Cracker Beats Big Freeze - Steyning vs. Midhurst and Easebourne

Attractive backdrop at The Shooting Field

This week has been dominated by 'The Beast From The East' and 'Storm Emma' and this very nearly wiped out the non league programme. Even games on the plastic pitches at K Sports and Redditch were postponed due to areas around the ground being unsafe but fortunately a couple of games towards the coast survived. Having seen the forecast I already had an eye on Steyning's home game with Midhurst and Easebourne and I left home with this and MK Dons as a back up. Fortunately, Steyning announced early that their game was going ahead which prevented a second Football League game in four weeks. Both teams were having unremarkable seasons sitting in mid table and looking at the goals scored / conceded by both sides it looked like it could be a high scoring game. If you haven't visited Midhurst and Easebourne's fantastic Rotherfield ground then I strongly recommend you do. Steyning won the reverse fixture 3-1 and were looking to complete the double.

Kick off at The Shooting Field

Steyning get the first goal of the afternoon as the forward is found with a pull back from the byline before finishing from close range. Midhurst have a chance for an equaliser not long afterwards but the Steyning defender blocks the effort on goal. It's a frantic start and after a couple of crosses fail to find their target, the ball drops to the attacker on the edge of the box who places a fantastic shot into the opposite top corner. Midhurst get back into the game from the penalty spot after a foul in the box. Steyning restore their two goal lead with a bullet shot that thunders off the bar and over the line - according to the linesman at least!. Towards the end of the half, Midhurst have a decent spell and they get their second goal just before half time. A free kick is headed back across where the Midhurst player finishes from close range to make it 3-2 at half time.

One nil Steyning

As the rain begins to fall at the start of the second half, the goals continue to rain in. The Steyning winger gets away down the right and his low cross is forced in from a yard or so out. Midhurst then believe they should have a penalty as the forward appears to be pushed over when in on goal but the referee is not interested. Steyning then look to have got the killer fifth goal as a cross from deep is headed home. Midhurst however are not giving up and they get back to within two goals when a loose ball in the box is lashed in. They get the fourth when Steyning fail to fully clear a corner and another close range finish makes it 5-4. With pretty much the last kick of the game, a low Midhurst shot from the edge of the box hits the post and Steyning hold on.

Sheltering from the rain in the second period

The first part of the journey from London to Steyning is a train from Victoria to Shoreham which takes around an hour and a quarter. Then from The High Street you can catch the hourly number two buses into Steyning which takes twenty minutes. Steyning is an interesting place and the museum and church are worth looking at. On the same road as the museum is The Norfolk Arms which doesn't look it has changed much in recent times and is all the better for it and it had three ales on. Then on The High Street there is The Chequer Inn which has the sports channels as well as a decent selection of ales. The ground is then a five minute from the main village. The clubhouse had the usual selection of drinks plus the very welcome bonus of a couple of bottled beers from The Dark Star Brewery that went down very well. The club is currently building a new kitchen for food but the burger from the makeshift barbecue did the job. Even if you don't need a 3G game on a rainy afternoon I fully recommend making the effort to visit Steyning.

Midhurst fullback clears the ball in front of the clubhouse