Tuesday 10th October 2017 ko 19.45

Southern Combination Premier Division

LOXWOOD 2 (Pritchard 52 Holvey 85)

CHICHESTER CITY 4 (Jones 13secs Heggarty 44 Clack 76 Herbert 90)

Att 46

Entry £6

Programme £1

On one hand non-league photography is a good deal easier in daylight, to the extent I’ve built up a collection of lenses that Robyn and I use more or less specifically for night games. But if you can produce the pictures in good enough quality, photographing non-league at night does produce a feel all of it’s own. Loxwood’s Plaistow Road Recreation Ground does though take that idea to a new dimension altogether.

This is that most westernly part of Sussex where if you’re approaching the area from the west you’ll end up seeing far more of Surrey. You’ll pass right by Alfold FC’s Recreation Ground, and congratulations to the club for gaining permission to erect floodlights. You drop into Sussex, and almost immediately arrive at Loxwood, a village notable for once having been home to author Lawrence Durrell, you might know his brother better- the naturalist Gerald Durrell.

But in a village with a “wood” suffix it’s only right that the local football ground is surrounded by trees, and it’s those trees with the floodlights shining through them that saw me stood in the middle of the cricket pitch taking some of these pictures, my immediate surroundings so dark I was invisible to the other spectators.

The game held the attention too even if Chichester City (whatever happened to Portfield?) were too strong for the hosts in just about every department. But they’ll see promotion as this season’s aim, while I suspect Loxwood will be happy to build towards that aim in subsequent seasons.

But for now just suck in that atmosphere….