LANCING STARTING XI 

Alieu Secka, Harrison Parker,Mahamadou Juwara, Finn Daniels-Yeoman, Conrad Honore, Liam Hendy, Bradley Campbell-Francis, Will Berry, Ismaila Diallo, Mark Goldson, Matt Daniel,

SUBSTITUTES
Darius Goldsmith, Anesu Sisimayi, Lorenzo Lewis,Mohamed Joumaa Zabadne

Lancing faced a formidable challenge in this Sussex Senior Cup match coming up against a squad full of first team players, including a very experienced central defender Joel Lynch, formerly with Brighton, Notts.Forest, Huddersfield and QPR. He can also include on his CV, a full Wales international cap.
The attached match report from Crawley town is a fair description from their point of view but I would like to throw in a few comments. There is clearly going to be a gulf ,which is difficult to bridge between full time professionals and unpaid amateurs , but the Lancing players certainly did their utmost to bridge that gap. They could not be faulted for the amount of effort they put into the game and did not play as if they believed they were the clear underdogs. Their approach was to try and win not just to try to avoid a humiliating defeat.

10 minutes into the game good attacking play by Brad Campbell-Francis created a good chance for Matt Daniel to put Lancing ahead but Belgian keeper Blondy Nan Noukeu brought of a good save to deny Matt.

But on 28 minutes , the first of two defensive errors were heavily punished Jake Hessenthaler put Crawley one up and just over 10 minutes later Alex Battle seized on another piece of careless defending to put Crawley two up. Despite this set back Lancing continued to try ant take the game to the opposition. They tackled well and did not make. Life easy for the opposition. Every player showed great commitment. Mark Goldson showed good defensive strength and Bradley was able to get forward well and deliver some good crosses.

James Tilley added a third goal for the visitors on 47 minutes, followed by a second for Battle on 67 minutes.

Lancing delighted their supporters when Will Berry scored after a goal mouth scramble on 76 minutes. But the superior fitness levels which is to be expected of full time professionals told in the final stages as Tilley got his second on 83 minutes and a cleverly executed lob from just inside the Lancing half by substitute Amrit Bansal -McNulty which caught Alieu Secka stranded off his goal line sealed the victory.
A good crowd of 318 were entertained by some classy football from Crawley Town but were also appreciative of the effort the Lancing players put into the game. Certainly no humiliation but a lot of credit for giving their all.

The committee had a difficult task to select a MOM but settled for Harrison Parker who was a pillar of strength and came through strongly despite receiving a few knocks.

Dave Wilmott