Buxted had a long journey down to Littlehampton to face Square Deal, of the West Sussex League, in the second round of the Sussex Junior Cup and they eventually progressed to the next round after a few nervous moments; winning 6-2 after extra time.

Buxted started the game well, with good movement up front from Chris Vincent and Josh Delmon constantly stretching the Deal defence. It, however was not totally one sided as Deal big centre forward was constantly bullying the Buxted defence, which was lacking organisation. The deadlock was broken midway through the first half when Addison Baigent set off on a surging run beating three players before he was brought down just inside the penalty area; the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Captain Neil Felstein took responsibility for the spot kick, and confidently sent the keeper the wrong way; 1-0.
Buxted continued to pressurise the Deal defence and soon added their second goal when the ball fell to Chris Vincent in the area; he turned sharply and smashed the ball into the top corner from 12 yards. Half time came with Buxted winning 2-0, which was largely thanks to Gavin Horne in goal who was called upon to make a couple of quality saves. That coupled with some very poor finishing meant Buxted still had a two goal cushion.

The second half had a far too familiar tale too it, as Buxted again failed to turn up for the second half and let their opponents back into the game. Too much time and room was given to the opposition, and when faced with very physical tackling from Deal some of the Buxted team were guilty of hiding. Deal got themselves back into the game from the spot when Dan Reardon was harshly adjudged to have handled the ball in the box, and despite Horne getting a strong hand to the spot kick he was unable to keep it out. Buxted, clearly worried after conceding one goal, began to look very panicky on the ball and the fragile confidence of the team looked to be on the wane. Then with 20 minutes to go more poor marking from a corner allowed the Deal striker time and space to get his scuffed shot away, which managed to go between Horne’s legs; 2-2.
A double change saw Matt Whittington and Will Extence, replace Rolfe and Hughes, with Vincent dropping back into midfield and all of a sudden Buxted remembered how to play football. The final twenty minutes saw Buxted squander chance after chance, hit the bar and the Deal keeper make a few good saves; this and a couple of near misses for Deal meant that the 90 minutes ended 2-2.

After a few harsh words from Burchett in the change around, Buxted knew they had to up their game and finish the game off. The Buxted players duly responded to their Managers comments, as within the first ten minutes of extra time they had score three goals to go 5-2 in front. The first, and Felstein’s second of the game, was a powerful downward header from an Extence corner. Baigent capped another good performance with a strong run and finish from 20 yards and the third was a very well taken strike from Matt Whittington. The second period of extra time saw Buxted continue to create chances and they added a sixth when Will Extence struck from 20 yards.

In the end Buxted got the result they probably deserved, but it should be said that the 6-2 score line should have been achieved inside the 90 minutes; Buxted managed to make a poor side look good and it was not until extra time when the superior quality shone through. Buxted will know they cannot afford second half performances like this again if they want to progress any further in the cup and if they are to get their league campaign back on track.

Special mention to Dan Reardon, who did well in the unfamiliar position of centre back and Gavin Horne who was again first class, saving Buxted on numerous occasions. Man of the Match was awarded to Addison Baigent after another impressive display on the left wing.

Starting XI: 1. Gavin Horne, 2. Ross Delmon, 3. James Whitmarsh, 4. Dan Reardon, 5. Karl Harrison, 6. Matt Hughes, 7. Hayden Rolfe, 8. Neil Felstein (c), 9. Chris Vincent, 10. Josh Delmon, 11. Addison Baigent

Subs: 12. Matt Whittington, 14. Will Extence, 15. David Mumford