Club history
The genesis of Keymer & Hassocks FC goes right back to Hassocks Cub Football packs Pursuers & Trackers who played their home games on the now long gone cub pitch at Clayton Green.Purely by accident Manager JR got roped into running the Pursuers Team for 2 years and then morphed into junior football where Hassocks had a Saturday and Sunday team, JR managing the former
Junior football came to an end at under 16s but a few of the players went on to adult football
in season 2000/1 by joining a new team Hassocks Village 2 in Division 9 of the Mid Sussex League where they finished runners up in their first year and were promoted to Division 8.That year Clayton Football Club had lost virtually all their players so a merger took place with Hassocks Village taking over their Premier League spot-what was left of Clayton played their last season in Div 5 whilst Hassocks Village 2nds stayed in Div 8
The following season 2002/3 Hassocks Village merged fully with Clayton FC to form Hassocks & Clayton Village the remnants of Clayton now disappearing and the Club running 2 teams with the old seconds jumping up to Div 6 .The Team struggled at that level as did the first team who were constantly short of players.This led to friction between the two sides with the seconds manager eventually declaring he was going to fold the team and become assistant manager for the fronts.JR stepped in to stop this and an uncomfortable accommodation was reached until matters came to a head on 22/2/2003 when the first team could not raise a team and moved to call off the seconds game.Both JR and the Fronts manager addressed the seconds as they met at the Hassocks Hotel as to what they wanted to happen and the possible consequences.The players were given the choice and the outcome was the fronts game had to be called off whilst the seconds played a 1-1 draw away to Ansty
In effect the Club was fractured from that point with the seconds set on breaking away at the end of the season which they did becoming Keymer & Hassocks FC whilst Hassocks and Clayton Village ceased to exist
The purpose of the new club was to provide a vehicle for players who like a good Friday night out not to be lost to football hence the club badge depicts a player enjoying a pre-match drink.In fact it is doubtful anyone who did not drink would have been signed on at that time
Our first training session was in the field behind Stafford House Hassocks but we switched to London Road Rec shortly after with indoor winter training booked at Plumpton Agricultural College
Milestones
Division 6
2003-4
Our first season started well but faded as some key players went away to Uni for most of the season ---we were also defeated cup finalists
6/9/2003 2-1 win --our first ever game away to East Grinstead IV-James Harris made his mark by scoring our inaugural goal and adding a second.The result did not reflect the balance of play as K & H were quite comfortable winners on the day with the luxury of Jo Davey Stuart Thompson and Gregor Ross as subs the latter hitting the post several times
13/9/2003 8-1 win home to Turners Hill Toby Raftery hits Club’s first hat trick
27/9/2003 4-3 our first loss away to Heath Pilgrims-a real roughhouse of a game—but almost got something from it via a James Harris hat trick
1/11/2003 2-0 win away to Heath Pilgrims 11 in Stratford Cup
Pilgrims had K & H on the back foot throughout the second half but became increasingly frustrated at their inability to score.Near the end Myles Eade had gathered the ball in his area when one of the Pilgrims forwards kicked him in the backside-mayhem ensued as the player was flung to the floor by Ben Watson who then stood menacingly over him while he adopted the foetal position.Chris Medhurst jumped on Ben’s back to restrain him until order was restored.The Ref a gentleman of senior years who had been watching in mild amusement duly sent off the Pilgrim player who seemed only too happy to leave the pitch
15/11/2003 cup win away to East Grinstead IV in our first penalty shoot out-keeper Myles Eade proved the decisive element with some cat like saves
22/11/2003 6-3 win away at Ashurst Wood-although we started well Ashurst Wood clearly had the upper hand by the end of the first half and seemed sure to win the contest.However Matt twinkletoes Whistlecraft and Captain Wayne Hamilton who weighed in with 4 goals saved the game after a storming second half
13/12/2003 2-0 win at home to East Court who went on to win promotion.They were a young very fit side who put K & H under a lot of pressure such that they had no choice but to sit deep and hit on the break which they did with Chris Ruffle and Matt Whistlecraft netting the winners the latter via a long distance lob over the keeper who had a habit of coming well off his line.Gary Shiels was superb in defence winning every challenge
7/4/2004 7-4 loss to Chailey in Stratford Cup Final our first final.Chailey were by far the best team in Div 6 that year.Our keeper was ineligible for the game so we sacrificed Gregor Ross to play there.The midfield was filled with half fit players who were struggling to shake of injuries and the game was approached with some trepidation. In the event Joe Davey put on a remarkable solo show running in 4 goals by half time and it could have been 6
By half time however everyone had run out of steam-the injured had to come off and Chailey gradually hauled us in for a well deserved win.Incredibly Joe Davey did not get MOM
12/4/2004 1-0 loss away to East Court. K & H were keen to try to do the double over EC,We arrived to find our changing room littered with EC’s programme which gave a version of our earlier meeting which we did not recognise! We had to use Jamie Thomas in goal when our regular keeper pulled out which did weaken the midfield.Nevertheless it was a close contest with few chances until Toby Raftery was tripped in the box.K & H were astounded that no penalty was given and the Ref was subjected to a torrent of abuse from manager JR-it appears he mistakenly thought Mike Ridley had sworn at him and he was comically but tragically sent off .East Court promptly went up the far end to exploit the gap in defence and the game was lost
Divsion 6 again
2004/5
Great season won league by 2 points plus Malins Cup and Supplementary Cup Competition
4/9/2004 2-0 win away to Ansty notable for Gregor Ross cruciate injury which was to put one of our best players out for 2 years
11/9/2004 8-1 win home to Hillview in Stratford Cup-featuring highest ever individual scorer Toby Raftery with 6
25/9/2004 6-6 draw at home to Wivelsfield Green-K & H felt well on top in this game but just could not finish off the Wivelsfield lads who kept battling and were rewarded as every single shot they had went in.K & H were relieved when the final whistle saved a point for them
9/10/2004 5-1 win at home to Lindfield 111- Russ Little’s sending off-one of the Lindfield players was getting cross at the scoreline and took Russ out with a fierce challenge from the side which flattened him-clearly hurt got he got up and pushed the player away.The Ref an elderly gentleman who was some distance away took a while to reach the spot and promptly sent him off for violent conduct.
The sending off was appealed as a six week ban went with it.Russ Billy Bacon and JR attended a hearing at Burgess Hill-although all agreed on what the defence was before the interviews started when JR (who went last) got into the room it appeared Russ and Billy had completely changed their accounts under questioning and the appeal was thrown out much to JR’s annoyance (The Chairman threatened to ask him to leave the room)-Russ bought the Ref a beer!.We later received a letter from the SCFA informing us that Russ’s appeal was successful and they returned our appeal payment.They then wrote again saying it was a mistake-- JR argued that as they had put his acquittal in writing it should be honoured-sadly they did not agree
16/10/2004 2-0 loss away to Wisdom Sports 111-a bad day out for K & H who were outplayed by Wisdom but some members of their support gave a lot of abuse to the K & H players particularly Ben Watson and Gary Shiels.After the game they went over to the people involved for a chat but they seemed to have run out of insults one locking himself in his car
20/11/2004 3-1 win at home to Wisdom Sports-notable for James Handford becoming first player to be subbed on and subbed off- other members now include:
Robin King v Buxted 14/1/2006
Matt Whistlecraft 18/3/2006 v Roffey
Joe Bacon v Crowborough 8/4/2006
Chris Lambe v Crowborough 22/4/2006
And Ben Watson v East Court 26/3/2011
29/1/2005 1-4 win away to Heath Pilgrims-always a physical encounter the game seemed
deadlocked until Ian Smith hit a speculative shot from just inside the half way line which the keeper seemed to lose sight of and it flew in.The game was most notable for being Robin King’s debut on which he scored and celebrated with a tumbling act which caused much amusement,It also saw the only appearance by mild mannered Joe King who was unlucky not to score as well
19/2/2005-3-1 win at home to Ansty remembered for Fin Fogarty’s penalty-wearing borrowed boots he managed to kick the ground and the ball which although propelled forward never actually made it to the goal
26/2/2005 4-1 win v Scaynes Hill Malins Cup semi-final-given we had a good chance of winning this but being a bit short of players in a squad that had Russ Little included (who could be a bit unreliable) Manager JR decided to drive to Cheltenham on the night before to bring Joe Davey back from Uni-a tricky journey as it snowed quire heavily on the way but we got him back safely and he duly starred in the win (Russell failed to show up)
