On one of the wettest and windiest days of the year, which made for extremely challenging footballing conditions, The Archers second string faced next door neighbours Maresfield Village, albeit having to make the longer journey down to Lewes where the hosts play their ‘home’ games. Manager Piers Carter opted for a tried 4-4-1-1 formation, bolstered by the inclusion of two front side members in the form of Mark Dann and Pete Burchett who were both fixtureless, the former linking up at the back with veteran Paul Dickens, allowing his younger brother Greg to push up alongside influential skipper Hartup in the central midfield role. The gaffer gave himself a run out in the hole, just behind youngster ‘Dogger’ Benton who played as the lone striker, and it was the diminutive pace man that began to cause the early problems, as the visitors kicked into the wind for the first half.

The hosts enjoyed plenty of possession, with some neat passing football from an experienced line up, which had been strengthened with some class from the higher ranks, but despite this they created little opportunity, as The Archers held firm and adapted their play to some counter attacking football, thanks to great work and pace on the right from Newman and was linking up with Benton. It was from one of the youngster’s runs that Fletching took advantage after his corner found the late run of Mark Dann to head home for one-nil.

The reminder of the half was evenly shared between both sides, Carter enjoying the freedom to hold the ball up, spraying passes long and short in the final third on a greasy surface, whilst the hosts made the most of swirling wind, pushing it forward well only to run into some great tidying up work from Eastoe and Jefford, who naturalised the threat from the flanks. The Archers continued to press from deep, Richard ‘Ping’ Clark enjoying the forgiveness of Maresfield’s midfield who allowed him an acre of space out on the left, the big man unable to carve out any real openings, whilst at the other end Fletching’s back line stood firm to a succession of dangerous set piece corners as the hosts went into the break one down, but still very much in the game.

The second period saw the playing surface deteriorate, but The Archers had the luxury of the wind behind them and all time leading goal scorer Pete Burchett who was introduced early on in place of Carter, in a more orthodox striker role with Benton. With Greg Dann beginning to pull the creative strings in the middle of the park alongside Hartup who was mopping up much the ball with a typical display of hard challenges, the visitors began to exert a certain sense of dominance. Before long the change in formation, the elements and the whole Fletching ethos combined for the recently introduced substitute whose clinical effort gave his side a two-goal cushion.

‘Big’ Dave Eastoe’s niggling injury prevented him from continuing, allowing Steve Barbe’s younger brother Marcus to enter the fold. He had some much needed pace and bite to some tired legs on a heavy pitch. Burchett and Benton began to run riot up front, their combination of strength, technical ability and continuous running was simply too much for the hosts, ably assisted by man-of-the-match, the Ryan Giggs-like Matty ‘Mr Kipling’ Newman, whose class shone through against his former club, the visitors put together several threatening moves from well inside their own half. It was on one of these swift breaks that Burchett grabbed his second and Fletching’s third, which made the game safe.

With three points safely in the bag and one eye on a clean sheet, Carter sured things up in the midfield, giving ‘Sooty’ Brady a run out in place of Clark. The hosts were unlucky not to get a consolation late on, when Mark Dann appeared to pull back the shirt of the striker when through on goal, but in worsening conditions and poor visibility the official missed it. The Archers played out the remainder of the game for a hard earned three points, giving them the best league form for December in division seven.

Team: Bradley, Eastoe (M.Barbe), M.Dann, P.Dickens, S.Jefford, M.Newman, G.Dann, C.Hartup, R.Clark (C.Brady), P.Carter (P.Burchett), D.Benton. Unused Sub: C.Harris