After last week’s well deserved victory at Three Bridges, Pagham looked to win again against a Sidley side propping up the division 1 table. At the end of the game, it was the visitors who took the plaudits in a game that Pagham never deserved to take anything from. Gary Block went with a team unchanged from the Three Bridges game, knowing that this was the last for Doug Peach before he started his suspension following five bookings. The Lions started well, with Ashley Hunter’s pass to Rob Wimble having to be cleared by Bradley Poole. The action then switched to the other end of the pitch with Shae Spreafico unluckily judged offside. Sidley then took control with Kelly Buay and Spreafico looking especially threatening for the visitors. To Pagham’s credit, the back four held firm. Billy Chatfield and Sean Towers were probably the two busiest players on the pitch as time and again Sidley looked to get an opening goal. Pagham did occasionally get forward with Rob Wimble’s header wide on the quarter hour being the closest they got in the early stages. On a pitch which had been covered in water the night before, both teams conceded more than their fair share of free-kicks. When the opening goal came, it was more down to goal-keeper error than anything. An innocuous ball into the area was spilled by Newstead in the Sidley goal, and Jamie Angell was on hand to bundle the ball home. This spurred Sidley onto attacking Pagham’s area more, but the next chance would fall the way of the Lions. Rob Wimble engineered a shooting chance which Newstead did very well to tip over. With the minutes ticking down to the end of the first half, Sidley were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the Pagham area. Thankfully for the home side, this was bundled clear but Pagham were still not dominating the play. The last real action saw Andy Cox bought down by Poole, and Keiron Urquhart firing in the free-kick which was cleared.

The second half was not much more than five minutes old when Sidley had two scoring attempts which could have given them the lead. Neither came to anything and Gary Block was then prompted to make a change for Pagham. Off came Andy Cox to be replaced by attacking dynamo Calum Britton. At the hour mark Rob Wimble could have put the game beyond doubt. A pin-point ball in from Frangou saw Wimble shoot into the side netting. Michael Frangou then took matters into his own hands a minute later but his run and shot came to nought. Sidley kept on Pagham’s backs and Keiron Urquhart was forced to make a long clearance as Buay bore down on goal. Another change for the Lions as goalscorer Angell went off to be replaced by Danny Towers. Fresh legs were unable to add much to a low-key Pagham performance which was made worse on 71 minutes. Rob McLelland’s bringing down of Spreafico resulted in the inevitable penalty award. Up stepped Billy Tricket to give the visitors something to build on. Owen Ball went down in his own area after a challenge, but the Sidley left-back was able to continue after treatment. A last throw of the dice for the Lions saw Michael Frangou in a straight swap for Lewis Haga-Hammond. With ten minutes still to go, it was looking increasingly likely that Sidley would leave Nyetimber Lane with at least a draw. The game was coming toward the end of normal time when Rob McLelland was again involved with a Sidley forward. A collision with Buay just on the edge of the area saw the Pagham fans with worried looks on their faces. The free-kick went awry, but Sidley had done enough to show they could stage something of a comeback in the second half of the season.

Pagham; R.McLelland, K.Urquhart, A.Hunter, B.Chatfield, S.Towers, A.Cox, J.Angell, D.Peach, R.Wimble, M.Frangou, B.Forden; C.Heller, L.Haga-Hammond, D.Towers, C.Britton, W.Hallett
Sidley United;P.Newstead, O.Ball, L.Wood, B.Poole, A.Andrews, J.Elliott-Noye, C.Willard, B.Trickett, N.Tudor, S.Spreafico, K.Buay; Z.McEnery, A.Sully, J.Saunders.