, this is, you know, that's a tough place to go and get a win.
18:43Looks like they might get the win here.
18:45Moneyfields pulled one back before half-time.
18:47And in the second half, Bognor were apparently really poor.
18:50Moneyfields got an equaliser and midway through the half got a winner.
18:55So Bognor have now lost five of their first seven, which is a real worry for them.
19:00You know, people thought they might take a little while to find their feet moving down to step four from step three.
19:06And in a division where they were playing clubs they haven't played for a long time or have never played,
19:10they've got a lot going on at the club.
19:12So they're not able to play their home games at home.
19:15They're playing home games at Chister City.
19:17And they've only played a couple of those so far.
19:20But I don't think many Bognor fans, if any, would have anticipated them being second from bottom at this stage after seven games.
19:28They won't want to stay there.
19:30And I don't think they will stay there.
19:31But they just seem to be taking longer to sort of turn the juggernaut around than most people thought they would.
19:41A lot of people thought they'd be competing with the title in that division.
19:45And maybe they still will.
19:46But it looks at the moment as though they're going to have to consolidate first, get themselves up to mid-table,
19:51and then see how much of the season is left for them to perhaps have a bit of a go and try to get into the playoffs.
19:58The other end of the spectrum is Littlehampton Town, who we find in seventh place, level on points with the last couple of playoff places.
20:07They went down to South Park or up to South Park in midweek, went 2-0 up, got pegged back, like Bognor at Moneyfields, got pegged back to 2-2.
20:15And then Dave Herbert popped up with the 93rd minute winner.
20:18There was a couple of red cards, I think, in the second half.
20:20It got a bit chaotic.
20:22But Littlehampton nabbed the win there.
20:24And that's three wins from their first six.
20:26So they'll be happy with that.
20:28That's the kind of area of the table they want to be in and think they can stay in.
20:35So of the two clubs we've got in that division, Littlehampton might be much the happier at the moment.
20:41Yeah, absolutely.
20:42And going back to the Rocks quickly, Steve, you cover them quite extensively.
20:45You mentioned the fact that they're playing away from the Nye camp.
20:49Have they also had a massive overturn of players as well?
20:54Yeah, they did.
20:54Or is it anything like that?
20:56And was there a simple case, because we both said in the past that we don't really know the ESPN South Central.
21:01Have they maybe underestimated the level of opposition that play in that division?
21:05Possibly.
21:05I mean, it's difficult when you go into a new league.
21:08You know, when you're moving sideways as well as down across the pyramid, it's difficult, isn't it?
21:14Because you don't, you've got no way of knowing what the standard is like.
21:17Yeah.
21:18You might have a good idea, having been in Isthmian Premier and having been in Sussex, you might have a good idea of what the ESPN South East is like.
21:25The clubs that have gone up and down over the years.
21:27But Isthmian South Central, you know, could be 20% better or could be 20% worse than Isthmian South East.
21:35And at the moment, from Bob's point of view, it looks as though it is a bit stronger maybe than the South East.
21:42Very difficult to tell.
21:43So, yes, the turnover of players was massive.
21:47They lost, they either moved on or lost most of last season's squad, which happens after relegation.
21:54They've kept probably four or five from the squad who are still there now.
21:58They have had quite a bit of disruption with injuries.
22:01They're still signing players now.
22:03They signed a couple a week before last, I think.
22:05So, yeah, those are all factors.
22:09And the fact that they haven't been able to play at home, you know, when you, I think when you're struggling for results, you probably need your home ground more than if you're doing okay.
22:19You know, you find you go to a temporary ground and take to it straight away.
22:23But I think when your backs are against the wall like that, you need familiarity.
22:27You need to know your own surroundings.
22:29They haven't got that.
22:30So they're going to have to get used to playing the home games at Chai.
22:32I think they'll settle down there.
22:34But, you know, it's a 3G picture, Chai, which is what they're going to be going back to at Nywood Lane.
22:39We think end of November, start of December, they'll be going back there around that time.
22:44But, you know, by the time they go back, they're not going to want to be still in the bottom four because that's harder to get out of by that time of the season than it is now.
22:54So they just need to find a run of games.
22:56They're in FA Trophy action tomorrow, which we'll come to later.
23:00But, yeah, worrying times at Bognor.
23:02And it's a bit of a puzzle, really, as to why they've gone from being a solid top half, step three club for many years to one that's now in step four and not even yet finding their feet in step four.
23:16Yeah, absolutely.
23:17Well, fingers crossed they can turn it around.
23:18It's a good club, Bognor.
23:20Good, proper non-league club.
23:22Proper club.
23:22Yeah, yes, absolutely.
23:24Things crossed they turn that round.
23:25And last but certainly by no means least, we will turn our attention to the SCFL Premier.
23:29Three sides have yet to taste defeat the season, while another three are yet to record a win.
