Ten-man Rye earn cup replay

A 0-0 draw in West Sussex on Saturday means the Sussex County Football League Division One teams will head back to Mill Road tomorrow (Tuesday) for a replay with Rye’s ground still in the hands of the town’s cricket club.

There were precious few goalscoring opportunities at either end in the first meeting. Although Rye had Gregg Berry sent-off - harshly in their view - during the second half, Olly Lockyer forced a good save out of the Arundel goalkeeper near the end.

Elsewhere, Little Common struck twice in stoppage time to pull off an unlikely 2-1 win at home to Rustington in Sussex Division Two. Charlie Bachellier and Adam Smith were the heroes for a Common side which went behind before the break.

Westfield have one point from their opening two matches in the same division after losing 1-0 away to Broadbridge Heath. Ollie Moore scored the only goal in the 25th minute.

Bexhill United lost 4-2 on penalties away to fellow Division Two side Storrington in a dramatic John O’Hara League Challenge Cup first round clash. The sides had been locked together at 2-2 after 90 minutes and 3-3 at the end of extra-time.

The Pirates fell behind to a Marcus Robertshaw goal in the first 90 seconds, but Jamie Salvidge levelled on the half-hour and Simon Catt put them ahead in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Storrington restored parity through Guy Strudwick in the 85th minute to take the match into an additional half-hour. Danny Leach put Bexhill in front again in the first period of extra-time only for Gary Elliott to force a shoot-out which was won by the home side.

See Friday’s Observers for full reports on each game.