A well fought win by Devils to earn another 3 points to add to last weeks win. Devils went into the game against Copthorne with a point to prove as the rival continues between the two sides. Devils lined up in a more attacking 4-4-2 formation with Rickie Revell playing as a second striker. This seemed to work as Rickie Revell picked up 2 goals for himself and played a part in another. The defence was unlucky to not keep a clean sheet due to an unsure off-side decision by the referee, which gave Copthorne a glimmer of hope at getting something from the game.

 Devils started the stronger of the two sides, putting pressure on the young team straight from the kick-off. Some good running off the ball from Will Burgess was opening opportunities to put Devils into an early lead but the passing from the midfielders wasn’t matching the runs. However, the one chance Will Burgess managed in the first 10 minutes pulled a great block from the young number 6 putting it out for a Devils corner. Delivers from wide areas was something the manager had asked for before the game and a descent far post corner from Sam Cohen onto the head of Rickie Revell was what the manager was looking for. A fantastic downward header from Rickie Revell beat the player on the post and the goalkeeper. GOAL! 1-0 Devils.  

 Copthorne responded well to conceding the early goal but a few standard saves from the inform goalkeeper Carl Garner kept the sheet clean for now. Copthorne we putting some pressure on the Devils back four but the pressure was lifted when a counter attack from a Copthorne corner ended with a disputed goal for Will Burgess. A well claimed catch by Carl Garner (who look strong in the air) and immediately kicked a long ball into the Copthorne half. A flick on from Rickie Revell gave Will Burgess a one-on-one race to the ball with number 6. Will Burgess won the race to hit home a shot to score. Some would say it was an own goal, however, the strike from Will Burgess was on target. GOAL! 2-0 Devils.

 After the second goal, Devils were hoping to relax, play some football and maybe tie the game up before half-time. BUT a poor decision by the ref to penalise Marko Quasimodo for being stronger then the Copthorne striker and the striker taking a tumble in the area, he awarded a penalty to give Copthorne a lifeline in the game. A not so confidant Copthorne number 9 stepped up to hit a tamed effort to Carl Garner’s right hand side who saved the penalty to keep the Devil’s 2-0 lead at half-time. 

 Second half started off in a bit of a struggle for the Devils, not holding onto the ball in key areas and all seemed to be rushed. With Copthorne putting the pressure on to rectify their first half performance, they looked like the team that was going to score next. However, against the run of player Matt Davies managed to end a scrambled passage of play. A corner from the right hand side by Sam Cohen who’s low cross into the area evaded the defence and a few small deflections later, the ball landed to Matt Davies inside the six yard box to calmly side foot home to extend the Devils lead. GOAL! 3-0 Devils.

 Another poor decision by the ref had allowed Copthorne to break the strong defence to deny Carl Garner and his back four a clean sheet. A long ball from a goal kick was well controlled be the big number 9 who managed to turn and thread a through ball to the quick number 10 who seemed to have beaten the off-side trap. The flag was immediately raised by the Ben Garner (the Devils linesman for the second half) and the players seemed to have stopped a part from the Copthorne striker. The striker finished to score before asking any question, but the ref allowed play to continue and awarded the goal before consulting with Ben about the decision. Unfortunately for Devils the ref was not having any of it. GOAL. 3-1 Devils!

 They say “you should always play to the whistle” and that is what Carl Garner did about 5 minutes later. Ryan Poulton was later in playing the offside trap and the number 10 was clean through with a one-on-one with Carl Garner who’s out stretched leg prevented Copthorne from closing the gap.

 Again, Carl Garner to the rescue with an unbelievable, flying, one for the cameras save from number 5. A cleared corner fell nicely to the number 5 about 30 yards out and connected with the ball beautifully. Carl Garner look to have missed it as it flew past the ducking Ryan Poulton but the keeper reacted like his life depended on it. But the danger wasn’t over. From the resulting corner, an in-swinger from the taker caught Carl Garner on the wrong foot and would have gone straight in. Albeit, a goal line header from Sam Cohen saved the goalkeeper.  

 All was over with about 15 minutes left to play when a man on a mission to lead by example scored his second of the day, Rickie Revell smashed home Devils fourth. A throw-in and cross from Steve Crook gave Rickie Revell the opportunity to control and volley an unstoppable shot just inside the Copthorne area. GOAL! 4-1 Devils.