Goalkeeper Libby Kingshott, defenders Eleanor Keegan, Holly Talbut-Smith and Mia South alongside winger Lauren Amerena were the few familiar faces to line-up for the Rebels.

While Brooke Marshall took to the pitch for the Hampshire-based opposition, to make her return to a very different Woodside Road from the one she’d graced earlier in her career.

However, it was another newbie, Skye Bacon who had the first real opportunity of the afternoon following good link-up play between the obligatory Trialist A and goalscorer Smith, only to hook her shot over the crossbar with her weaker right foot.

Five minutes later, ‘keeper Kingshott rushed out to intercept Lena Stroem’s through ball and prevent Sophie Bell from potentially doing further damage.

Otherwise, it had been a positive start by the hosts despite the lack of clear-cut chances.

Although Charmaine True threatened to undo all the good work but, a long way out, her ambitious effort dipped a fraction too late and landed on top of the net.

The tables were beginning to turn slightly and it took some fine defensive work by Amerena, who spotted the danger before nicking the ball off the toes of Millie Bradbury, after the AFC number nineteen had done particularly well to work space for the shot initially.

Fortune failed to smile on Worthing though via a strong wind causing Kingshott to misjudge a high, hanging right wing cross, leaving early substitute Lauren Aitken with the easiest goal she’ll probably ever score to break the deadlock.

Shortly afterwards, in first-half stoppage time, the same player helped to double the visitor’s advantage by sending in a low left flank centre for an unmarked True to convert from close-range.

Undeterred, Amerena took matters into her own hands; stealing possession and subsequently showing a terrific burst of pace during a left wing surge that saw her break into the box and coolly steer beyond netminder Millie Holloway, to pull one back in the opening seconds after the break.

Not that the deficit stayed at a single strike for very long, as roles were somewhat reversed when travelling Captain Gemma Hillier robbed South in the opposing eighteen yard area to provide True with an easy tap-in to quickly restore Portchy’s two-goal winning margin.

Good approach work on the right almost resulted in the Blues increasing the gap even further, though Kingshott got down well to hold onto Bradbury’s edge-of-the-box attempt.

In answer to the questions being asked of them, the Reds reacted by way of Amerena adding an assist to her afternoon’s endeavours and seeing Smith volley in emphatically to open her account, on her first appearance at the Sussex Transport Community Stadium.

Around the midway mark of the second forty-five, the double Portsmouth Senior Cup finalists came mightily close to making it four, following another another spell of free-flowing football allowing Sarah Butterworth to deliver a dangerous ball into the danger zone, where both Bradbury and Aitken went for it but neither could make contact and the threat soon evaporated.

A minute or so later, only some brave goalkeeping by Holloway forstalled Amerena bagging her brace at the end of a scramble on the periphery of the six yard box.

The laws of gravity were quickly being thumbed through after Hillier’s shot for the visitors hit the inside of the far post, rolled perilously close to the goalline but somehow stayed out with a little more than ten minutes to go.

It then fell to fellow Captain Eleanor Keegan to suffer frustration twice in quick succession, as she came within a whisker of opening her account for the homesters not once but twice in a short space of time.

Firstly, Talbut-Smith received a short corner before firing over a cross that a stooping Keegan got on the end of but was thwarted by Holloway.

Then, a near-identical situation occurred through Amerena picking out our ‘Skip’ directly via a flag-kick, only to see her celebrations cut short once more with Worthing looking to gain a share of the spoils.

The result was nearly put beyond doubt though in the final throes of a warm and windy summers day and Lady Luck certainly had a helping hand.

Bradbury making hay on the right but unable to keep her effort low enough to trouble Kingshott
between the sticks.