Lavant lose but give Ferring a fright ... Pirates sail through

Ferring 1 Lavant 0 (aet)

Sussex Intermediate Cup R3

LAVANT gave a good account of themselves but slipped out of the cup away to county division-three side Ferring.

Despite weather which claimed much of the local football programme, The Glebelands pitch held up well after the overnight rain and the match was able to go ahead.

Both sides started cautiously, each looking to get the ball down a pass it on the slick surface.

There was a 20-minute spell where Ferring pinned Lavant back in their half, but Lavant frustrated the Ferring attacks, nullifying them by not allowing space between their lines and forcing the direction of play.

This soon led to a more direct approach from Ferring, who sent long angled balls into the Lavant area, but the impressive Purgavie and Wright held firm.

This allowed Lavant to play on the counter-attack with Dave Knight the orchestrator behind the forays forward - but the half went by with both keepers relatively untested.

Lavant were the brighter of the two sides early in the second half with a lot of the play going through their midfield trio. But lone striker Caveney was being marshalled superbly by the Ferring back-line.

As the half wore on, the pitch started to deteriorate and this seemed to suit Ferring, with numerous good chances falling to their front men.

At 0-0 on 90 minutes, it went to extra-time and the first 15 minutes passed without any real incident - with perhaps Ferring having slightly the better of it as Lavant continued with their passing game and Caveney still isolated.

Six minutes into the second period of extra-time, the deadlock was finally broken. Ferring found space down their left and Tom Barnes drove infield and finished well to the keeper’s left, with the covering Purgavie unable to make the block, leaving the centre-half unable to continue.

Lavant had to see out the last nine minutes with ten men to try for the equaliser. They threw everything forward for a dramatic end to a fantastic cup tie but Ferring held firm to progress into the next round.

LAVANT: Sanson, Grace, Purgavie, Wright, Lyttle, Knight, Maclean, Brooks, Neville, Holmes, Caveney. Subs: Humphreys, Price, Cieszynski.

Nyetimber Pirates 7 Wisborough Green 2

Chichester Charity Cup

Nyetimber Pirates cruised into the quarter-finals with a victory over Wisborough Green.

The Pirates went into the game full of confidence and opened their account through James Fallick, who was making his first start for the club since April.

It was two after 15 minutes when a mix-up in the away defence saw the ball turned in by a defender.

It looked like it was going to be another routine win for the Looters, but the visitors had other ideas and pulled one back on 35 minutes when a cross was turned in from just outside the box.

The away side grew in confidence, but the defensive pairing of Bann and Dobbs soaked up the pressure. Wisborough Green’s persistence did pay off, though, when a perfectly-delivered cross was met by an unmarked man at the far post who made it 2-2.

The Pirates came out a different side in the second half and hit their opponents twice in quick succession - first through Fallick, and then through captain Phil Turner from the penalty spot.

Andy Cox made it 5-2 after 60 minutes, scoring in his ninth consecutive game. Both sides looked as if they were finished for the day until Danny Towers grabbed the goal of the game with an impressive volley and Paul Frangou made it 7-2 with minutes to spare with a delightful finish.

Pirates will face Boxgrove or Forest, who meet on December 14.

NYETIMBER: Pye, Peach, Dobbs, Bann, Williamson, Wyatt, Cox, Towers, Turner, Fallick, M Frangou. Subs: Gill, P Frangou, Pasterfield.