Two second half goals saw off Oakwood, as Pagham recorded their first victory of the new season. With the Lions missing Rob Wimble and Brett Forden, Gary Block was forced to shuffle his attacking resources. In came Matt Wood following some impressive pre-season performances to partner Michael Frangou. Also in the Lions starting line-up was Dan Martin, following a long absence from the Lions team due to work commitments. Unfortunately his contribution to the game lasted all of three minutes. Following a clash of heads between him and Oakwood’s Mike Smith, Martin was led from the field with a gash on his forehead. Some dextrous bandaging by Colin Mills stemmed the flow of blood, but the unlucky Pagham player was still destined to spend Saturday afternoon in A & E. Back on the pitch, Although down to 10 men whilst it was decided if Martin could continue, Pagham had much of the early exchanges with only Russell Wells for the Oaks showing any sign of threatening Wes Hallet’s goal. A free-kick by Liam Buchan did momentarily shake Pagham’s resolve, but the action was concentrated around Glen Fitzcoy’s goal at the other end. A fine cross from Keiron Urquhart put Louis Haga-Hammond through, only for the shot to go wide. Ashley Hunter attempted to open his account for the season, but his long range effort missed the target. In the absence of Pat Massaro, Oakwood’s main striker was Matt Canavan. Just after the half hour his run and shot almost eluded Wes Hallett. Russell Wells followed this up with a strike that was cleared by the Lions rearguard. The minutes were ticking down to the end of the first half as Michael Frangou was allowed time and space to get into the area. He was foiled by Fitzcoy to end an entertaining first period of play.

The second half was little more than a minute old when Pagham took the lead. Excellent approach work gave Louis Haga-Hammond time and space to smash the ball into the net. Further Pagham pressure resulted in Wells having far to go to clear the in-coming ball. Ashley Hunter’s dead-ball expertise almost paid dividends when his free-kick was only just saved by Fitzcoy. Oaks’ boss Lee Butcher rang the changes as Gary Bidwell sloped off to be replaced by Hillier. Pagham piled on the pressure, with a corner being cleared to Pagham’s end of the field. Wes Hallett decided to play rush-goalie and his ball into the area caused all sorts of panic to Oakwood’s defence. Canavan tried his luck from range, but the offside flag was proving to be a problem for Oakwood’s strikers. Having already made another substitution with Brownlee replacing Mike Smith, Oakwood had one last throw of the dice on 72 minutes as Lee Hunter came on to replace Craig Lewis. A free-kick for the home side shortly afterward was easily cleared as Pagham could sniff another goal from somewhere. Gary Block took off the industrious Keiron Urquhart as Andy Cox came on to inject some pace on the wing. By this time there was less than fifteen minutes on the clock. Michael Frangou took advantage of a good cross to head onto the bar as the Lions searched for a second goal. With the defence exposed, Oakwood did get some breaks, as Tom Familton’s run showed. His shot was cleared, but Oakwood weren’t finished yet. A foul by Billy Chatfield allowed Oakwood a free-kick just outside Pagham’s area. Matt Canavan took it, only to see Wes Hallett pull off a tremendous save to tip the ball round the post. Canavan tried again from open play before Lewis Hamilton sped into Oakwood’s area to tuck away a deserved second goal.

Oakwood; G.Fitzcoy, C.Lewis, A.Rogers, T.Familton, S.Didwell, J.Edwards, R.Wells, L.Buchan, M.Canavan, G.Bidwell; M.Gardner, G.Hillier, L.Hunter, M.Brownlee, L.Butcher
Pagham; W.Hallett, T.Lester, A.Hunter, B.Chatfield, S.Towers, K.Urquhart, L.Hamilton. D.Peach, D.Martin, M.Frangou, M.Wood; D.Cowton, L.Haga-Hammond, A.Cox, C.Heller, R.McLelland