Why Littlehampton Town had to park the bus… on the way to a game

The team bus had plenty of spare seats on board with seven players missing and only two named subs – and it then broke down on the journey to Kent.It was far from ideal preparation for an already testing trip, but Golds arrived in time for kick-off despite the delay – and joint manager Mitch Hand was pleased with how his players applied themselves given the circumstances.Hand reflected: “I’m really proud of the performance, everything was against us. We had seven players missing and travelled there with two subs. Even our bus broke down on the way.

“When you’re going to places like Ramsgate with some of your best players missing, you’ve really got to dig in and to be fair to the boys they did. We got done by a second ball from a set piece, then hit on the break trying to level the game. All in all, I’ve got no real complaints.”The loss means it’s now three league defeats in four away games this calendar year for Golds and Hand will want to focus on improving that record after they entertain East Grinstead on Saturday (3pm).Hand said: “East Grinstead are a good side and it’ll be another difficult one, we had a really tight game with them at their place, but hopefully we can get a similar result.”Golds can also look forward to welcoming Premier League youngsters in Brighton & Hove Albion under-21s to The Sportsfield in their upcoming Sussex Senior Cup quarter final on Wednesday, February 22 (7.45pm).