Ruth: Varndeanians provided a real challenge

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Albion reached the third round of the Sussex Senior Cup on Wednesday night thanks to a 1-0 win over Varndeanians.

Nick Szczepanik

2024-10-10T11:00+01:00

Shannon Ruth's team reached the third round of the competition. 📷 by James Boardman.

Albion under-21s head coach Shannon Ruth was pleased with his side’s progress into the third round of the Sussex Transport Senior Cup thanks to their 1-0 victory over AFC Varndeanians at Withdean Stadium on Wednesday evening.

But he also had praise for Varndeanians, from the ninth-tier Southern Combination Premier, who restricted Albion to a single goal, scored by Louis Flower after 21 minutes, just four days after his side had beaten Crystal Palace 10-0 in Premier League 2.

Not only did their team ensure a hard-fought battle, but the club also did an excellent job of hosting the match, which attracted a crowd of 701.

“I thought Varndeanians did fantastically tonight and made it really tough for us and first of all, a really good evening for everyone involved, for our football club returning to Withdean and for the support that was here tonight,” he said. “And the crowd made it a really good experience for our young players.

“It was a challenge tonight. So, first and foremost a really good evening from that perspective. These games are not straightforward for the young players. It’s an environment that they’re not used to. And for us to get a clean sheet - we should have had more goals, we’re disappointed with that - but to get through with a clean sheet and to have the control that we had, we’re very pleased.”

Gary Dicker made 51 appearances for Albion at Withdean. 📷 by James Boardman.

Ruth and his staff ensured that the players understood the significance of a return to the stadium which Albion’s first team called home between 1999 and 2011. Ruth’s assistant Gary Dicker made 51 appearances at Withdean, scoring four times at the so-called ‘Theatre of Trees.’

“Just before the game we played the 25 young guys a video that the media team put together, of the club just about staying in the [league] to coming to the Withdean and then making its way into Europe, a wonderful video. We showed them that to give the players a flavour of what this ground means and the story of the football club. Gary was very nostalgic, giving everyone a tour. Mainly of the centre circle; he said, ‘That’s where I stayed, really.’

“We have a lot of talented young players now but it’s really important to us that they understand what this football club means and the journey it has been on. So that was really evident in their minds, and probably added a bit of pressure at the same time.”

As did the raised expectations that might have followed that thumping of Palace. “If you win by the scoreline we won by, but also the publicity that the scoreline got, the key for us was to try to humble the players, and ensure that we took the processes that we did well out of that game to move forward and develop from, but we didn’t get carried away. Because tonight could have been a hiccup for us after that.

Albion successfully followed up their 10-0 win over Palace in Premier League 2 on Saturday with a win over Varndeanians in the Sussex Senior Cup. 📷 by James Boardman.

“So it was important to freshen the team up. Some played that did play on Saturday but some also played that didn’t, just to keep that hunger and the key from Saturday to this game was to reinforce how tough these fixtures can be.”

That was not, Ruth emphasised, to devalue the 10-0 win. “I was delighted with our performance, it was the best we have played, everything sort of felt like it came together. And we were playing a good Palace side. They made one change from their previous fixture and they hadn’t lost all season. In the league they’d won two and drawn two and I think they’d won their two EFL Trophy games, so we were playing a really good side and I think our start and our intensity dampened them.

“We scored an early goal through Cam Peupion, and in fairness to our players, we were so ruthless and so hungry to keep going for more that I think it led to Palace having a bad day while we continued to grow and get better and better. By the end it was a scoreline that people didn’t expect.”