Wick boss admits future is uncertain after cup final defeat

Wick were brushed aside by league rivals Steyning Town who cruised to victory with goals from Ben Bacon, Rob Clark and Alfie Gritt.

It went from bad to worse for the Wickers when Kieron Playle-Howard was sent off for a dangerous tackle midway through the second half.

Currently tenth in the league, Wick boss Cox has guided the club away from relegation since his appointment in January. But Cox yet to start planning for the next campaign, revealing he will have end-of-season talks with chairman Dave Usher to discuss his future at the club.

HAVE YOU READ? Sussex football hotshots: Who are the county's top scorers this season?Cox said: “I don’t know where we’re going with that to be honest. When I took over at the start of the calendar year it was just to the end of the season.

“We have two more games left and I’m sure that after next Saturday, the chairman and I will get together, and we’ll see what direction they want to go in and what direction I want to go in.”

Promotion-chasing Steyning were favourites heading into the tie, having already done the double over Wick in the league, and it took them just two minutes to open the scoring.

Mayckol Sabino’s whipped cross found an unmarked Bacon; the striker heading past Keelan Belcher.

Bacon notched his second after the break, heading in from Myers corner five minutes after the restart.

Clark added a terrific third on the 62nd minute, his curling strike clipping the bar as it went in, before Playle-Howard’s sending off.

Alfie Gritt rounded off a convincing display, knocking in a fourth from substitute Connor Bull’s lay off, in the 77th minute.

Despite the scoreline, Cox felt Wick should have got more from the game. He said: “I think four-nil flatters them. They’re a very good side, there’s no doubt about that but we gave them a little bit too much respect on the day and so they deserved the win.

“We were really disappointed with how we dealt with the set piece but there’s always got to be a loser and unfortunately it’s us today.”

Cox also believed Playle-Howard’s sending off was deserved. He said: “It was a silly, dangerous tackle and it was a red card however there was a challenge in the first half, very similar to what Kieron did from one of Steyning’s players on Jack Bingham so if that went our way who knows what the final score would be.

Wick host local rivals Littlehampton Town on Easter Monday before closing the season against Sidlesham at Crabtree Park next Saturday (27th April).

Teams:

Wick – K Belcher, J Chaplin (Church – 60’), J Bingham, N Ediker, R Barratt ©, D Cox, A Ansa-McIntyre, K Playle-Howard, T Dodd, C Milner, S Brazil (Hope – 67’)

Subs – A Cox, B Hauxwell, G Church, W Lintott, T Hope

Steyning Town – J Banasco-Zaragoza, R Clark, J Maher, S Faber (Bull – 73’), J Fitzpatrick, A Gathern, M Sabino, Z Haulkham (Hunter – 73’), B Bacon, R Myers, A Gritt (Taylor – 83’)

Subs – A Fair, C Bull, L Hunter, D Thompson, D Taylor