Brighton, Worthing & District League
Saturday 29th November 2025
Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.02
St. Marys 4 Boys Brigade Old Boys 4, attendance 13
11’ 0-1 (pen)
21’ 1-1
45’ + 1, 1-2 (pen)
47’ 1-3
67’ 2-3 (pen)
81’ 2-4
87’ 3-4
90’ 4-4
@ Durrington Recreation Ground
Cuckfield Crescent/Rogate Road
Salvington
BN13 2ED
No Admission or Programme.
Last Saturday I failed in my attempt to see a St. Marys home game, having turned up at Pond Lane Recreation Ground, which is their home venue according to the F.A. Fulltime website, but it was totally deserted, so I headed elsewhere and a result subsequently appeared later that evening. I’d noticed on the BBOB Instagram page yesterday that this game was listed as being played at Durrington Recreation Ground (still down as Pond Lane Recreation Ground on Full Time) and I managed to confirm this with the very helpful away team manager around noon and that the game was definitely going ahead, following yet another Friday evening of heavy rain.
The ground here at Durrington Recreation Ground is very basic. The only access is on foot, via a pathway off either Rogate Road or Cuckfield Crescent. I opted for the latter, where you enter next to the brick built changing rooms. The pitch runs lengthways away from here, with a second pitch at the far end, which runs the opposite way. I was told by a home official that St. Marys play all their home games here, as do table toppers T.M.G. who Full Time also wrongly show as using Pond Lane.
The match was 8th versus 6th (out of 9) in a league that must be living on borrowed time and will surely be absorbed into the Mid Sussex League before too much longer. It had become noticeably drier as I headed down the A24 and blue sky started appearing once I was south of Horsham. There were plenty of games off in Sussex today, but the pitch here was fine, apart from a puddle in the near goalmouth, scooped away using a bucket as the nets were being put up. The Referee only arrived about fifteen minutes before kick off, so no time to carry out any type of inspection, but thankfully no problems.
Neither team could be questioned for their efforts and despite not being the highest of quality, it was certainly entertaining. An early penalty put the visitors ahead and despite losing their captain to injury after nineteen minutes, St. Marys drew level a couple of minutes later. They then found themselves playing with ten men for the last ten minutes of the half, when one of their players went off injured (he obviously wasn’t ‘really’ injured though, as he took over as linesman for the second half) and he wasn’t replaced until the start of the second half. Very odd, especially as they went behind to a second penalty in stoppage time while still a man short.
Two minutes into the second half BBOB made it 1-3, with a low angled shot into the far corner, but wasted numerous chances to kill the game off. Another penalty saw the hosts pull it back to 2-3 with twenty three minutes left and ten minutes later they had a goal ruled out for offside. Nine minutes from the end the visitors added a fourth, finishing one on one after beating the offside trap and the three points looked safe. A chance out of nothing was fired high into the roof of the net as St.Marys made it 3-4 with three minutes left, before a ball over the top was smashed past the ‘keeper, hitting the inside angle of post and bar on it’s way in, to make it 4-4 right on ninety minutes and the full time whistle went immediately after the game restarted.
So, that’s the Brighton, Worthing & District League wrapped up for this season. By my reckoning, there’s just six more required (could be 7 depending on who/if anyone uses a grass pitch at Eastbourne Sports Park where I’ve already done the 3G pitch) to complete the Sussex pyramid now.
