Time for the excuses to stop

Bedevilled by injury and unavailability, the New Roaders prop up the Sussex One table having lost all of their first four matches.

But Pierce reckons it’s time to start winning going into the home game against a third-bottom St Francis side which has lost three of its four fixtures to date.

Pierce said: “It’s a critical game on Saturday. If we’ve got any ambition this season, we’ve got to beat them. They’re new to the league, they’ve got quite a journey and we’ve got to pull out all the stops. There comes a time when excuses are not enough, we’ve got to knock them over.”

Rye are hopeful that the likes of Pete Brown, who cut his hand on a hedge trimmer, Luke Cross, who sustained a facial injury playing cricket, Gary Edmunds (twisted knee) and John Barker (groin strain) will be fit.

On top of that, Dave Blackman should be back having returned from holiday, while Andy Bryant and Tom Foster will hopefully be available once again.

Rye’s second team, which goes by the name of the Goons, will return to action after being fixtureless last weekend with a home tie against Crowborough thirds in Division Three (East). Both matches will kick-off at 3pm.