19/3/2005 6-0 win away to Hillview-we had to change in an old portakabin with no showers and the pitch was a bumpy farmer’s field but this result clinched our first promotion from Division 6 featuring a fine James Emmens hat trick
29/3/2005 Malins Cup Final 5-1 win over Burgess Hill Albion-K & H returned to the Hanbury Stadium hoping to put to rest the bad memories of their last visit against Chailey.There had been no rain for some time but on the evening it poured which suited them perfectly.Opening exchanges were fairly even until one of our best players full back Ben Wood strode forward and drove home from just outside the box.James Emmens hit a second running half the length of the pitch to celebrate at the dug out.The game was played in front of a good crowd in the stand and the BH fans never gave up their vocal encouragement but it was K & H’s night as Stuart Thompson Toby Raftery and Neil Baker completed the scoreline
Divison 5
2005/6
Another League Title by 6 points margin
3/9/2005 3-2 loss away to Fairwarp Our first game featuring promising youngster Matt Handy who had impressed through the summer 5 a sides.He made an explosive start setting up James Harris with a pinpoint cross but almost immediately nearly blew up himself as he was overcome with exhaustion and the heat and had to be subbed off.He spent the rest of the game sitting under a tree.Fairwarp got back into the game when keeper Myles Eade who was somewhat nervous came out to collect a high ball and inexplicably ran right underneath it.Encouraged by this Fairwarp took control whilst Myles got more and more nervous which unsettled the back four who made matters worse by shouting at him.They took a 3-1 lead but there was one last twist as Fin Fogarty who was becoming somewhat cross went up for a corner and as it came in he caught hold of his marker-threw him to the floor and stepped over him to fire home.The Ref appeared not to see this and awarded the goal much to the outrage of the home team
22/10/2005 2-1 win away to Roffey11-our first ever visit to Roffey-we were greeted by the sight of a large muscled gentleman stripped to the waist.Nice club house and good pitch main problem was James Emmens –supposed to be starting but was travelling back from London with Nobby Handford.He was navigating and took him in completely the wrong direction
When they did arrive it was clear James was in a bad way from the night before but we put him on and he delivered a superb reverse cross which Ben Wood smashed home.James Harris added a second before Fintan Fogarty caused a few jitters when he let the muscled gentleman take the ball off him and blast home from close range
29/10/2005 4-2 win home to Danehill—no Ref for this game so Duncan O’Reilly stepped in-Danehill had by far the best of the first half but it was not a very pleasant affair.K & H turned it round in the second half but Danehill were not happy with one of his decisions over a goal.Duncan was unmoved.Ian Smith had a row with one of their lady supporters on the side and the game finally ended with much acrimony
12/11/2005 3-0 win away to Lingfield notable for Craig Jackson’s thunderous finish which almost tore the back of the net out.Worst miss ever Toby Raftery and James Harris combining when clean through not even the goalie to beat but somehow put ball wide
Lingfield had a big defender with rolled up sleeves who was being a bit rough --when Robin King came on he sneered about him being more like a rugby player-Robin proceeded to leave him for dead being far quicker and the verbals suddenly dried up
17/12/2005 8-0 win away to Ditchling-a good day out against a weakened side Robin King keeping up his remarkable scoring record as a sub coming on just before a corner which hit him on the back of the head and went in.The team tried everything to get Myles Eade in for a goal which was finally achieved to great applause.Celebrations continued that night at our Christmas bash at the Bull in Ditchling
21/1/2006 3-0 win away to Newick
Newick had a young player who was going in with some strong challenges-he caught Mike Ridley with a late one-clearly hurt Mike got up and chased him whilst swinging wild punches none of which landed but thereby earned the tag Fighting Mike Ridley
25/2/2006 3-2 loss home to Newick-Our first and hopefully only abandoned game
