Seaford Town made history on Saturday afternoon, securing the club’s first ever victory in the FA Cup with a 1-0 win over Sutton Athletic of the Southern Counties East League Premier Division.

Despite being forced to defend for the vast majority of the tie, Town’s resolve would be rewarded as an 85th minute penalty from Tyler Capon earned Paul Wise’s side a place in the next round of the world’s oldest club competition.

Sutton Athletic, who exited the competition at this stage last campaign, came out the stronger of the two sides, causing problems for a Seaford team who were made to play on the backfoot for large portions of the first half.

Wester Young was first called into action with just over three minutes played; a ball in behind the Seaford backline gave Marc Nouble the chance to run through on goal, hitting a low effort into the palms of the Town ‘keeper before the ball was cleared.

Peter Nolan’s side had the ball in the back of the net in the 11th minute following smart play between Louis Lovell and Taylor Fisher at the edge of the box, however the latter’s finish was cancelled out by the linesman’s flag.

The visitors’ best chance of opening the scoring in the first half came with just over five minutes before the interval. A direct pass through the spine of the Seaford defence allowed Lovell an opportunity to go one-on-one with Young. After Lovell attempted to round the ‘keeper, Young got down strongly to palm the ball away, before an eventual follow-up effort from Athletic captain Conor Evans rolled wide of the post.

The chances kept coming for the Sutts after the restart, with Nouble and Lovell combining for the first opening of the second half which Lovell sent over the bar following a square ball from the right flank. It was then Nouble’s turn to squander a chance for Sutton Athletic in the 68th minute, poking an effort wide of Young left hand post after being found in space just inside the area.

Seaford had centre-back Ryan Knight to thank with quarter of an hour to play. A mix-up at the back saw the ball stabbed goalward with Young away from his goal line, however Knight was on hand to clear the ball just ahead of the goal line.

In the 84th minute, Seaford got their reward for withstanding Sutton Athletic’s abundance of chances, when Capon was brought down inside the box for a penalty under the challenge of Cameron Rearden, who received a straight red card as the visitors’ last man. Up stepped Capon from the spot, sending Jack Glassborrow the wrong way to give Town the lead.

A nervy last few minutes ensued with Seaford camped out in their own box amid a flurry of corners, yet the away side would continue to be pushed out before the referee called time on a famous Seaford win.

Stern goalkeeping from Young alongside a Player of the Match performance from debutant Ash Latuske in midfield were the standouts for Town, against a Sutton Athletic side who will be disappointed having undoubtedly dominated the game in chances created.

Seaford Town are back in action next weekend, as the Reds kick off their SCFL Premier Division campaign with a trip to Haywards Heath Town (Aug 9, 3pm KO).

Seaford Town:
Wester Young
Matt Simpson
Ryan Knight
Toby Potter-Drake
Max Vardy
Ollie Lee (off 52')
Alex Saunders
Ash Latuske
Hayden Beaconsfield (off 63')
Tyler Capon
Callum Connor (off 63')

Subs: Josh Wright (on 63'), Josh Bradley (on 63’), Matt Ford (on 52’), Josh Woodward, Chris Capon, Scott Dartnall, James Kendall

Attendance: 554