Ken's sorry as the Stringers go under

McCreadie said: 'I take the praise when we are doing well so I have to grin and bear it when it's not so good.

'October was not a good month for us. We have injuries to senior players and it's difficult for the reserves to come in and take over.

'I had two injuries in the first 15 minutes on Saturday and they took a toll. I didn't see the first goal '“ I am told it was soft '“ and the second was a defensive error.

'What is annoying is that we had three or four good chances and missed the lot.'

The Stringers were behind soon after the opening whistle when Grant Spencer slipped while dealing with a long ball and Phil Churchill had a free run on goal. The East Preston man advanced and slipped it through Ross Tanner's legs.

Things got worse when Ashley Jarvis and Scott French hobbled out of the action and the enforced changes upset Hailsham's rhythm.

East Preston almost went two up before the break when Churchill rose to head Chris Yelling's cross against the crossbar.

Peter Cooper went close twice going into the second half, his second effort cannoning back off a post, but Hailsham conceded a second on 75 minutes when Rory Newby underhit a backpass and Churchill picked his spot.

Three minutes later Hailsham were awarded a penalty and Nick Barden slotted home, but they could not find the equaliser.

Hailsham: Tanner, Satchwell, Early, Spencer (Newby), P Richardson, Done, S French (Skan), M Richardson, Jarvis (Barnard), Cooper, Barden.

Sussex Senior Cup

2nd Round

Crawley Down 1 Wealden 3

WEALDEN won through to the next round, but manager Mark Simpson was far from pleased with the performance.

He said: 'It was a dreadful game to watch and we couldn't string together three passes. We were fortunate that Crawley missed a penalty and hit a post.'

There were two changes in the starting 11, with Ben Mitchell dropped to the bench for fit-again Tobi Hutchinson and regular goalkeeper Gareth Clarke replacing Joe Brownell.

On a heavy pitch Wealden's first attack saw a Sean Brownell header from a corner strike the crossbar.

On 25 minutes Wealden won another corner, a deep ball was headed back across by Andy Johnson and Sean Brownell nodded Wealden ahead. Craig Ottley then put in a rash tackle on a Crawley attacker and they were awarded a penalty which was fired over the crossbar.

Into the second half Wealden went two ahead when Steve Davis set up Wes Tate, but Crawley then had their best spell and a striker headed against the Wealden post with the goal at his mercy.

The game was finally settled in the 85th minute when a shot from Darren Gearing was heading wide but hit a Crawley player and deflected into the goal.

Crawley Down pulled one back late on when a defensive mix up saw Crawley Down's Woolley in free space to flick home a header.

Wealden: Clarke, Head, Thomsett, S Brownell, Ottley, Davis, Gearing, A Johnson, C Johnson (Oliver), Hutchinson (Mitchell), Tate (Ward).

County League Two

Saltdean 0 Storrington 2

TIGERS'S manager Mark Smeaton took some encouragement from a better performance on Saturday but is desperate for a goal to break the ice.

Smeaton said: 'We can't buy a goal at the moment. Storrington are near the top of the table but we had a lot of the game.

'They had a big striker up front who got their goals. It was unfortunate that my son Carl, who is a fireman, had to drop out at short notice. Our goalkeeping situation is dire at the moment. I made a lot of changes on Saturday and have one or two things up my sleeve for the visit of Broadbridge Heath this weekend.

'Craig Bunch will be back after a holiday and Carl Southwell and Richard Ogoe should be available after injury. Dave Martin is still suspended.'

Saltdean: White, King, Newman, J Smeaton, Clarke (Bradbury), Washington (Smith), Costello, Bentley, Saxby, Loader, Pietzak.

County League Three

Bosham 0 Peacehaven 4

MARK Price netted twice in this comfortable victory on Saturday but Peacehaven manager Darren Guirey said his striker 'had a nightmare'.

Guirey went on: 'He missed a penalty, it was a shocker as he sidefooted straight to the goalkeeper who didn't have to move. And he wasted three one-on-ones with the keeper.

'I was disappointed with our finishing, we should have had eight or nine.'

Peacehaven took 55 minutes to break the deadlock and then scored four times in 16 minutes.

Jason Stepney opened the scoring as he tapped in after Price squared the ball to him after a good move, then Jones got the second with a header from a corner.

Price then came into his own as he headed home a cross for the third and then cracked home a screamer for the fourth.

Jamie Wright, Tom Rider and Robbie Brown are all available for tomorrow's Intermediate Cup tie at Southwater.

Peacehaven: Parsons, Murray, Jones, Brown, King (Witney), Turner, Page, Martin (Blackwell), Bailey, Price (Richardson), Stepney.

Vernon Wentworth Cup 1st Round

Newhaven 3 Horsham YMCA Res 1

ROSS Newman scored a hat-trick, all with his left foot, as Newhaven moved smoothly into the next round on Friday evening.

Manager Jason Tighe said: 'We were the better side and played some good football. We were never really under any pressure and their goal came from a lapse of concentration on our part. They were a useful side but never really hurt us.'

Newman's hat-trick goal came after good work by Simon Halsey and Nathan McGill. Halsey beat a defender, squared the ball to Newman and he tapped it in.

Tighe has no problems for tomorrow's Intermediate Cup tie at home to Wick reserves.

Newhaven: Hildersley, Edwards. Leiper, Tighe, Bartholomew, McGill, Breach, Holmes, Georgiou, Newman, Halsey.

County League Two

Seaford 1 Westfield 3

ADAM Kneller missed a 30th minute penalty for Seaford on Saturday and glaring defensive errors meant it was all uphill from there.

Seaford, who recalled Mark Doherty for the suspended Scott Allison, had dominated the early play and went ahead on 14 minutes when Nigel Mayo's corner was headed home by Doherty at the far post.

Mayo was just over with a free-kick a minute later, and then Town were awarded a penalty after deliberate handball by Westfield's Carl Morris for which he received a yellow card.

Kneller's kick was well saved by Westfield goalkeeper Gavin Bourne and two minutes later the visitors were level after a defensive error let in James Carmen.

A minute before the break another defensive lapse saw Jamie Podmore loop a header from the edge of the penalty area over Seaford goalkeeper Kieran Maher.

It was 3-1 on 51 minutes when Maher dropped a routine catch at the feet of Duncan Jones and he netted easily.

Town might have got a goal late on when Darren Moore had only the goalkeeper to beat but he was off target with his shot.

Seaford: Maher, Moore, Mayo, Hammond, Doherty, Wingate, A Kneller, Dartnall, Job (Hamblin), Callaghan, C Stanyard.