Pagham eased their way into round 3 of the Senior Cup as Ryman League Eastbourne Town were well beaten at Nyetimber Lane. With both sides having claims of missing regular players, it was the Lions who took their chances, whilst Eastbourne were guilty of missing the chances they had. The first goal came in the 12th minute as Dan Simmonds ghosted in from the right to shoot past Callum Christie in the visitors goal. This spurred the visitors into action, Scott Kirkwood and Nathan Crabb both having scoring opportunities, both spurned. Danny Simmonds could have doubled the lead just on the quarter hour, but his run through was curtailed. Stacey Freeman headed just wide for the visitors, whilst an Eastbourne attack on the half hour saw a crossfield ball completely mistimed to give away another scoring opening. Pagham weren’t averse to misses themselves, Daren Pearce shooting well over with six minutes of the half left. Pagham’s recent spate of injuries got worse on 40 minutes, as a hamstring injury forced off the unlucky Michael Frangou. The first booking of the game followed as Sam Crabb clawed his way into Referee Mr Lee’s book with a late tackle on James Temple. Save of the match came in the final minute of the half as Wes Hallett pulled off a superb stop from the inrushing Nathan Crabb.

Shots for either side at the start of the second half, with Scott Murfin’s shot lacking power for the Lions, whilst Nick Fogden and Stacey Freeman missed the target completely for the visitors. Goal number two for the Lions came just before the hour, James Temple guiding the ball home for his ninth goal of the season. This prompted a change of ‘keeper for the visitors as Toby Godfrey replaced Christie, who’d been struggling with a knock for most of the second half. The Lions pressed on and the third goal came direct from a free-kick. Greg Robinson made the most of a rare starting place with a superb free-kick that Godfrey only saw when the ball was in the back of the net. Another brace of corners for Eastbourne forced Wes into a tremendous save to keep the Lions ahead. Jordan Lang’s shot was too weak to trouble Hallett, whilst a Pagham free-kick missed the target with 10 minutes to go. Scott Murfin left the pitch with a groin injury to be replaced by Keiron Urquhart. Nine minutes to go, and another close shave for Pagham. A corner was swung in, only for Godfrey to catch the ball. Danny Simmonds involvement ended when Anders Wyatt came on with four minutes left. James Temple’s run and shot a minute later deserved better than being scrambled away. The game ended with a trio of chances for the visitors, all wasted, and a well deserved victory for the Lions.

Pagham; W.Hallet, B.Buckland, R.Cox, D.Pearce, A.Ward, J.Booker, M.Frangou (Griffin 40), G.Robinson, J.Temple, S.Murfin(K.Urquhart 80), D.Simmonds (A.Wyatt 86);subs not used N.Murfin, J.Binfield (GK)
Eastbourne Town; C.Christie, A.Davidson, O.Kessack, D.Brooks, N.FOgden, S.Elliott, S.Kirkwood, S.Crabb, N.Crabb, S.Freeman, J.Lang; C.Farlane, J.Lusted, G.Luca, D.Gard, T.Godfrey (GK)