Common off to dream start with victory double

Little Common Football Club has made a dream start to its first ever season in the Southern Combination League Premier Division.
Wes Tate on the ball during Little Common's 4-0 win against Eastbourne United AFC on Tuesday night. Pictures by Simon NewsteadWes Tate on the ball during Little Common's 4-0 win against Eastbourne United AFC on Tuesday night. Pictures by Simon Newstead
Wes Tate on the ball during Little Common's 4-0 win against Eastbourne United AFC on Tuesday night. Pictures by Simon Newstead

Last season’s Division One champions have won their opening two matches at the next level up, scoring six goals and conceding none.

Common player-manager Russell Eldridge said: “We couldn’t have asked for a better start. The boys are happy, I’m happy and hopefully we can continue in that vein moving forward.

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“I guess if you offered us six points before the season started we would’ve taken it. We’re under no illusions about the season ahead, but we’re really happy with the start we’ve made.”

Wes Tate on the ball during Little Common's 4-0 win against Eastbourne United AFC on Tuesday night. Pictures by Simon NewsteadWes Tate on the ball during Little Common's 4-0 win against Eastbourne United AFC on Tuesday night. Pictures by Simon Newstead
Wes Tate on the ball during Little Common's 4-0 win against Eastbourne United AFC on Tuesday night. Pictures by Simon Newstead

See also: * Four-star Common net convincing derby win* Promoted Common make winning start to seasonCommon won 2-0 away to Shoreham - who were playing two levels above them last season - on Saturday before seeing off landlords Eastbourne United AFC 4-0 at The Oval on Tuesday night.

“The boys have been magnificent,” continued Eldridge, speaking after the latter fixture. “They’ve taken on board all the information we’ve given them and the quality is there to be seen at times on a difficult surface tonight and at the weekend.

“The boys have stepped up to the level that we wanted them to and long may it continue, but there’s plenty of hard work ahead and it’s just the start of a long journey.

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“We have to raise our game to meet the levels of the standard above and so far we’ve done that.”

Harry Saville in possession against Eastbourne United AFC.Harry Saville in possession against Eastbourne United AFC.
Harry Saville in possession against Eastbourne United AFC.

Common did the damage against Eastbourne with three goals during the first half before sealing the victory with one more during the second period.

“I thought we did the work in the first half,” Eldridge went on. “There was a spell in the first half where we passed the ball really well and the first goal was excellent in terms of the movement.

“We also got a little bit sloppy in possession of the ball in the middle third of the first half and then we turned it on again towards the end.

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“Really happy with the first half and some of the football was excellent. Second half not so happy with because there were mistakes - whether that was due to tiredness or whatever it may be, but we know we want those intensity levels to remain high throughout the game and we’ve got high standards that we want to reach every game. We’re very happy with the result, but there’s certainly things we can improve on.”

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