Pagham vs. Saltdean United

Clubhouse and cover at Pagham

As much as I liked Haverhill and Slough - especially for bailing me out in terrible weather - it was nice to get back to a more varied ground this weekend. I had seen Pagham for their first game of this season, which was a four nil away win at Arundel in the FA Cup and had wanted to visit ever since. They were also one of the three teams I had left to visit in The Southern Combination Premier Division with Broadbridge Heath and Loxwood the other two. Pagham were one of four teams in with a shout of the title and started the day in second, one point behind Haywards Heath. I fully recommend a visit to Saltdean on a warm day to enjoy the elevated views from the grass bank on one side of the pitch and the general surrounding of their Hill Park ground. I visited for a feisty match with Rustington a couple of seasons ago. Today's visitors were in fifth having played more games then all of the teams above them.

Kick off at Nyetimber Lane

Both sides have half chances at the start of the game, Saltdean have a free kick that is deflected out for a corner and Pagham have a half volley following a long ball but neither fail to seriously trouble the keeper. Saltdean have another free kick on the edge of the box which this time goes straight into the arms of the keeper. Towards the end of the half Pagham take the lead. A Pagham ball in isn't fully cleared and when it is put back in the box and is forced home from close range.

Pagham defending in the second half

Pagham are lifted by their goal in the first half and look to increase their advantage and the Saltdean keeper has to make a good save at his near post after the attacker gets behind the defence. Pagham get the second when the initial effort hits the post and the Pagham player reacts quickest to lash the ball in. They get the third goal as Saltdean give the ball away on the half way which allows the midfielder to loft the ball which is subsequently lashed past the keeper to make it three nil. Saltdean are still fighting and the Pagham defence has to block two shots in quick secession. Then from the resulting corner Saltdean have another close range effort cleared off the line. Saltdean get behind the Pagham defence and again they see the eventual shot cleared off the line again!. It's not their afternoon and it finishes three nil to Pagham.

Pagham look to attack in the second half

It takes a fair amount of time to get to Pagham. You first need to get a train to Bognor Regis from Victoria which takes an hour and a half. Then a short walk from the station you can catch the 600 bus to Pagham and their are four buses an hour and the journey takes fifteen minutes. The bus stops just around the corner from the ground but you can stay on to see the sea or the local pubs a little further on. I really liked the pubs I tried in Pagham. The first one was The Lamb which had a couple of ales and is good for reading the paper. If you want to watch the early kick off then The Bear is a good bet and is also good if you have a wait for the bus home. The pub with the best selection of beers was The Inglenook which also had the best selection of animals - I only saw the parrot, not sure where the cat was. The clubhouse at the ground had the usual selection of drinks and you can see most of the pitch through the window. An excellent afternoon in West Sussex.

The main stand from the other side