"No hiding place for Lewis against Lancing "

Only time will tell how crucial this result was, but on Saturday it ended with Lancing leapfrogging the Lions into second place in the table. With Wes Hallett still out with a knee injury, young James Binfield deputised in goal, and was by far the busier of the two keepers. It started well for the home side, with Howard Neighbour, Scott Murfin and Alex Ward all in on goal. Each of the chances went begging, but at least intent was shown by the Lions. The visitors had other ideas, however, and in the 13th minute, Charlie Walker had time and space to strike home his 16th league goal of the season. Back came the Lions, but they were limited to a long range shot from Scott Murfin, and a chance for James Temple, the ball rolling agonisingly past his outstretched leg. Pagham kept pressing forward, forcing corners, but nothing came of this, Lancing content to control the game at their pace. Lewis Hyde’s run and shot with a minute of the first half to go was Pagham’s best chance of a goal, as Scott Murfin managed to hit the side netting a minute later. One-nil down at half time, and plenty for Carl Stabler to ponder.

"Murfs does the Hokey-Cokey as Lancing lead us a merry dance"

No changes on either side at the start of the second half. Pagham contrived to hit two free-kicks straight at Tony de Bernardo in the Lancers’ goal. Grant Philpott got himself booked for a tackle on Scott Murfin.With the hour mark approaching, Lancing’s Dan McLoughlin also saw yellow for a very late challenge on Matt Wood. Sixty-two minutes in and Pagham make a change, Ben Buckland came off, to be replaced by Dan Simmonds. In a surprise move, Simmonds slotted in at left-back rather than the striking role most were expecting. More good work from Lewis Hyde forced Walker to shoot over when homing in on goal. Lee Garnham had acres of space on sixty seven minutes as he ran through and shot well over. James Binfield also had to be at his best with a save at the second attempt from a Lancers’ free-kick. James Temple caused excitement for Lions’ fans with a goal-line attempt that De Bernado just got to. The ball was rushed to the other end of the pitch and again Binfield saved Pagham’s blushes. James Temple tried again for the Lions, heading the ball straight at De Bernardo. The game ended as it began with chances for Pagham, none of which counted.

Pagham;J.Binfield, L.Hyde, B.Buckland, D.Pearce, J.Booker, A.Ward, M.Wood, N.Murfin, H.Neighbour, S.Murfin, J.Temple; S.Boston, G.Robinson, K.Urquhart, J.Price
Lancing;T.De Bernardo, A.Hunt, G.Philpott, S.O’Regan, D.Gainsford, D.McLoughlin, D,Taylor, D.Turner, C.Walker, G.Martin, L.Garnham; D.Sharman, S.Simms, B.Coles