After having a week off due to the opposition needing to isolate, Worthing Men’s 1st XI had slipped down the table but with the game in hand.
Worthing welcomed the joint leaders Gore Court on Saturday 17 October 2020. Previous seasons had seen a physical affair between the two teams and this match didn’t disappoint.
The travelling Kent team’s physicality was matched, if not bettered, by the skill of the Worthing players. New coach, Chris Marchant has worked hard with the team on promoting 3D skill and if he had seen the likes of Luc Hinton, Marc Hinton, and Miles Capel he would have been proud.
Worthing struck first with the two Hinton brothers combining for the first goal with Marc taking home the glory. Worthing continued to have most of the ball but after a couple of Gore Court counterattacks they pulled one back. Ellis Woolley once again showed us his dragflicking skills making it 2-1 at the half.
Even though they were leading at half time, Worthing felt they had more in the locker which was released in the second half. Dominating much of the possession Worthing controlled most of the game leading to some chat back by the Gore Courte lads. With a Pep Guardiola passing move Samuel James Conry fed James Cook to put Worthing 3-1. The defence looked strong in the second half with Jack Symons controlling the back and making some perfect block tackles straight out of the couching manual.
Tackles went in and both teams threw what they could into the game. With a bit of afters by Rupert Ireland and a Gore Court player both teams were down to ten for five minutes. Worthing looked to increase their lead but a fourth goal eluded them. Just before the end of the game Tom Bates won a foul just outside the box and earned a late trip by the opposing defender which left the visitors finishing the game with 10. The only draw back was a couple of injuries with Steven Lockwood pulling his hamstring early in the second half and Luc Hinton struggling with an ongoing back injury.
Worthing now have seven points from three games traveling to struggling Canterbury next week.
- Steven Lockwood