Positive Covid test, bad luck, a fractured skull - it's all hit Arundel

The Mullets were unable to play for a week after a played trsted positive for Covid-19 and have had plenty of injury setbacks.

They sit 12th in division one of the SCFL after Saturday’s 2-1 loss at home to Worthing United.

Boss Hull said: “It’s been a difficult start what with the Covid-19 lockdown following a positive test from one of our players.

“We have had our share of injuries losing Dan Gibb for the season after tearing his patellar tendon and knee cap fracture. Club captain Jordan Dudas is out with a serious knee injury.

“We’ve played a lot of the sides I expect to be challenging for promotion –Bexhill, AFC Varndenians and of course Littlehampton. We got a good point against AFC Varndenians and on the road at Midhurst.

“I felt we competed well for long periods against Littlehampton and got ourselves back in the game with 25 minutes remaining but a red card hurt us.

“An early red card at Bexhill made an already difficult afternoon trickier still but we weren’t close to good enough that afternoon.

“We know a vast number of clubs in our league have decent budgets to work with but I feel we have a good squad who are with us for the right reasons and we are competitive on our day.

“We have a relatively young group of players who are learning and will become more consistent as they mature.I was pleased with the character we showed turning a 2-0 deficit at Oakwood into a 3-2 win."

Hull said he was very dissapointed with the result against Worthing, saying the game was 'probably not one for the purists, it was a typically fiery derby'.

He said: "I have no complaints with the award of the Worthing penalty but felt Worthing were very lucky not to be reduced to 10 men after 15 minutes with a challenge to the head of one of my centre-halves, Stephen Sedgley, who had to be replaced.

"To lose Dan Geal, who slotted in at centre-half, ten minutes later to a serious head injury which subsequently turned out to be a fractured skull was another massive blow. We all wish Dan a speedy recovery.

"A draw would have been about right on reflection but we failed to take our chances. It clearly meant everything to Worthing United takingn us as a scalp on Saturday, they are a decent young side but we didn’t reach the levels and standards we set ourselves.

"We will stick together, work hard at training on Tuesday and Thursday and prepare well for Storrington's visit to Mill Road on Saturday."

Wick 5 Mile Oak 2

SCFL division one

Dan Simmonds returned from injury to trigger ten-man Wick’s biggest win of the season with a well-taken hat-trick.

The Dragons striker missed four games with a knee injury but soon made up for lost time as he doubled his goal tally for the campaign.

“It was the best possible way to return from injury and after scoring one, then two and three matches in consecutive games the pressure is on me to score four now,” Simmonds laughed.

“Seriously though, it was great to be back. I’ve had a knee injury which has kept me sidelined and hopefully there won’t be any problem after this outing and I can enjoy a long run of matches in the team.”

Midfielder Johan van Driel added: “Dan is a brilliant striker who has regularly scored goals at a higher level.

“We have missed his presence up front and we would have more points on the board if he had not been injured.”

Alex Kew put the hosts ahead at Crabtree Park with a slick finish in the 13th minute before centre-half Nathan Hawker added a second when Mile Oak couldn’t deal with an Andy Chick corner.

Simmonds then tucked away a couple more before the break with typically clinical finishes to effectively seal the points.

Mile Oak, who entered the game in third place, reduced the arrears soon after the break before winning a penalty, converted at the second attempt after Jordan Matthews saved the initial spot-kick but was ruled to have moved before the whistle.

Wick refused to buckle, however, and maintained their dominance with Simmonds completing his hat-trick to seal a superb victory.

Tom Simmonds, Wick joint manager with Lee Baldwin, said: “We all know how good Dan is in front of goal and he proved his worth once again.

“We are getting players back from injury and suspension and that means we don’t have to fit square pegs in round holes to cover their absence.

“We now have a run of home matches on the immediate horizon and it’s up to us to be consistent and capitalise on it by stringing the wins together and climbing the table.”

Wick host Shoreham on Saturday and Selsey next Tuesday (Oct 27).