Lancing made a few changes from the team that battled so well in the midweek away Emirates Cup replay, when they fell to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Premier side Carshalton Athletic.
Lancing included two young, but highly promising full backs, Charlie Gibson on the left and Shay Matthews on the right. Not a gamble by manager David Altendorff, as both came on against Carshalton and proved themselves at this level. Also back was Lukas Franzen-Jones.
The Lancers were keen to show that they were not suffering a hangover from their midweek defeat , when they gave a good account of themselves, and were eager to end a barren run. This manifested itself as Lancing hit the ground running and had a couple of early efforts on goal. Lukas Franzen-Jones won the ball at the edge of the box, laying it off to Alex Laing who forced home keeper Kaluya down to make a save. Franzen-Jones then had to turn defender to win the ball back after Chipstead counter attacked down the right. Fine control by Alex Laing saw him bring a high ball down and hit a pass wide to Harry Heath. He showed his marker a clean pair of heels and finished with a well struck drive which flew past the far upright.
Briggs, Plummer and Taggart were moving the ball around well for Lancing in the middle of the park and pressure on the home defence finally paid off on 25 minutes. Lancing stole the ball just outside the penalty area, and it landed at the feet of Alex Plummer, who for the second time in successive starts, scored for the Lancers with a quick fire shot.
Chipstead came close when Reuel Powel-Downey was put in behind with a cross field pass and finished with a shot narrowly past the upright. Five minutes after taking the lead Lancing went further ahead with a clinical finish from Lukas Franzen-Jones, latching on to a pass from Andrew Briggs, he hit an accurate drive into the far corner.
Franzen-Jones came close minutes later. Shay Matthews sent Harry Heath clear on the right but Kaluya was able to put the ball behind for a corner. The corner was headed out only as far as Andrew Briggs, whose left foot drive produced another corner. The corner was played back to Shay Matthews, who hit a fierce drive back into the six-yard box. Franzen-Jones made a valiant effort to get his head to the ball but it glanced off his head and out of play.
Another good passage of play culminated an Alex Laing effort hitting the top of the cross bar. With 3 minutes left of the first 45 minutes, Chipstead had a glorious opportunity to reduce the arrears and give themselves a lift in the dressing room. Jacob Sewell embarked on a run from inside his own half, got himself into a shooting position, but with the goal gaping, dragged his shot wide.
Lancing compounded the missed opportunity by going three up on 45minutes. Alex Laing began the move which led to Lukas Franzen-Jones netting for the second time . Kaluya did well to keep Lukas’ first effort out .Unfortunately for him, the ball only came back to Lukas who succeeded with his second effort from close range.
Chipstead had made two substitutions, Dan Berry on 38 minutes and Danyaal Iqbal on 63 minutes. Berry made an impact on the left for Chipstead ,early in the second half, reaching the bye-line and forcing Alieu Secka to get down at his near post and concede a corner.
On 58 minutes Lancing looked to have booked their passage into the next round by going four goals clear and seeming to be in cruise control. A clever piece of skill by Lukas Franzen-Jones led to him getting clear on the left, from where he delivered a cross into the six-yard box. Harry Heath rose well to head across goal where Andrew Briggs was on hand to finish.
Lancing brought on the experienced Will Berry and front man Kaiden Hummerston to provide fresh legs on an extremely hot afternoon and help see out the final 30 minutes, or so. However both Chipstead substitutes had other ideas .Iqbal on the right and Berry on the left looked full of energy. Shay Matthews and Charlie Gibson had to be on their best mettle to contain them. With just under a quarter of an hour to go Iqbal got on the end of a ball over the top and pulled one back for Chipstead. Lancing then brought on Callum Dowdell, always a willing runner, for George Taggart.
Chipstead now found another gear and created a number of chances. Arlie Desganges volleyed wide. Lewis Taylor skimmed the cross bar and Desganges came close with a shot from outside the box which landed on the roof of the net. At the other end, Andrew Briggs hit a powerful shot which brought a good save.
As the game reached its final stages, Arlie Desganges produced a bolt from the blue which flew into the top corner. A certain amount of nervousness crept into Lancing’s play .84 minutes gone and 5 minutes of added time to be played. Could there be a dramatic fight back by Chipstead .Alieu Secka was caught out trying to allow the ball to run out of play but it failed to cross the line and he had to scamper back to his goal to be in position to keep it out. Alieu then had to scramble on the ground for a loose ball, being injured in the process and finally get a hand to ball pumped in towards his goal.
A sense of relief when the final whistle blew. From a position of comfort, with Lancing well in control, the final 20 minutes belonged to Chipstead. Whether it was a case of Lancing relaxing when 4 goals clear or Chipstead suddenly finding some belief as a result of the energetic performance of two good substitutes. Probably a mixture of both. Nevertheless, it was Lancing who can now look forward to an away trip to play Ascot F.C another Isthmian South Central team on September 23rd, in the next round.
The discussion around the choice of Player of the Match centred on 2 goals and an assist for Lukas Franzen-Jones, plus some solid defensive work early in the first half, and the mature defensive performance by a young Shay Matthews ( also young Charlie Gibson showing similar qualities).By slender majority the award went to Shay. Lukas , sportingly, acknowledged the decision.
