Fisher Too Strong For Town

Visitors Fisher proved to be too strong for Town at the Crouch on Saturday, winning 0-4 in the FA Vase.

When the FA Challenge Vase draw was made and pitted Seaford Town against the Southern Counties East League outfit Fisher, it was always going to be a tough proposition for manager Paul Harrison’s transitional squad to progress in this prestigious national competition.
The London based outfit brought a good following down to The Crouch for their day out on the Sussex coast and rewarded their supporters’ loyalty with a conclusive four nil success.
Indeed, this was Fisher’s second win from two starts against Sussex clubs this season as they had previously seen off Sussex County League Division One outfit Selsey back in August in an FA Cup preliminary round tie.
Town fielded another much changed starting eleven for this fixture and the lack of consistency on this front is hurting manager Paul Harrison’s ambitions to build a cohesive core to his side, to develop an understanding between his players and to the playing system he is trying to imprint on the team.
The match was all but over as a contest after 30 minutes with Fisher having taken a three nil lead by that point.
Personnel changes in the Seaford back four resulted in moments of indecision which were exploited by some lively forward play and decent movement from the Fisher attack. It has been a common theme throughout the season to date that due to reasons of availability the management of the Town side have been unable to field a regular back four who can mould an understanding that only comes with playing time together on the pitch. That short coming was painfully apparent in the opening stages here.
However, as the game progressed things did improve from a defensive perspective and the time spent together here against a decent attacking force will stand them in good stead should this be the start of a run of games together as a four. In midfield, it appeared Harrison elected to go for a five and the anxiety of the difficult start to this season was apparent on a number of occasions when after moving the ball around well, individuals then made decisions which reflected confidence issues or just a desire to force a promising situation rather than taking a more patient approach. Both are commonplace problems in sides on a bad run of form.
They are not unresolvable issues for the manager and his playing staff to overcome and there were periods of play, especially in the second half, from which they can take heart. There will be easier challenges than this ahead and as I have said in previous reports, there is enough quality in the playing staff allied to the managers’ experience that they can start to turn the corner in their league campaign. If that is to happen however, there will certainly need to be a firm commitment by players’ to the club and a reciprocal commitment by the management to the players’ who show that desire.
Team:- Head, Flynn (Brown), Stannard, O’Donnell (Le Cras), Hawes, Pullinger, Browning (J.Knight), Oldroyd, Jones, Ellingham, Ayliffe
David Jordan Man of the Match for Seaford – John Pullinger
Report by Jason Hall