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Young Blues edged out in season opener

St Leonards Social 3 - 1 Sidley United - ESFL Premier Division 

The new look, young Sidley United side went down in their opening game in the ESFL Premier Division but will feel there were plenty of positives to take from the opening game.

After a summer of wholesale change, the Blues fielded a number of teenagers but they didn't look out of place against an established Premier Division outfit.

After an impeccably observed minute's silence to honour Her Majesty, the opening stages saw Social start strongly but they were unable to make their pressure count. However a cracking strike from outside the box on 17 minutes eventually broke the Sidley resistance.

Sidley were well in the game though and threatened from a free kick as the half ended. However the Blues fell two goals behind on 52 minutes as a strong run down the right saw the ball cut back into the middle and tucked home.

Sidley then enjoyed a strong spell and pulled a goal back as young Logan Copley beat a defender to get in on goal and though his first effort cannoned back off the post, he tucked home the rebound smartly on 64 minutes.

That may have sparked belief that the Blues could get something from the game but that hope was snuffed out just 5 minutes later. A shot from the right hand side came back off the far post and struck a Social player and ended up in the back of the net.

Sidley pushed and George Rayner had a good chance to pull a late goal back but he didn't get enough of a curl on his effort. The points went to Social but Sidley can feel positive about the season ahead.

Joint manager Mark Linch said afterwards "I'm extremely proud of the players who worked tirelessly with most of them making their debuts in the ESFL Premier. There were some great performances, notably Louis Haffenden, Logan Copley, Archie Ball and Will Witham. These are exciting times for the club.

Sidley Team: Gray, Dangerfield, Britt, Carey, Hempe, Haffenden, Ball, Witham (Sam), Copley, Kryeziu (Rayner), Czeller.

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