AFC Uckfield Town 2-1 Copthorne FC
Saturday afternoon's action saw 15th-place Uckfield looking to make it 3 games unbeaten while 18th-place Copthorne sought their first points since the opening game of the season. It was a match both sides were surely targeting for a positive result.
The opening minutes saw Uckfield with the majority of possession, but it was Copthorne with the first real chance of the game 5 minutes in with a shot just over the bar following a corner. It was then Copthorne that seemed to have control of the game, with Uckfield struggling to play out from the back and generally not making things easy for themselves. However, at only 10 minutes in those early difficulties were forgotten as Uckfield's number 11, Tyler Pearson, latched onto a neatly placed through ball before dribbling past two Copthorne defenders and firing the ball past the keeper into the bottom left corner.
Following the goal the Copthorne Manager, Mark Pulling, was shown a yellow, presumably for dissent. His side initially reacted well to going down a goal, with a powerful shot just tipped over by Howes in the Uckfield goal following a corner in the 15th minute. The subsequent corner was then cleared and the ball taken up the other end, where Uckfield put themselves two up on the 17th minute. A well-placed cross from the right by Baldwin was met by the head of Morris who smashed the ball into the back of the net giving Mendoca in the Copthorne goal no chance of saving it.
Copthorne had made a decent account of themselves in the opening stages of the game and could have been forgiven for feeling they didn’t deserve to be down by two goals. However I think it would be fair to say Copthorne heads dropped in the second half of the opening 45 minutes. They struggled especially for presence in the midfield with Uckfield seemingly managing to dominate in that area. Uckfield came close again in the 21st minute when Pearson sent a powerful shot straight onto the post. The next ten minutes saw Uckfield with plenty of possession and really in control of the game, but with no real clear-cut chances. The Copthorne number 3, Shayan Chintaloo, was a bright spark and seemed the most likely to make something happen for his team.
An Uckfield corner narrowly tipped over by Copthorne’s Ricardo Mendonca
It felt at times that Copthorne were playing more as a group of individuals than a well-drilled team, though they did have a decent opportunity 30 minutes in ruined by a scuffed shot. Following this, Pulling was given a final warning by the ref, again presumably for dissent; he wasn’t happy with what he was seeing at this stage of the game. His team found themselves offside on multiple occasions during this part of the game, to the point that his frustration was understandable. As the half grew to a close, Copthorne started to feel as though they’d finally found their feet in the game. As we hit 45 minutes it was a much more equal game, but with no real clear-cut chances. However, that changed in the second minute of added time as Copthorne’s Chuks Agukwe got a goal back for his team after Uckfield just couldn’t clear the ball. That proved to be the final action of the half, and the score at halftime sat at 2-1 to the hosts.
With it all to play for, the second half promised to be a hard-fought contest. Uckfield had an early chance in the opening minute which would have been a great goal. Copthorne however continued their upturn in form and had their fair share of chances and possession, a corner in the 48th minute was just about cleared by the Uckfield defence who did not seem too confident on the set pieces. The ref gave his first yellow to a player on the 49th minute as Copthorne's Conor Dickson made a poor challenge in the centre of the pitch to stop a promising Uckfield attack. Uckfield made their first sub at this point, with Anthony Gill replaced by their new signing, Connor Summerfield. Copthorne continued to be the better team as the second half went on, with a couple of chances in the 55th minute and 59th minute.
Uckfield needed to dig in deep and calm their heads to regain some control in the game, with their manager Alex Harris calling for them to up their energy levels. The pressure from their head coach seemed to have an effect as the Oaks grew back into the match, with a couple of corners in succession and a good shot just over in the 61st minute. Copthorne continued to be their own worst enemy at times with multiple more offsides spoiling good chances. Despite Copthorne's Chintaloo continuing to impress he was taken off in the 68th minute, for me he had been their man of the match until then. Uckfield made a sub of their own in the 70th minute with Ola James on for Teddy Baldwin.
Tensions were rising as the game ran into the final 20 minutes, with tempers flaring following a foul on Uckfield’s Alex Joy. In the 70th minute Uckfield’s Ben Morris found himself in the book with teammate Archie Carey quickly following him. Things continued to heat up as we came to the 75th minute when Uckfield’s appeals for a penalty were waved away after James went down in the box, in the moment it did look like it could have been a foul. Copthorne subbed off Tosin Dada for Nathan Inga in the 76th minute as they continued to look for an equaliser. The 77th minute saw Copthorne’s Connor Mctigue shown a yellow for a fairly cynical foul.
As the game approached the final 10 minutes Uckfield had grown back into things and settled down. They had another corner in the 87th minute after some more great play by Pearson which was played short as they looked to run down the clock. Uckfield made a final sub in the 89th minute as Alex Joy was replaced by Khaled Zabadne. In the dying minutes there was not too much to report, a late Copthorne corner easily held by the Uckfield keeper. This was about the last action of the game as the ref blew for full time.
A hard-fought physical encounter ended with a 2-1 victory for AFC Uckfield Town as they went 3 unbeaten and moved up a place to 14th in the table. Although Copthorne were much better in the second half they never truly looked like scoring and didn’t make life too difficult for the hosts. They will be disappointed with the result but overall it was a fair reflection of the match momentum. My man of the match would have to be Uckfield’s number 11, Tyler Pearson, who was sharp and a threat throughout.
