The last time the V's were in the top division (the old Sussex County 1) was 58 years ago which happens to be my age, so quite along time ago. A lot of hard work by managers, players and volunteers has seen the club go from intermediate football in the mid sussex league to SCFL premier which brings a challenges on and off the pitch as we go up a notch in standard.

Our opening fixture was certainly a baptism of fire against Littlehampton Town who like us were promoted last season under the convoluted system of the FA combining two seasons worth of results. Not that we are complaining and both teams along with Bexhill United deserved their promotions.

Dark clouds circled Withdean Stadium in the morning but fortunately decided to slide past us but dump a deluge of rain on Hassocks FC, water logging their pitch. A few of their spectators made the short trip down the A23 to watch our match and witness a ten goal thriller.

Alex Walsh took over as manager towards the end of last season and has worked hard pre- season along with coaches Jack Barnes and Jacob Baitup. So the bench and the team had a new look about it as Walshy fielded a young V's team, with a mix of a some familiar faces and some new signings like Gabe Robinson, Anesu Sisimayi, Ali Rainford and goalie Luca Paiano.

Littlehampton Town also have new management with George Gaskin and Mitchell Hand, taking over after Mark Bennet's departure, but the squad is much the same as last season.

The Marigold's started with immediate attacking intent and with a vibrant front three of Dion Jarvis, Joe Benn and Lucas Pattenden they caused our defence problems which resulted in Joe Benn's first goal after just 4 minutes and then his second after 17 minutes, when he beat our defence and fired a low shot into the far corner. Welcome back to step 5!

At 2-0 down credit must go to our players, who remained positive encouraging each other and gradually began to get a hold in the game. After neat foot work from debutant Gabe Robinson, he released Tommy Boyle who strode into the Marigolds box and dispatched our first goal. This was then followed up by Tommy's second, and our equaliser, after Anesu Sisimayi threaded a perfect pass which Tommy latched onto and poke under their on-rushing goalie.

Parity didn't last long as our defence, disputing whether a ball had gone out for a goal kick, stood still, only for the alert Benn to complete his hatrick and tuck away a low shot unmarked. Littlehampton's lead at half time was deserved but we had shown encouraging resilience and were still in the game.

The V's started the second half positively as they pressed for an equaliser and were rewarded when Dylan Gifford, with a player to beat, struck a sweet left foot on 57 mins into the roof of the net. 3-3 and we were maybe dreaming of taking the lead but Littlehampton's front three never gave our defence time to rest.

Oscar Pinnock was harshly judged to have fouled Jarvis on the left of our penalty area, when he looked to have played the ball first. The resulting freekick was too easily dispatched by Ryan Peake's far post header for 4-3 which knocked the stuffing out of us. Ten minutes later Lucas Pattenden who had an excellent game created space and fired a rocket past Luca to make the score 5-3 and any points looked beyond our grasp as time was nearly up.

Tommy Boyle had other ideas and after some concerted pressure, his trickery in the penalty area created a chance to shoot and he planted the ball into the bottom of the net for 5-4 and his deserved hatrick.

With the crowd trying to take breath, the managers suffering anxiety attacks, and the ref trying to work out what the score was, our defence had a 'moment' from their kick off. The defensive mix up resulted in the ball landing at the feet of the one player you didn't want it to fall to, namely Joe Benn, who finally wrapped up the game rounding our goalie Luca Piano for his fourth of the match. The final whistle was sounded by Thomas Price, who had an excellent game as ref, and Littlehampton took all three points.

The hubbub after the match was palpable as the crowd left the match having been well entertained. It was a bizarre match in many ways, attack versus defence and while both teams will feel satisfied at the forward momentum there is work to be done defensively.

Tuesday 3 August

Eastbourne Town 2- 1 AFC Varndeanians

Ollie Blackman was a welcome sight in defence and along with Adam Bukleb at right back Walshy had tweaked our defence from Saturday's match. Will Robinson was brought into central midfield and Ali Rainford came in for injured Matt Waterman.

The defence immediately looked more solid with Will (Robbo) acting as cover in front of it and although Eastbourne Town had plenty of possession clear cut chances were few and far between in the first half hour, however we were showing little attacking threat.

With the clock chiming in the distance and us thinking could we make it to half time all square, Town made a break through with a shot that took a huge deflection off Blackman's buttock, to end up in the net with Luca stranded. And to add insult to injury two minutes later the same thing happen after we gave away loose possession in midfield. The same buttock and same result. So from battling and just about holding our own we found ourselves 2-0 down at half time. Blackman's buttock 2, the V's 0. The defence had actually played very well led by Ollie, we just needed to be more positive going foward.

I must admit to fearing the worst second half against a well seasoned and experienced Town side but Walshy's words of wisdom must have taken effect, as we started the second half more positively and looked the better side. Eastbourne Town are of course a decent outfit and experienced players like Cole and Hopkinson are always going to be problematic, combined with the pace of Moynes but our defence stood firm and reduced them to speculative shots and gradually the tide was turning.

A couple of flowing moves led to two good chances, with Ali Rainford providing a threat down the left and Dylan Gifford dictating play from the right hand side of midfield. Anesu Sisimay and Alfie Mitchell were industrious in midfield, protecting the ball better than in the first half while getting into more advanced positions. Tommy Boyle began to make in roads up front and we were playing with more confidence. It was from the left, after a diagonal pass from Gifford, that our goal came with an initial shot from Rainford that took a ricochet around the 6 yard area and eventually fell to Tommy Boyle who poked the ball home from 2 yards. Game on.

Eastbourne Town tried to respond but our resolute defence were having nothing of it and with Luke Akehurst on for Robbo, who had put in a good shift, we had the perfect substitute to shield the defence. Town did have one clear cut chance when a firm downward header was athletically turned away by Luca but apart from that were held at bay.

The V's pushed forward and after a flowing move from defence to attack, Ali drove into the area and hit a shot that most keepers would have struggled to keep out, but Town have the reliable keeper Chris Winterton who dived to his right to push the ball round the post.

This was proving to be our most impactful period of the game as we began to create a number of opportunities most notably two wonderful positions on the right for Owen Benfell and Ali but both times we couldn't find a V's shirt. This was followed with a flurry of corners and with time running out and Town trying to waste time in our corner, we couldn't manage to find the equaliser our second half performance deserved.

So after two games two losses but we can take a lot of positives from our performances and as the team begins to find more cohesion I'm sure we will begin to add vital points on the board.