Hares not quick enough to stop Pirates ... defences on holiday in Butlins clash

Hunston Hares 1 Nyetimber Pirates 9

Chichester & West Sussex League

Charity Cup first round

Nyetimber Pirates got their cup campaign off to a flying start.

Pirates, who won the competition last season, were forced to play a mix-and-match side with four key players unavailable including keeper Jamie Walter.

Michael Palmer took the No1 jersey and didn’t look out of place, controlling his backline superbly and pulling off some good saves.

Pirates started brightly when Ben Bishop danced past the Hunston right-back and slotted in within five minutes. They played some good football but couldn’t put away their chances – until Ado Thomas pounced on Bishop’s rebounded effort for his first of the season.

New signing Jack Stairs made it 3-0 with a terrific volley.

Pirates were forced to switch Brian Cox for Griffin but this gave them another outlet as Griffin controlled the rest of the match.

Stairs grabbed his second on 50 minutes with another nice finishand Bishop hit a 30-yard effort into the top corner.

Hunston did create a few chances but Urqhart and Hardwell looked solid at the back.

Goals from Griffin, Hardwell (2) and Dean Cooper wrapped the match up, but still left time for a Hunston consolation gafter a mix up at the back.

Pirates face fierce rivals Pagham Rangers at West Meads on Sunday.

PIRATES: Palmer, Tapner, Urqhart, Hardwell, Williamson, Thomas, Peach, J Stairs, Cox, Cooper, Bishop. Subs: Knight, Ludlow, Griffin, Welling.

Elmer FC 4 Butlins 4

Division two

A thrilling eight-goal encounter at King George’s saw the points shared.

An early strike from Dean Maynard and a hotly-disputed penalty slotted home by Marien Wydrych saw Butlins race to a two-goal lead.

Elmer, determined to protect their record of never having lost to Butlins, were driven on by skipper Alex Peach in midfield and they halved the deficit on 23 minutes when James Ford (pictured) put Matt Hope in to crash the ball past Luke Beard.

It was a shock when Butlins restored their two-goal advantage through Maynard, but Elmer again rose to the challenge and Ford rose above a static defence to powerfully head home a pinpoint Peach corner.

After an Elmer defensive re-shuffle it was a massive blow when, with a Butlins foul unseen by the referee, the visitors again went two goals up with a simple tap-in.

Elmer’s spirit and character was needed and they rose to the challenge.

On 62 minutes Ford got on the end of a good move involving Peach to make it 4-3. Elmer levelled with Peach scoring direct from a corner.

They sent on Shane Rapley for Nathan Sadler and the bold move nearly paid off when Rapleysaw an effort just clear the Butlins bar.

Elmer Reserves 2 Westbourne 1

Division three

Elmer reserves claimed victory in their first competitive fixture.

Player-boss Jack Davis opened the scoring with a trademark header from a set-piece following good work by Jamie Greenhill in the 24th minute.

Westbourne got back on level terms early in the second half with a scrappy goal. But Elmer clinched the match with a well-taken goal.

Joe Ansell pressurised the visitors’ defence into a mistake. Greenhill picked up the loose ball and rounded two defenders before delivering a fine pass for a tap-in by Dan Bailey.