The next game was against newly promoted Willingdon Athletic, again at The Rec – the Stags were again left pointless and frustrated after a game dominated by poor refereeing decisions and a suspect opposing linesman, Willingdon winning 2-0.

Again we lined up 5-3-2; we were without Martin Verrall and long-term injury victims Stu Cairns and Dave Mumford. However we did welcome Dale Mayhew, Richard Ambrose and Karl Harrison back to the squad, while Brian Gow was added to the squad for the first time. Again we started slow and put ourselves immediately under unnecessary pressure – Willingdon showing greater intensity and movement. For the second week running we did not start to play football until we were two goals down and when we did we were more than a match for our opponents. We saw more of the ball before the break and at halftime we changed to a 4-4-2 formation in an attempt to bolster the midfield. Buxted dominated proceedings in second half without really pressurising the Willingdon goal – this was largely due to the Willingdon linesman who put his flag up every time the ball crossed the halfway line! The second half remained goal less and with all the Stags players feeling aggrieved about the poor linesman.

However, on a positive note the second half performance was something to build on for the future games.

 

1	Clive White
2	Dale McIvor
3	Richard Ambrose
4	Tim Burchett (C)
5	Dale Mayhew
6	Neil Felstein
7	Kevin McDougall
8	Lee Stevens
9	Martin Penfold
10	Phil Pedley
11	James Bonella
12	Karl Harrison
14	Martin Verrall
15	Brian Gow
	Goal Scorers: