Well an unusual Sunday morning fixture for me was part of the Southern Combination Football League (SCFL) ground hop weekend. Moved to early October from its usual later slot in the calendar, because the usual Southern Counties East Football League (SCEFL) ground hop has now exhausted all the Kent step 5 and 6 grounds. For those of you who don’t know about the ground hop weekends, they involve large numbers of non league football fans who call themselves ground hoppers, as they travel to watch football in as many different grounds as possible. The ground hop weekend offered fixtures on Friday evening, with three on Saturday and another two today.

The Lyons Way ground, officially known as the Robert Albon Memorial Ground, is the home stadium of Worthing United F.C. The stadium has a modest total capacity of approximately 1,500 spectators, featuring a main standing stand opened in 2017 alongside an older small stand that contains roughly 120 covered seats. Its record attendance stands at 2,100 spectators, which was emotionally set in September 2015 during a memorial match commemorating players Matthew Grimstone and Jacob Schilt, who tragically lost their lives in the Shoreham air crash. The ground’s basic facilities include a main clubhouse, a snack bar, and basic floodlighting, with its perimeter distinguished by grass banking at both ends of the pitch. Its overall atmosphere is deeply rooted in grassroots football, offering a friendly, tightly-knit matchday experience with great views of the South Downs.

Worthing United FC have enjoyed a prolific, goal-laden start to the 2026–27 Southern Combination Football League (SCFL) Division One campaign. Aiming to bounce back from last year’s agonizing play-off heartbreak, the team has stormed into the upper echelons of the league table by securing 8 wins from their opening 10 matches. Underpinning this hot streak is an incredibly potent frontline that has racked up 39 goals, highlighted by a spectacular 8-0 demolition of Ringmer AFC and a 7-0 hammering of Oakwood. While they recently hit a minor speed bump with a narrow 2-1 away defeat to Westfield, the Mavericks’ sensational early-season form, which also includes reaching the first round of the FA Vase for the first time in six years, has firmly established them as serious title contenders.

This early-season surge has been masterminded by the joint-managerial duo of Mark Curram and Glenn Souter, whose structural changes and tactical setup have revitalised the squad. On the pitch, the Mavericks have been powered by a firing offensive unit led by top scorer Liam Appleton, who has already netted 9 goals across all competitions. Right on his heels is the equally lethal Daniel George Kingston with 8 goals, followed by crucial attacking contributions from Dean Sherwood (5 goals), Ethan Davey, and Joe Sadler. With such a distributed wealth of attacking options and a rock-solid defense that has only conceded 5 league goals so far, Curram and Souter have constructed a well-balanced squad capable of sustaining a fierce promotion push.

Saltdean United’s start to the season has yet to develop into a consistent rhythm. Following an initial spell of mixed results, the Tigers have found their footing and recently climbed to 11th place in the table. Their momentum has noticeably shifted following a resilient 1–0 victory over Loxwood, which was immediately followed by a thrilling 5–2 win against Shoreham at their newly revamped Hill Park ground. This recent uptick in form demonstrates the squad’s capability to deliver high-scoring, entertaining performances as manager, Lawrence (Lol) Edwards continues to embed his tactical vision and youth development pathway.

A significant driving force behind the Tiger’s recent success, is forward Alfie Edmeads, who has emerged as a key figure in the attack, notably scoring a brace in the victory over Shoreham and finding the back of the net twice in a recent Cup fixture. Alongside Edmeads, the Tigers’ attacking output has been bolstered by goals from Harry Furnell, Theo Maryon, and Alex Patching. With their offensive momentum building and the new infrastructure at Hill Park providing a strong home advantage, Edwards’ squad looks well-positioned to push higher into the top half of the division as the season progresses. Today’s game in front of a big groundhop crowd, would have given a real opportunity for the visitors to launch their season, with a win against the league’s third placed team.

The game started with Saltdean United absorbing Worthing United’s attacks and applying their own defensive press at just the key moments.this successfully disrupted the home side’s efforts and Saltdean began to get into the ascendency themselves.

With twenty two minutes gone, the deadlock was broken leaving the score 0-1 to Saltdean United. Alfie Mitchell broke free with a fine run and finish from the left hand side to put the visitors into a lead.

The remainder of the half saw both sides create chances which both keepers, Rudy Stilgoe for Saltdean United and Blu Abbott for Worthing United, saved bravely to keep the score at 0-1 at the break. The groundhop crowd of 349 were able to look forward to an open second half.

The second half saw more of Saltdean United’s plan to disrupt the Worthing United attack through an offensive press. Worthing’s players could not get to grips with reducing the deficit, and it was no surprise when in the 72nd minute Harry Furnell, with a well struck finish, made the score 0-2.

At the fulltime whistle it was Saltdean United’s who came away with all three points to really launch themselves into promotion contention. The home side will have found the two defeats this week chastening but will surely learn from this to refocus their own push for promotion. Thanks to Pete from the Non-league Chronicles and Trev from the Sussex Preview for their excellent company today.