23:34Who are the early runners and riders in the SCFL Premier, Steve?
23:37And who is struggling at the bottom at this very, very early stage?
23:41Yeah, only seven games played as a maximum by sides in that league so far.
23:47But Hayward's Heath have won all seven so far.
23:50So, they're three points clear at the top.
23:53We had Kev Green on, didn't we, a few weeks before the start of the season.
23:56And he wasn't making any bold predictions, but he was saying that he was confident of a good season.
24:01And it's certainly looking like that so far.
24:04Been scoring a lot of goals as well.
24:06Scored 19 goals.
24:07So, they're averaging almost three goals a game.
24:09And they've only conceded four.
24:12So, getting it right both ends of the pitch, doing well.
24:15Just behind them is, I mean, I think most people would have expected Hayward's Heath to be up there.
24:21Probably not quite so many would have expected Horsham YM to be up there.
24:24They were very much mid-table last season.
24:27And in the bottom half for a lot of it.
24:29But they are second at the moment.
24:31Six wins from seven.
24:33And those two play each other next Tuesday as well.
24:3623rd of September.
24:37So, that would be a good game.
24:39Two other unbeaten sides, as you say.
24:42New Haven going nicely.
24:44Five wins in the draw so far for them.
24:46So, they're in third.
24:47And must just mention with New Haven.
24:50Quite a milestone this week.
24:51I don't know if you saw this.
24:52Lee Robinson, their striker, scored his 500th New Haven.
24:58Which is incredible.
24:59If you were talking about somebody playing their 500th game for a club, you'd say that's great.
25:06That's such a long service.
25:07But he's scored 500 goals for them.
25:10Which, if you think about it, is the equivalent of scoring 25 goals a season for 20 seasons.
25:16Blimey.
25:16I mean, he's not been there that long.
25:18So, he's scored more than 25 a season.
25:20So, it's a terrific effort.
25:21We're going to be doing a piece on him in the Sussex Express and on Sussex World in the coming days.
25:27David Fuller's getting a piece together on him.
25:29So, hats off to him.
25:31How every club would like to have a loyal servant and a goalscorer like that.
25:36That's, you know, money can't buy that, can it?
25:40So, New Haven unbeaten.
25:41The other unbeaten side are Stenning.
25:44And we've talked about, in terms of their FA Cup exploits, we're going to be getting their manager on the podcast fairly soon to talk about everything that's happening down there.
25:53They've only played four games, but they've won three, drawn one.
25:56So, they're nicely placed as well in the table.
25:59At the other end of things, there's nobody's drift yet.
26:03There's everybody sort of picking up points here and there.
26:07Seaford and Lansing are the bottom two with only one point so far from their opening few games.
26:12Next few clubs up are Midhurst, Eastbourne United, Wick and Lingfield.
26:18A couple of those you wouldn't expect to be staying down there.
26:21Particularly, I think, Eastbourne United started badly.
26:25Had a good couple of wins on the trot and have seemed to have sort of levelled out again.
26:31I know they've been pitching a lot of young players into their first team.
26:34So, that may take time to tell in results.
26:38But I think they'll be moving up before too long.
26:41Looking ahead to this weekend, a whole host of Sussex sides will be involved in the FA Trophy and FA Vars.
26:48Four of our clubs will be competing in the second qualifying round of the trophy,
26:51while a plethora of teams, as I can say, will fly over the flag for Sussex in the second qualifying round of the Vars.
26:57We won't ask you to go through each individual tie, especially for the FA Vars, Steve.
27:01There's a lot there.
27:02But which Vars and trophy ties do catch your eye?
27:05Yeah, so looking at the FA Trophy, first of all, there's no Sussex derbies, no big games there as such.
27:15At the moment in the trophy, it's only step four clubs taking part.
27:19The step two and three clubs will come in, well, in step one, of course, in later rounds.
27:25So, tomorrow, Saturday, the 20th, we've got Broadbridge Heath against Bedfond,
27:30Cobra against Sittingbourne, East Grinstead against VCD and Westfield,
27:35who we're getting to know quite well because they seem to be drawing the Sussex club's left, right and centre.
27:39Westfield against Bognor is the other trophy game to look out for.
27:43Bognor might just see that as a chance to give themselves a lift and just get things moving in the right direction with a win,
27:49if they can come through that one.
27:51Like I say, the Arismian Premier Sides and National South Sides will come into the trophy in later rounds and before too long.
27:59FA Vars, we've got a whole host of games in the second qualifying round of the Vars tomorrow.
28:04I will mention a couple of them and then come to one, Sussex Derby.
28:07Eastbourne United against Halls Athletic is one.
28:10The thing with the Vars is because teams are getting drawn against other step five and six clubs from around the country,
28:17we're getting ties against teams we've never heard of or don't know much about.
28:22Halls Athletic being one of them, I'm sure, a very nice club, but don't know anything about them.
