Pagham stun Steyning with early blows

Pagham raced into a two-goal lead in just five minutes, George Bingham smashing home in the fourth as Ben Clark-Eden nodded on a corner, and Jared Rance doubling the lead a minute later with a lovely solo effort.

With the Lions seemingly well in control of the game it was a surprise when Steyning pulled a goal back on 23 minutes, Ryan Timms sending a skidding shot from the edge of the box just past Conor Kelly’s right hand and into the bottom corner of the Pagham net.

Pagham were still well on top and Joe Bennet was unlucky with an angled header, after another excellent run by Rance, that just flew over the bar. The last ten minutes of the half belonged to Steyning, but excellent all-round defending by the Lions kept them comfortably at Bay.

The second-half started quite evenly, if a bit niggly, before Jack Barnes had a goal disallowed for offside. The game then became somewhat scrappy until Grant Radmore sent a header over the bar to trigger a period of more Pagham pressure.

It paid off when Rance was brought down just inside the box in the 78th minute and as in the last game, he smashed it home with some aplomb. He was not quite finished though, and he completed his hat-trick in the last minute, crashing a cross from Barnes high into the roof of the net from close in for a final score of 4-1.

Pagham boss Kerry Hardwell said: "It was a very pleasing night's work from the all the boys. Knowing Steyning had a negative result at the weekend we asked the boys to start sharp and fast and we certainly did that with George Bingham scoring a potential goal of the season goal and Jared Rance supplying a bit of magic to put us two up within six minutes.

"Steyning gradually got themselves back into it and deserved their goal and we really had to ride the wave for a good 20 minutes. The second half we controlled, which was pleasing for me as the boys' level of fitness really came through and it was quite clear to see they had worked hard throughout the lockdown period.

"I was very pleased for Jared Rance to get his first hat-trick for the club and he knows I expect that most weeks from him as he has that quality to do it in this league. We will now work hard at training Thursday ahead of our toughest test so far this season, an away trip to Horley on Saturday."

Pagham: Conor Kelly, Tom Atkinson, Ryan Hallett, George Bingham (Ollie Hambleton), Conor Geoghegan, Ben Clark-Eden, Jared Rance, Jack Barnes, Grant Radmore (Dave Crouch), Sam Connolly & Joe Bennett (Ash Hawkes). Subs not used: Jake Heryet & Dylan Jelley.