UCKFIELD Town Under-18s hosted a strong Crowborough Athletic Under-18s at 11am on Sunday in what was to be the away team’s day.

Both teams started well, but Crowborough pressed hard and applied the pressure, which led to an on-pitch argument between the players and the dug-out although it quickly fizzled out.

The home side were not scared to attack though as Sam Espley was a threat to the opposition’s defence all day along with teammate Tom Underwood who linked well and came close to finishing some excellent passing moves.

Persistence paid off for Athletic in the 39th minute when their captain James Brom ran into the box skilfully only to be brought down by Town’s defence.

Brom stepped up and smashed the penalty confidently into the top right stanchion to put his team 1-0 up.

The scoreline stayed the same going into the break but once the second half kicked off, Uckfield stuck to their game plan and tried to stay relaxed on the ball.

Crowborough showed that they will be a tough team to beat this season as they held back the home side’s attempts.

Uckfield had a right to feel relieved after two hair raising moments in as many minutes.

Firstly a dubious tackle in the box was deemed fair by the referee despite Crowborough’s cries.

The second attempt by The Crows left Towns defence flapping as Ollie Hyland and Charlie Simpson took advantage of the many through balls provided from their midfield as they charged at Uckfield’s goalkeeper Gareth Clift.

As Clift attempted to clear his lines, the uneven surface played its part as the ball bounced off his shin to then rebounded off his own defender, turning football into pinball as both teams scrambled to the regain control.

The ball fell to the feet of Simpson in space who had only the goal ahead of him but scuffed the shot and watched the ball trickle against the post.

Crowborough became dominant but missed chances to make it 2-0 as they lacked the final ball needed.

Much like their first, their second goal came from persistence of a game plan as yet another defence splitting pass found its way to the running Jack Stevens in the 81st minute, who then managed to slot the ball past Clift into the bottom left corner of the goal.

Uckfield showed their character as they fought until the final whistle which led to Josh Holden skilfully running into the box only to be brought to the ground by a tired trailing Crowborough defence.

The opposing goalkeeper Matt Harman guessed the right way but Uckfield’s tricky striker Sam Epsley slotted the ball accurately into the bottom right corner to make it 2-1 and get his team back in with a chance on the 84th minute.

Uckfield failed to replicate their attacking play in the final few minutes as Crowborough started to become more cautious of their defending and did so well as they stayed at 2-1 come the final whistle.

Uckfield will rue their missed chances and lack of taking advantage of their failure to make something of the many corners that they won while Crowborough have shown to the rest of the league that if they manage to find a finish to their impressive passing style, they will certainly be a team to beat this season in the a East Sussex Under-18 County League.