There had been little hint of the thrilling drama to come when Harry H struck thrice inside the opening ten minutes for what must surely be the quickest ever treble by a Lancer. That had seemingly set us on a serene path to a routine victory but, by the end, this pre-Christmas cracker had unexpectedly developed into a seven-goal thriller for the ages.

There were four changes from the 4-1 defeat at Ramsgate. Harrison, Noel, Ryan and the suspended Knory were not involved so Shay Matthews, Tags, Ta’shae and Lewis Lembikisa were restored to the XI.

The 261 fans inside the ground on the final Saturday before Christmas barely had time to settle before Lancing took the lead. It looked a move straight off the training ground as a sweeping move down the left saw the ball recycled to Taggart, and he crossed for the onrushing Heath to sweep the ball home from close range. Hurricane Harry had arrived and showed no signs of abating.

A good start became an even better one in the fourth minute as the returning Ta’shae found Harry H with an excellent through ball. Harry cut inside, dropped his shoulder and let fly with a superb 25 yarder that curled beyond Jordan Perrin to spark delirium inside Culver Road.

Sevenoaks had no time to consider what had hit them and, incredibly, were on the end of a hat-trick after only ten minutes. There surely cannot have been a quicker triple whammy in the illustrious history of the yellow and blue (any historians out there, feel free to correct me). It was another eye-catching move from Morgan’s side as Taggart and Ta’shae linked up to find Shay and his cross saw Harry turn in beyond Perrin at the culmination of a superb passing move – 3-0 and Lancing in metaphorical dreamland.

Yet this position of comfort was both a blessing and a curse for the Yellow and Blue. A 3-0 lead that early in a game can lead to complacency and a psychological relaxation of minds and bodies. Slowly but surely, the visitors began to make life uncomfortable for Lancing.

James Jeffrey went close from distance and Ryan Sawyer fired wide before Sevenoaks made inroads into the Lancers lead with a goal of their own. It came eight minutes shy of the interval as Joshua Wisson’s 25 yarder found its way in, but not without a hint of controversy with a foul on Leon Moore going unpunished in the build up.

Half time: Lancing 3-1 Sevenoaks Town

Despite Lancing’s relative position of comfort, the main topic of conversation during the half-time interval was the importance of the game’s next goal.
The ground was soon engulfed by a nasty case of the ‘jitters’ as Sevenoaks threatened to rescue a tie that had looked beyond them. Shortly after Jahmal Howlett – Mundle had been denied by James Dillon, The Oaks were back to within striking distance.
Jefferson Aibangbee collected the ball and, with the Lancers defence AWOL, danced into the penalty area to slam the ball beyond Dillon five minutes after the restart.

But no sooner was there the sound of collective bums squeaking, than Lancing kept their heads and immediately restored our two-goal buffer. It was a set piece from Gibbo who picked out the run of Harry H – who else – to flick the ball home and complete his awesome foursome.

That finally seemed to have doused the Sevenoaks fire but this twisty festive thriller had one final act. After Jamie Splatt fired wide and Ta’shae had a shot blocked at the other end, Wisson was sent sprawling to the turf under a challenge. With ten minutes left, Aibangbee stepped up to once more bring the Oaks within reach and again send nerves jangling. This time, though, there was to be no unwelcome sting in the tail – even if Morgs was sent from the dugout for kicking the ball away as emotions boiled over.

And so it was: Lancing almost snatched a draw from the jaws of victory but our latest act of derring do brought festive cheer to Culver Road. We are now looking up the table rather than down and face struggling derby rivals Steyning on Boxing Day. Then comes the visit of Deal Town before a New Year’s Day dust up with another relegation rival as Littlehampton make the short hop up the A27.

It just remains for me to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, eat, drink be merry and as always… YABA!

Lancing XI: James Dillon; Shay Matthews, Jack Meeres, Harry Docherty, Charlie Gibson; Leon Moore, George Taggart; Blake Loyza, Ta’shae Andall – Gibbons, Lewis Lembikisa; Harry Heath. Substitutes: Emmanuel Adubiore (for Loyza 76), Callum Erskine, Ryan Atkinson, Ryan Riddles, Dan Gibson.