Match Report courtesy of Lancing FC committee member, Dave Wilmott. Our thanks to him for his time to write this report
Arundel 3 v 1 Lancing
It was a case of “After the Lord Mayor’s Show “ as Lancing suffered a surprising defeat at the hands of struggling Arundel, coming after a well- earned victory over high riding Saltdean in their previous game.
Lancing welcomed back skipper Alex Bygraves after a two game absence, and he was partnered in the centre of defence by Daniel Pollard, starting only his second game after a long injury absence. It was the unfortunate Pollard who conceded a penalty early in the game. Ben Purkis, deputising in goal for Matt Evans was unable to prevent Ben Gray converting from the spot to put Arundel one up.
Lancing were soon back on level terms, as Matt Daniel kept a cool head to find the bottom corner of the net from close range. A good break by Noah Dudok van Heel looked promising but his fierce drive flew over the crossbar.
Arundel hit back and came close with a shot which struck the crossbar and shortly afterwards Harry Russell took advantage of some slack defending to restore Arundel’s lead. Lancing’s Jonathan Lansdale came close to scoring, forcing a good save from keeper Dion Jarvis from a long range free-kick.
The second-half saw the introduction of Daniel Turner for Robin Deen but his energetic running was hampered by the poor surface, which the Lancing team could not master as well as the home team. Lancing had a lucky escape when Nicolas Di Arienzo was dispossessed and Arundel broke clear down the left. Some good defending snuffed out the danger but lead to an Arundel corner. The ball was played into the danger area and a shot fired in which rebounded from the upright.
Noah Dudok van Heel then broke through Arundel winning a corner from which Liam Hendy headed over from a good position.
Arundel looked more and more threatening as the game wore on and Ben Purkis was called upon several times to prevent his side falling further behind. But with less than 25 minutes left to play, Arundel gave themselves a breathing space when David Crouch headed home from close range. Lancing did not give up and continued to press forward. Nicolas Di Arienzo initiated a good move down the left flank, feeding Matt Daniel, and his superb cross found Daniel Turner at full stretch at the far post.
It was a difficult scoring opportunity and Dan was unable to keep the ball low enough to enter the net. Mark Pulling then threw on two more attacking players. Firstly, new signing Michael Death, followed by Callum Wells, but Lancing could not find a way through the home defence.
There was a look of dejection on the faces of the Lancing players as they left the pitch, knowing that a game which, on paper, should not have posed too much of a threat proved to be rather more of a challenge.
Dave Wilmott
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1. Dion Jarvis
2. Owen Benfell
3. Dan Gibb (withdrawn)
4. Jordan Dudas (Capt)
5. Dylan Jelley
6. Jordan Layton (withdrawn)
7. Ryan Hallett
8. Matt Noble
9. Harry Russell
10. Dave Crouch
11. Ben Gray (withdrawn)
12. Nathan Foster
14. Nick Fish
15. Harry Potts (used)
16. Seamus Griffin-Tilley (used)
17. Joe Allen (used)
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Attendance– 39
Goal Scorers– B.Gray, H.Russell, D.Crouch
Yellow Cards– B.Gray, J.Dudas.
Red Cards– N/A