There was late heartbreak for Littlehampton Town as they slipped to their third successive league defeat in this Pitching in Isthmian South-Central Division clash at the Sportsfield on Tuesday night.
Golds had won a feisty encounter that saw three dismissals in the reverse fixture in Surrey four weeks ago. However, there was little evidence of any bad blood between the sides in a cagey opening to proceedings until Marshall Ball was sent off in the 18th minute.
The Golds combative midfielder might argue he got the ball, but the reckless nature of the challenge persuaded the referee it belonged in the ‘endangering an opponent’ category and he had no hesitation in producing a red card. What doubled the disappointment was that the incident took place in an unthreatening position close to the halfway line which negated the need to make the challenge at all.
It meant Golds had to play over three quarters of the match a player short but there was little evidence of a disparity in numbers. In fact, Littlehampton probably had the better of the remainder of the first half without ever really troubling the visitor’s goal.
South Park must’ve received instructions to up the intensity at the interval and try and make use of the extra man. For a spell they were in the ascendancy but with Golds digging in they too struggled to fashion any clear-cut chances. In fact, Littlehampton looked just as likely to pinch a goal with a couple of excellent corners from Freddie Hammond causing particular concern in the South Park ranks.
The game appeared to be drifting to a goalless conclusion and Golds battling efforts certainly deserved a point. However, football is often a cruel mistress and South Park’s one piece of incisive football saw the winning goal arrive in the 88th minute. Some crisp passing found Jordan Hamilton-Olise free in the box and the substitute despatched the chance clinically to take all three points back to Surrey.