Peacehaven v Hassocks

He has been a great servant to the Club, over many years, and we thank him for his input.

So, not for the first time in his career, Wednesday evening saw Vice-Chairman Shaun Saunders take charge of the side as Caretaker. Matt Hill and Rob O'Toole both returned to the side, whilst Tom Levitt and Ryan Bradley where both unavailable.

All the recent upheaval and uncertainty off the pitch was, sadly, bound to have an effect on the moral of the squad, but for the opening 20 minutes of this game there was no sign of this. In Peacehaven's first attack, Scott Marshall picked out Carl Dunk and his low shot scraped past the foot of the post.

Soon after, Owen Callaghan's free kick was headed against the bar, and then Craig Bunch went agonisingly close with a low drive.

Up to then, The Tye had the edge, but on 30 minutes Hassocks took the lead when Maynard's free kick was glanced in by Phillip Gault. Things got worse 5 minutes before the break when Westlake's shot hit the foot of the post and rebounded into the path of Nathan Miles who made no mistake from short range.

Hassocks where happy to sit deep in the second half, and defend their lead whilst Peacehaven, despite a lot of possession, where unable to make any inroads through a stubborn defence. Then, with 5 minutes remaining, a counter-attack saw Jamie Westlake fire past Jake Buss to extinguish any hope of a late home rally.

Piddinghoe Avenue had become a fortress in recent times, but this result makes it 3 home defeats in a row, something which would have been unimaginable over the last 12 months. However, speaking on Thursday, Shaun Saunders was upbeat about the weeks ahead.

"This is a great Club, with great people involved and with a great future ahead of it. The last few weeks haven't been good, but it's time to regroup and for us all to show the spirit and character which has been unique to this Club over the last few years"