AFC Uckfield Town head to Oval aiming for response in league against Little Common – match preview

Last weekend, the Uckers fell to a frustrating 1-0 defeat at a persistent Newhaven side who moved into 2nd place in the SCFL Premier Division with victory, and with that result continuing a run of poor goalscoring form from Anthony Storey’s side, hopes will obviously be change that tonight.

Despite only being the fifth occasion on which Uckfield have failed to register a goal this season, that defeat meant that since the end of a ten-match unbeaten run in late November, the Uckers attack have only bagged nine in their last eleven games, as enforced rotation has seen created difficulties during that time.

Tonight’s hosts, by comparison, are experiencing an even more miserly spell at present – both in terms of goals, and any action at all.

Whilst the Uckers have had their own issues with postponements both home and away recently, the Oval-based Common – originating from Bexhill – have been able to play just ten matches in all competitions since the start of November, compared to the Uckers’ 18.

Last weekend, in their first match for three weeks, Common drew 2-2 in a fixture that always provides a quirk of the SCFL calendar; hosting landlords Eastbourne United AFC, and in the match, Common were only prevented from taking all three points by Paul Rogers’ 89th-minute equaliser.

For Russell Eldridge’s side, that result handed them their fourth draw in the space of a drawn-out last seven fixtures, and has laid down a marker upon which they will want to improve in the coming weeks to return to the top half of the table; currently sitting 13th, with 27 points from 22 games.

In only the third league meeting between the Uckers and Common since the 2014-15 season, then, form may not be a key indicator of either side’s true abilities, and with everything to play for in the weeks ahead in terms of league position, it is sure to be a hard-fought battle for all three points.

Match Information

The SCFL Premier Division meeting between Little Common FC and AFC Uckfield Town kicks off at 7:45 p.m. tonight at The Oval (Eastbourne, BN22 7LN), with directions to the ground available here; http://www.scfl.org.uk/grounddetail.php?gnd_id=16.

Admission is £6 for Adults, £3 for Concessions and free for Under-16s.

Updates will be available throughout the match from the @AfcUckfieldTown Twitter page, while a full report from the match will also be available here in the hours after the match.