Pagham missed the chance to go clear at the top in this Christmas cracker of a game. Having already won 3-2 here in the John O’Hara cup this season, and with Rye winning, Pagham should have made sure of the win before Selsey’s late equaliser. It was the Lions who took an early lead, Dan Simmonds striking home with only five minutes on the clock. Keeping his place after a fine display midweek, the youngster took his chance well to beat Sam Joyce in the blues goal. Selsey came roaring back with Luke Killner shooting just over, Graham Bush also going close and Toby Pointing testing wes Hallett all in the space of three minutes following the opening goal. Joyce was called into action as a header from Tom Broadbent missiled goalwards, only for Joyce to grab the ball. Graham Bush also had another chance to equalise as he headed over from a right sided cross. Two minutes from the break Selsey were rewarded for their efforts. A cracking long range strike from Joss Parsons nosed into the net to leave the sides equal at the interval.

Pagham were quickest out of the blocks in the second half, with both Ben Buckland and Howard Neighbour creating chances. Buckland did score on the hour mark, capitalising on a rebound to smash the ball past a diving Joyce. With the Lions 2-1 up, Selsey were put on the back foot, although David Styles did create space to run and shoot at Wes Hallett. Former Lion Calum Britton was on hand to rescue Selsey as he blocked a pile-driver from Howard Neighbour. The Lions next went closest as Dan Simmonds put Scott Murfin through, only for the offside flag to rob him of his chance. Neil Murfin went down injured with fifteen to go, and on came Matt Wood as the hard working Murfin was unable to continue. The traditional booking in these derbies came in the seventy eighth minute, Sean Dobbs seeing yellow for a tackle on Dan Simmonds. A flurry of substitutions saw Lafferty and Carl Turney come on for Selsey, James Temple come on for Pagham whilst Luke Killner, Callum Britton and Scott Murfin left the field. As the game looked to be swinging toward Pagham, a final throw of the dice by Carl Stabler saw Ross Woolf come on, and Dan Simmonds go off. This seemed to disorientate the Pagham side enough for Graham Bush to strike a well deserved equaliser with just a minute of normal time left.

Selsey; S.Joyce, C.Britton (C.Turney 87), T.Pointing, S.Dobbs, J.Boniface, M.Lee, L.Killner(J.Lafferty 79), J.Parsons, R.Wimble, G.Bush, D.Styles;J.Tribe, S.Morey, O.Hagger
Pagham; W.Hallett, B.Buckland, T.Broadbent, D.Pearce, A.Ward, P.Jones, L.Hyde, N.Murfin (M.Wood 75), D.Simmonds(R.Woolf 88), S.Murfin (J.Temple 82); S.Hinshelwood