Manager JR took exception to a very high challenge on Toby Raftery-a big row ensued between him and the Newick player.The Ref who had a passing resemblance to Harry Potter stood apparently idly by like a rabbit caught in headlights until other players calmed matters down.He then promptly sent both off.This was just the start however as shortly after he awarded Newick a penalty despite being well behind the play-the K & H players were adamant no foul had occurred but having given the decision and with no way out some very unfortunate opinions about his ability were conveyed to him which resulted in Captain Ben Watson and Keeper Neil Smith being sent off.Newick scored but from the re-start James Harris had the ball kicked hard into him from very close range –Matt Thomas became incensed picked up the ball and threw it at the back of the Newick player and was promptly sent off.Spectators now started to encroach and the Ref having completely lost control left the pitch thereby abandoning the game.Fortunately everyone had calmed down by the time the dressing rooms were reached and it was assumed the game would be replayed but it appears the time it was abandoned was changed by someone on the Mitoo Website to maybe conveniently avoid this so Newick kept the points.This was a bad experience for K & H it cost a lot in terms of money and suspensions.We felt there might be some mitigating circumstances to be taken into account but the SCFA and League totally ignored our submissions.Looking back nobody came out of it with much credit it seems
18/3/2006 1-0 win at home to Roffey 11
A vital game at the time as Roffey could have pipped us to the title.On the morning of the game there were a number of late withdrawals and we had to draft in Sam Jackson Peter Perrin Matt Whistlecraft and James Handford none of whom had played recently but they put in a great performance.Toby Raftery won a penalty being tripped in the box and James Harris who was full of confidence picked up the ball and duly converted
22/4/2006 4-0 loss away to Crowborough- legendary appearance by sponsor Chris Lambe-on a boiling day and wearing a shirt that was much too tight he played his heart out for 30 minutes before joining the subbed on subbed off club-he almost touched the ball on one occasion
Div 4
2006/7
Third League Title - with no defeats
9/9/2006 Cup 5-2 home win v Ringmer-a very good side in division above us but the team played to perfection that day and Ringmer simply could not contain the K & H attack Joe Davey being outstanding with 4 goals
23/9/2006 8-2 win away to Danehill-Joe Davey scored a wonder goal taking the ball on his chest before swivelling and volleying in from 25 yards-a video recording was sent in to
Soccer AM and they featured it
4/11/2006 3-3 draw away to Lewes Bridgeview-Duncan O’Reilly decided to wear gloves for this game which made him a instant target both physically and verbally throughout-we looked to have lost this physical encounter as the second half ran down but salvaged the draw late on.James Emmens who sulked at being sub did come on but brought the sulk with him
3/4/2007 Stubbins Cup Final 2-0 win over Cuckfield Town 11-a physical encounter particularly their big front man who flattened Ben Watson Troy Raftery and Stuart Thompson
in the first 15 minutes without any sign of a yellow.However K & H took the battering in their stride with Joe Davey’s class proving the winning factor as Cuckfield eventually ran out of steam
9/4/2007 2-0 win away to Plumpton-Duncan O’Reilly had been pushing his case as a striker and was put up front late on.He was on hand as the ball was crossed into the six yard box but somehow managed to shin the ball so weakly the keeper who should have had no chance simply strolled across his goal to pick the ball up as it rolled at snail pace towards the line
1/5/2007 Somerville Cup 3-1 loss to Ansty-an even more physical game than the Cuckfield encounter-K & H felt they got little protection from the Ref.After K & H disputed a goal for offside to no avail and then when another decision went against them Ian Smith expressed his feelings somewhat forcibly to the Ref who took exception and sent him off.Ansty then promptly scored from the free kick and the game was lost.K & H and Ansty had always got on well as opponents up to this game but relations were left soured for evermore
5/7/2007 Div 4 play off final 3-1 win over Dormansland-K & H had to travel all the way up to East Grinstead on a Saturday evening as the League did them no favours-additionally they had little support unlike Dormansland.The game was probably edged by Dormansland in the early stages but when they did attack K & H came up against an outstanding goalie.James Emmens opened the scoring when he got on the end of a low cross.Dormansland managed to get behind the K & H defence shortly after their forward being clean through but Troy Raftery got back to stop him with a sliding tackle which he timed perfectly but took half the skin on his thigh off at same time on the rutted pitch.
