Lingfield v Croydon

Friendly

Saturday 25th June 2022

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.02

Lingfield 2 Croydon 1, attendance 83

21’ 1-0

45’+ 1, 1-1

82’ 2-1

@ Edenbridge Rugby Club

Lingfield Road Recreation Ground

Lingfield Road

Edenbridge

TN8 5HL

No Admission or Programme.

A nice easy 15 mile drive kicked off the new season for me, as Southern Combination League Premier Division (Step 5) hosted Southern Counties East League Division 1 (Step 6), played at the neutral venue of Edenbridge Rugby Club, some four miles east of Lingfield.

Lingfield started the better of the two and it was no surprise that they broke the deadlock midway through the first half. Croydon levelled in stoppage time, tapping in from close range, after the ’keeper had saved an angled shot, to make it 1-1 at the break. The winner came eight minutes from time, with a cross from the right headed down into the bottom corner of the net at the near post.

A decent game, made all the better by a lack of what seem continual substitutions that normally occur in the early run outs during pre-season. At least a quarter of the crowd was made up of ground hoppers.