Pagham v Wick friendly ends rather sooner than expected

A friendly betwen Pagham and Wick came to an abrupt halt when Wick had to pull out at half-time.
By Paul Davidson
Published 16th Sep 2019, 09:53 BST
Updated 16th Sep 2019, 10:53 BST
Action from the first (and only) half of the Pagham-Wick game / Picture by Roger SmithAction from the first (and only) half of the Pagham-Wick game / Picture by Roger Smith
Action from the first (and only) half of the Pagham-Wick game / Picture by Roger Smith

Turning up with just 11 players to start with after some withdrawals that morning, they lost two of those with injuries in the first half and - with one eye on a cup tie this midweek - they informed Pagham they couldn't complete the game

It was a shame as Wick had competed very well to start with, taking the lead with a header from a corner as early as the second minute. The corner had come about following an excellent save by Lions keeper Lewis Boughton.

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Charlie Selby twice headed over the bar from set-plays, before a lovely move by Tom Chalaye set debutant Jered Rance free inside the box, and he made no mistake from 12 yards to pull the Lions level.

Five minutes later, Rance hit a scorcher of a shot that somehow bounced back off the inside of a post and back into play. He would not be delayed for long though, and notched a second in the 40th minute, once again set up by Chalaye.

The first half, and ultimately the match, finished with a goal from Scott Rafferty who rifled his shot from 20 yards wide of the helpless Wickers goalie.

Wick boss Terry Dodd said: "We explained to Pagham we’ve had three or four players drop out on that morning and had 11 players. Two players got injured in the first half and we’ve got a big cup game Tuesday. So rather than go out second half with nine men and maybe get more injuries we had to call it off."

The Pagham players played out a further 45 minutes with an inter-squad game.