The other goals were scored by Gregor Ross and sub Toby Raftery.Matt Handy also came on late and had his best ever performance down the left
Div 3 runners up
2007/8
1/9/2007 4-0 win away to East Court-our first game at this level EC started very confidently but K & H responded quickly and soon took control of the game which was notable for a Joe Davey solo effort when he went past 5 players to score causing Myle Eade to observe –it’s just like watching Brazil
13/10/2007 3-1 loss away to Roffey-both teams had won all their games up to this point with Roffey not even conceding a goal but Matt Thomas ended that spell early on and a keen contest looked on the cards as Roffey responded with one of their own but 2 setbacks really sealed the result.Firstly a Toby Raftery effort saved on the line by a defender who clearly used his hands but the Ref chose to ignore it and then keeper Craig Jackson had to go off injured.K & H simply lost heart and the contest effectively ended
17/11/2007 3-1 win at home to Scaynes Hill-SC were going well in the League up to this point but the game which started ok descended into a farce as their lino head butted James Emmens-the Ref should really have abandoned the game but it went through to the end with thankfully no more incidents
9/2/2008 2-0 win away at Peacehaven-the game was very rough at first and Captain Ben Watson threatened to take his players off if matters did not calm down-notable also for Ben’s miss when he put the ball over from a yard out with the keeper nowhere
23/2/2008 1-0 home loss to Roffey-eagerly awaited return with the League Leaders-K & H were well up for this and felt they were a match on the day and so it seemed as an even contest of real quality headed towards a draw until Gregor Ross was put through by Toby Raftery only to see his effort rebound off the post with the keeper beaten-Roffey immediately went down the other end and scored the winner
15/3/2008 2-1 win away to Maresfield-an important game given we were in line for promotion-we started ok but took a while to realise Dave Edwards was inebriated from the night before in fact plain drunk.We had a real battle throughout and the game looked certain to end 1-1-Captain Ben Watson who had gone off could not bear to watch anymore as the last few minutes approached. Nobby Handford was sent on to win it for us and duly obliged from an oblique angle with about 30 seconds to go
8/4/2008 3-1 win home to AFC Grinstead-K & H needed this win to gain promotion-on a perfect evening the sides served up a really good contest.Toby Raftery opened the scoring working his way into the box and holding off a strong challenge before firing home.The lead was short lived as K & H managed to mishit a ball out of defence straight to an AFC forward and presented with an open goal he made no mistake.K & H continued to have the edge however and further goals from Gregor Ross and Toby Raftery finally saw them home
12/4/2008 Stubbins Cup Final 1-1 against East Grinstead 111-lost on pens after extra time
The game was played on a dreadful pitch with more sand than grass.K & H had notched 2 comfortable victories in the League against EG and were reasonably confident of a result but the side they met that night appeared to bear little resemblance to their previous meetings.Jon Ruffle opened the scoring with a header after ten minutes but had to go off shortly after.From that point K & H were battered for the rest of the game although had a single chance to win near the end when a penalty was awarded.EG were furious and surrounded the Ref harranguing him for a long period.When things eventually died down Gregor Ross who had never missed a penalty kick stepped up and duly missed!!The game went to extra time and then pens.The substantial number of EG fans gathered behind the goal and gave all K & Hs penalty takers and keeper buckets of abuse leading to some mis-hit efforts which gave them the cup
Troy Raftery had one of his best ever games against a quality attack never putting a foot wrong-it would have been justice for him to get the MOM award but it went to EG-it seemed the League Dignitary who made the decision must have had his back to the game throughout
Div 2 2008/9
3rd finish in league
