Roffey denied more cup joy at Wick

After last week’s Sussex Senior Cup success at Broadbridge Heath, Roffey were brought down to earth with a 2-1 defeat at Wick in the Peter Bentley Cup on Tuesday evening

The hosts shipped six goals at Bartholomew Way earlier in the season and, not surprisingly, the first half resembled an attack against defence training session.

In the first minute, Tiago Andrade sent a diving header towards the top corner only for Wick's Keelan Belcher to pull off a superb save.

Roffey continuously won possession back in midfield and passed their way into the home penalty area, only to repeatedly shoot high or wide.

At the other end, keeper Alfie Hadfield was acting mainly as a sweeper, helping to switch play, although he did need to force Conor Bull to shoot wide when looking offside.

Despite overwhelming possession, a mixture of poor finishing, a well organised defending and another spectacular save by Belcher, meant half-time came with the game still goalless.

The second half began in similar fashion but Roffey appeared to run out of patience with their passing game and started to launch the ball long, giving possession away more frequently and giving the home players the chance to counter attack.

With 13 minutes remaining, Roffey failed to clear their lines and sub David Crouch somehow managed to scoop the ball over Hadfield and under the bar to produce the sucker punch Roffey fans had been fearing..

With the visitors now having to push more men forward, Wick appeared to have sealed the win with Crouch’s second.

Hayden Neathey’s close range finish gave brief hope but three minutes later, the whistle went and Wick had earned their place in the next round of the Peter Bentley Cup.

Roffey will now look to bounce back on Saturday in Division One, which is the main priority, as they face Worthing United, fresh from their surprise victory over Dorking Wanderers Reserves.