Ducille glory after Tidey fluffs penalty

Most relieved Blues man on the pitch was Darren Tidey, who had missed a penalty just before half-time. Ducille had been brought down in Arundel's penalty area and with Clint Moore gone to Three Bridges it was down to Tidey to put it away. Unfortunately his kick went wide.

Danny Bird was still recovering from an injury with Clay Lamont back in the defensive line while up front Gavin Jones on his debut for the Blues wore Dominic Shepherd's No.9 shirt with the latter on the bench. Joe Clark and the hard-working Matt Beeston started in midfield.

Early on Mickey O'Callaghan made a run down the left for Ringmer only to be held back by shirt pulling. This foul set a precedent for the rest of the match which saw a plethora of yellow cards.

Arundel had the upper hand for 20 minutes as Ringmer looked ragged and were held for long periods in their own half. An Arundel shot rattled Ringmer's crossbar before being kicked away out of danger.

The Blues had a good chance after Gareth Green floated a ball over from the left which Beeston almost connected with in front of goal. Then minutes later Jones went close.

The second half got away to the same frantic pace. It was not long before Shepherd, who had replaced the injured Jones seconds before half-time, was in the mix in front of goal.

Arundel's frustration grew and a ball-throwing incident between an Arundel player and Shepherd gained them a yellow card apiece.

The Blues kept up the pressure but were in danger of losing out to Arundel's long-ball tactics, luckily Standen, who had looked uncertain in the first period, was having a better second half and a watchful defence dealt with any danger.

Both Tidey and Shepherd saw shots go wide and Beeston watched his header go just over the crossbar. On 60 minutes Shepherd drove a shot in which again brushed over the crossbar, nine minutes later he had another shot go the same way.

The referee played six minutes of added time and in the 94th minute the last goalmouth scramble at the home end saw Ducille knock in the winning goal.

Ringmer: Standen, Lamont (Stacey) Dicker, Curnow (capt), O'Callaghan, Clark, Beeston, Ducille, Jones (Shepherd), Green, Tidey. Unused Sub: Barycza.