4/10/2008 1-0 loss away to Cuckfield-strange game we started very brightly and thought we had scored within the first 10 minutes but the lino controversially ruled it out for offside.Gregor Ross appeared to be targeted for some rough treatment which broke up K & H’s play and Cuckfield gradually got on top going one up.The second half was the same as Cuckfield put K & H under extreme pressure but suddenly in the last 20 they appeared to run out of steam and it was our turn to batter them.In all we hit the goal post/crossbar 5 times and Ben Watson dubbed the chef by the watching crowd almost scored with a long range effort but Cuckfield held on till the end
21/2/2009 4-3 win home to Ardingly a see saw game with us being on top then Ardingly-as the game drew towards the end they were one up but we pulled it back hoping for the draw.All was not over as Robin King skied a shot high into the air which the keeper totally misjudged and it went in for the winner.Such was the embarrassment no celebrations ensued
28/3/2009 1-1 draw at home to Cuckfield-the visitors were riding high and it seems expected to win this game and cement promotion.K & H were looking for a chance to reverse the result at their place.It was a tight affair with few chances-eventually both scored and the draw looked on until James Emmens broke clear and looked odds on to score only to drag his shot inches wide-disappointment for both sides in the end
20/4/2009 Ardingly 1 K & H 4 a remarkable game as Ardingly fairly hammered K & H throughout but were unable to capitalise as Robin King pulled of a string of amazing saves including a penalty.However in the last 20 K & H started to get possession and carved out 4 quick goals to leave Ardingly totally bemused by the result
28/4/2009 Junior Charity Cup Final 1-1 v Ifield Edwards IV lost on pens aet
K & H had the better of the first half but could not score-Ifield had one chance and did-similar pattern in the second half until Matt Thomas put them level.Farcical game at times as at one point all available footballs had been kicked out of the ground and a 5 minutes delay ensued as the officials appeared not to know what to do.Then Fin Fogarty was involved in a very nasty clash of heads and the Ifield lad came off worse eventually requiring an ambulance which held play up for further 30 minutes
The game should probably have been abandoned-by the time it got to pens the K & H lads had already had enough and just wanted to go home so the shoot out was a tame affair as they effectively conceded the game
Div 2 again
2009/10
– a new experience---relegation battle ---3rd from bottom-lack of regular player availability killed us
Strangely we notched 3 good home wins over the teams finishing 2nd ,3rd and 4th that year
12/9/2009 6-1 loss away to Turners Hill
K & H took the field with one of their weakest ever teams and despite a plan to defend early on conceded a freak goal within minutes and it was all downhill from there.The second half was an ordeal with a midfield including Ollie Elmes playing his first ever 11 a side game,Myles Eade & Nelson Day who also hardly played-- it was too big a task.There was a Turners Hill attack about every 3 minutes-keeper Craig Jackson had to be subbed with exhaustion and Troy Raftery went in for the last 20 amazingly keeping a clean sheet despite the continued assault.Our performance was so bad we even got sympathy from some of the Turners Hill crowd
17/10/2009 3-2 win home to Cuckfield Rangers
The visitors were on a good roll and started the game with real confidence their goalie at times almost wandering up to the half way line as if to display a total lack of concern over any attack K & H might mount.In the event we put up a superb defensive display with Troy Raftery outstanding and managed to score 3 quality goals to secure the win
12/12/2009 4-2 win at home to Turners Hill
Highlight of a very poor season ironically came against the team who has earlier put 6 past us and were in the running for promotion.We simply played some great football with Joe Davey and Stuart Thompson in fine form rattling in the goals-even the T H lads were complimentary after the game
13/2/2010 Junior Charity Cup 8-1 win home to the Hassocks Hornets
Long awaited clash of the 2 Hassocks Hotel pub teams the Hornets being subjected to a mocking poster campaign prior to the event.As it was Alex Pearce put them one up early on but the task was too much and they were blown away with a second half hat-trick by Robin King.Opposing Captain Billy Bacon refused to shake his hand after the game!!
