A hat-trick from Charlie Pitcher helped Pink Flamingos lift the Sussex Sunday Challenge Cup - sponsored by Gardner & Scardifield against ten-man AFC Shoreham at Culver Road.

Luca D’Alessio was also on target as the Pink Flamingos lifted the first County Cup silverware of the season. Having gone 3-0 up, AFC Shoreham pulled the score back to 3-2 with goals from Mark O’Regan and Joe Shelley before the break.

However, Darryl Livesey was then sent off when last man for Shoreham, before Pitcher sealed the victory with a late goal.

Flamingos went ahead with the first real attack of the game. James Westlake lifted the ball into the area from the right and picked out the head of Pitcher, who got up well to head past the scrambling goalkeeper and into the net.

AFC Shoreham then saw strong appeals for a penalty turned down as Ben Hall’s header looked to have hit the arm of Joe Maskell, but it was James Paterson’s side who doubled their lead.

D’Alessio played a ball through to Westlake, and one-on-one with Matt Grimstone played the ball across goal into the path of D’Alessio, who continued his run into the area and finished well from close range.

Shoreham then came close to halving the deficit, with Shelley seeing his free-kick well saved before Hall’s header from the resulting corner was cleared off the line by Westlake.

Despite that, it was the Flamingos who went further ahead after the half hour mark. Ed Bartram fired a ball across from the right which was brilliantly chested down by Pitcher, who then slammed his volley past Grimstone and into the roof of the net from twelve yards.

Nigel Geary’s AFC Shoreham then enjoyed a great final few minutes of the half, with Mark O’Regan scoring a curling effort from 25 yards to make it 3-1, before Tony Burnett’s shot was blocked with the arm of Westlake inside the area for a penalty. Shelley stepped up, and confidently drove home to make it 3-2 by half-time.

Shelley almost drew Shoreham level early in what proved to be a less eventful second-half, with his header down from Hall’s free-kick turned away by the diving keeper, before Pitcher ran through on goal but only to be denied by the legs of Grimstone.

As the game entered the final ten minutes, Shoreham went on the attack in search of the equaliser. Shelley hit a great strike from 35 yards which caught everyone by surprise, but for Aaron Agate in the Pinks goal who dived low down to his right to make the save and preserve his sides lead.

From the resulting corner, Josh Spinks cleared the ball forward to substitute Luke Martin. He looked to have beaten Livesey for pace, but only for the centre-back to bring him down just outside the area. Being last man, the referee was left no option but to give Livesey his marching orders.

With just moments to go Flamingos broke from a Shoreham attack as Martin burst down the left hand side and cut inside, and one-on-one with Grimstone played the ball across to Pitcher who bundled the ball in to complete his hat-trick, and seal the silverware for Pink Flamingos.

(Video highlights from the match can be found above and also on YouTube)
(Photographs from the match can be found on Facebook)

Stats: (Pink Flamingos - AFC Shoreham)
Goals: 4 - 2; Shots: 8 - 9; Shots-on-target: 6 - 6; Corners: 3 - 4; Fouls Committed: 16 - 11; Offside: 2 - 0.

Pink Flamingos: Agate, Maskell, B. Cochrane, D’Alessio, Spinks, Hughes, Williamson, Westlake, Bartram (Martin 59), Pitcher, J. Cochrane.
Not Used: Ford, Clark, Shaw, York.

AFC Shoreham: Grimstone, Rahaman, Hall, Bradburn, Livesey, Shelley, Schilt (Ransom 45), Wotherspoon, Stideford, Burnett (Hudson 59), O’Regan (Matthews 77).
Not Used: Elliot, Hunt.

Match Report by Anthony Scott