28:25They're off to Eastbourne United tomorrow.
28:28You've got Hamworthy Recreation against Midhurst and Esborn.
28:33Horsham YM, who we've talked about going well in the league, are at home to Snodland Town.
28:39Little Common are at home to Godaming.
28:41New Haven with Lee Robinson looking for the start of his next 500 goals are at home to Fabersham Strike.
28:47Strike Force, which sounds like some sort of military unit from Kent.
28:54You've got Punjab United against Wick is another exotic sounding one.
29:01Seaford are off to Rust Hall.
29:03Shoreham are away to Staplehurst Monarchs.
29:07They don't do it by halves, do they, some of these team names?
29:09The one Sussex Derby that we should mention, and I remember when we had Kev Green on,
29:13he was talking about the fact that most of Hayward's Heath's upcoming games were against Roffey.
29:19And that is certainly the case tomorrow.
29:20They are away to Roffey in the Vars.
29:23So a good tie that should be between two of the stronger teams from the SCFL Premier.
29:29So lots of chances still in the Vars.
29:31We hope that, well, we hope all of us are excited to go through.
29:33The Cup will go through because two are playing each other.
29:35But we hope plenty of them go through and be great if one of those could do a little Hampton Town and go on and get us to Wembley.
29:42Yeah, absolutely. Best of luck to all our sides, even if you're facing Monarchs, a military outfit,
29:47whatever team you're playing, we'll do your best of luck.
29:51Finally, as is traditional, we come to our game of the weekend,
29:54where we pick our highlight of the weekend involving a side from Sussex.
29:59Steve, what have you gone for?
30:01Yes, Burgess Hill Town against Folk's and Invicta for me.
30:06Burgess Hill have started the season, as we've said, with six straight away games.
30:10I think it's six league away games and two cup away games.
30:14So they've actually had eight away games to start the season.
30:16They've actually done pretty well considering, you know, they've won as many as they've lost there.
30:23They were a little bit unlucky to go out of the FA Cup last week at Farnham,
30:26where they lost their goalkeeper in the warm-up.
30:29But they are back to Leyland's Park tomorrow with a new pitch, new fan facilities,
30:34all sorts of new, sparkling new things.
30:37A hell of a lot of work has gone on down there since the end of last season,
30:41since the final game of last season.
30:42I think it's unrecognisable probably from the ground it was before.
30:46So there'll be a lot of excitement there tomorrow.
30:48There'll be a big crowd.
30:50Hilliants fans have been waiting for this day for a long time.
30:53And I've seen some photos.
30:55We've had some photos on Sussex World of how the pitch is looking.
30:57It does look in very good condition.
31:01And it's a big game as well because they're playing Folkestone,
31:03who, as we've said, are riding high in the Isthmian Premier.
31:06You would hope that the euphoria of the day will help carry Burgess Hill to victory in that one.
31:12We'll have a photographer there.
31:13So we'll be covering that on Sussex World and in the Mid-Sussex Times next week.
31:17Yeah, it should be a great occasion.
31:18And I've gone for, we've all sort of already alluded to it, Eastbourne Borough v. Salisbury in the National League South.
31:24Bottom v. Second from bottom, which, considering the amount of investment that have gone into both sides,
31:29I don't think either of us were particularly expecting.
31:31Another thing I don't think either of us were expecting would be both teams searching for your first league win of the season.
31:37Eight games in, it's madness.
31:39And probably a bit too dramatic to say it's a six-pointer, but the sports needs at least a win, I'd say.
31:47If it was bottom two any later in the season, you'd be saying that, wouldn't you?
31:51But at this stage, both of those sides will be thinking this could be the game to get us moving up the table.
31:59Yeah, you'd hope from Eastbourne Borough's point of view that they can take what they got from the cup win over Epsom,
32:06you know, four goals and a clean sheet, take that into this game tomorrow and come up with a similar result.
32:11Would they be happy with the draw, Borough?
32:13I think Salisbury would be happier as the away team.
32:18Wouldn't be a disaster, would it?
32:19But at some point, you've got to start getting wins.
32:22You know, if you're just drawing the odd game and out for the win.
32:25Yeah, absolutely.
32:26Best of luck to Borough and best of luck to all of our sides in action this weekend.
32:30Well, that's about all for this episode.
32:32Thank you very much for helping me out this week, Steve.
32:35It's very much appreciated, as ever.
32:37Don't forget to keep checking out sussexworld.co.uk forward slash bot for all the best coverage of local football,
32:41plus your local Sussex newspapers.
32:44And keep your eyes peeled for future episodes of the podcast,
32:46where you'll hope to have guests from Eastbourne Borough, Horsham Mayhem, Stenning Town, Three Bridges and many more.
32:52My thanks again to Steve.
32:53And yes, we will see you when we see you.
32:56See you soon.
32:57See you soon.
32:57See you soon.
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