10/4/2010 10-1 loss at home to Dormansland-our worst ever defeat.Given the bad season they were having K & H were not looking forward to playing the League Leaders and their fear was justified as the difference in class became all too evident.The goals started to flow early on and we pretty much gave up well before the end
15/4/2010 3-2 win away to Hurstpierpoint—We had to win this game to keep out of the bottom two.We started well Ian Parsons scoring with a remarkable long range effort but then missed a penalty.We should have had the game won by half time but Hurst got back in it and as full time approached our 3-2 margin appeared too thin.Craig Jackson was the saviour as he made a superb save late on to secure the result
Div 2
2010/11
4th league title-forced to play away from our home pitch whilst new sports pavilion was being built at Adastra park-London Road Rec proved not to suit our style of play unfortunately
11/9/2010-first game played on an artificial pitch v Ashurst Wood at East Grinstead-game was in doubt all week owing to dispute over what footwear was permitted but finally went ahead without any corner flags!!.Clear advantage for home team it was felt although they deserved the win but K & H did play well
18/9/2010 3-3 draw at home to Newick-K & H found this result hard to take as they had by far the better of the game but the Ref helped Newick out by giving them 2 penalties in quick succession but thankfully Toby Raftery salvaged a point near the end
27/11/2010 6-1 win away to Peacehaven
Both clubs were going well in the League but both had some key players missing for this game.Rob Kift and Alex Pearce stepped up from the reserves and both had fine games with Kift proving too much of a handful for the Peacehaven defence as he helped himself to a hat-
trick in the first half
11/12/2010 1-1 draw at home to Ashurst Wood-one of their players commented he could not believe we were top of the League as the game was about to start.We were keen to show why but as usual we struggled to get the upper hand against them and the game seemed destined to be goaless until a defensive mix up saw Ashurst take the lead.Blushes were spared when Ian Parsons hit a curling free kick into the box and Toby Raftery headed firmly home
22/1/2011 2-1 win away to West Hoathly
The pitch was like a soggy pudding and we could not get out of our half-WH took the lead-we thought we might hold on to half time and see if the slope helped but then Ben Watson took a dislike to one of their forwards and got sent off.All looked lost but as soon as the second half started we realised we only needed 3 defenders to contain WH so went on the attack.However scoring was proving too big an ask and our nerves were starting to go when Stuart Thompson seized on a rebound to level.A draw was no good however and time had just about run out when Duncan O’Reilly set himself to take a free kick just in their half.Everyone expected a floated ball into the box but instead he cunningly went for goal and beat the keeper at the far post staking his claim for K & H’s greatest ever goal
12/2/2011 3-2 win away at East Grinstead 111-we started brightly but on a very wet pitch were forced back for most of the first half-second half was better in terms of possession but we lost Gregor Ross to a nasty tackle which injured the same knee that previously kept him out for 2 years and lost him for the rest of the season.We finally managed to claw our way in front late on against a very useful side
19/3/2011 2-0 win away to Hurstpierpoint
We felt quite comfortable from the start and Ian Parsons gave us the lead with a fierce drive in the area.However disaster struck when Duncan O’Reilly was sent off for uttering an expletive concerning the Ref-he said is was not directed at him but seems this made no difference.This did incense our lads however and motivated them to a remarkable degree as they matched Hurst in every aspect of the game before Toby Raftery put matters beyond doubt with a tap-in near the end
26/3/2011 2-0 win home to East Court-strange game EC went down to 10 men through injury early on and although we created many chances we simply could not score until Fintan Fogarty shaped to hit a drive from about 25 yards-everyone looked skyward expecting him to clear the trees but instead it rocketed in off the crossbar-his infant son Fintan Junior watching from the side was seen to punch the air
13/4/2011 2-0 win at home to Peacehaven
An exciting conclusion to the season with both teams in the running for the title.
Peacehaven arrived with a full squad while K & H had to call in 2 second teamers Rob Kift and Alex Pearce (who proved MOM).Peacehaven dominated possession but our defence was never seriously troubled defending the slope.After the turnaround we advanced more into their territory although they still had more possession.Dan Goodrum broke the deadlock with a close range header after which we tried to see the game out.However there were still a couple of twists in that Rob Kift was sent off for a second yellow.Peacehaven thought they had equalised with about 10 to go but Robin King flagged for offside,The Ref seemed a bit reluctant to consult him but as he had previously sent Rob Kift off after consulting their lino really could not avoid it.He asked Robin why he was flagged-answer offside and interfering with play-he asked again same answer-then slowly and maybe a bit reluctantly he blew for offside.Obviously the Peacehaven people were not happy but then neither were we with Kift’s sending off.In any event the game was soon put beyond doubt when Toby Raftery seized on a poor back pass and thankfully slid the ball home
