Saxons Progress in Plate

South Saxons 3
Littlehampton 1

A young Saxons side got new captain Jamie Busbridge off to a winning start with a comprehensive 3-1 victory over lower league opposition Littlehampton in the Sussex 1st XIPlate. Saxons began the game at a high tempo, with powerful runs from midfield trio of Jon Meredith, Alex Coombs and Tudor Stainsby causing problems for the Littlehampton back line. Saxons continued to dominate possession with the majority of the team camped in the Littlehampton half, but it was the home side who took the lead against the run of play, scoring from their first real chance of the game. Despite the setback Saxons continued to create chances and eventually were rewarded for their persistence as sharp passing around the D allowed James Bunday to score into an empty net. Bunday added a second shortly after when Busbridge found him at the top of the D and a clever touch past the rushing goalkeeper enabled him to add a simple finish and give the visitors the lead.

The second half saw Saxons win a string of short corners as they sought to kill the game. Eventually, an alternative routine proved successful as man of the match Meredith picked out Busbridge at the far post who deflected it powerfully into the goal. Whilst the defence of Chris Meredith, Julian Buss and James Riley remained untroubled in the Saxons half, at the other end of the pitch Saxons struggled to convert chances into goals, including two misses from the penalty spot.

On another day, clinical play in the D could have seen Saxons add several more goals to their total, but there were encouraging signs from a number of new players and Busbridge will have been pleased to see his team progress to the next round of the Plate in a comfortable fashion. Saxons will hope to build on this result with another positive performance in a pre-season friendly away at Folkestone tomorrow (27th) before beginning their quest for promotion the following week.