Lancing were dramatically undone by a Stan Bridgman brace as big spending Steyning finally prevailed in this thrilling topsy turvy derby.
A seismic shock had looked in the offing as Coxy’s young side twice raced into a two goal lead, but – for all their excellent work both on and off the ball – proved architects of their own downfall.  It was Lancing’s third successive league loss to start the new season, albeit with the caveat of coming against three opponents expected to be in the thick of the promotion race. 

After Jarvis was left with the freedom of Steyning to steer in the leveller, the winner, which came in the 91st minute, was even more criminal.
Their umpteenth corner flew through a posse of players to find its way to the back stick where Bridgman, completely unmarked and open, was presented with the easiest finish of his career. 

So whilst there was much to admire about Lancing’s commitment, grit and work rate, this was undermined by a naivety in defence – and from set pieces –  that must be ironed out if Lancing are to be successful this season. 

Lancing made the shortest of hops up the A27 for a Tuesday night derby under the lights. Both these sides were relegated together last term, but in contrast to a young and transitional Lancing team, Steyning have flexed their financial muscles. 

With a powerful, pacy squad and plenty of strength in depth, it is no surprise they are one of the favourites for the title. There were a number of former Lancing faces in the Barrowman XI including the Harrys Heath and Docherty, Conrad Honore, Max Blencowe and Stan Berry. Evan Hoarty was on the bench with another former flame, Finn Daniels-Yeomans, sidelined. Coxy kept faith in the side that impressively despatched Harefield in Saturday’s FA Cup tie.

Heath and Berry combined well to have the first sniff of goal for Steyning but namesake Will reacted well to flick away his header and clear the danger.
The opening goal came with our first attack of the game. In keeping with so much of the major action in this superbly see-sawing contest, it came from a set piece. Whipped in by Marcos, Ryan Riddles had a pop at goal, the rebound fell to Zachariah Rhioui whose effort on goal was handled on the line
Frankie dusted himself down to send former Lancing keeper Mitch Bromage the wrong way and give us an unlikely lead. 

Zachariah fired over the bar when well-placed but a good start for us got even better two minutes further on. A lightning quick break from midfield saw the ball worked from Gabe to Riddles and on to Rhioui to race through and slide the ball beyond the advancing Bromage. 2-0 after 18 minutes and Lancing’s supporters were barely able to believe what they were seeing.

To describe what followed as an onslaught would be a gross understatement. In all my years involvement in local football, I’ve never seen anything quite like what came next. One way traffic is putting it politely.
Dion Jarvis saw his shot tipped over by Brown and from the resultant corner Berry had a shot deflected narrowly wide.
Jordan saved one on one to keep out the familiar feet of Heath, and Lateef Oladokun should have done better with a header.
Steyning’s pressure finally told as Bridgman’s excellent curler from the edge of the box flew beyond the reach of Jordan to halve the deficit.
Lancers were now a team under siege in the face of relentless pressure and Steyning at times seemed to have more men on the field as they stormed forwards at will.
Ellis hacked off the line from a Honore header, another ex-Lancer, this time Docherty, tested the reactions of Brown before Lancing cleared off the line again for the second time in a matter of moments. 

Brown saved superbly from Heath as the half time interval brought welcome respite for the besieged visitors.

Half time: Steyning Town Community 1-2 Lancing 

More of the same was expected after the interval with a leveller looking inevitable. 

Yet incredibly, improbably, the Steyning storm blew itself out and Lancing re-established their two-goal lead. It was another brilliant breakaway as Collier found Gabe whom in turn moved the ball on to Hurst to roll in under Bromage for 3-1. At this stage, it looked as though one of the shocks of the season might just happen. 

Robinson could, maybe should, have made it 4-1 and surely put the result beyond even this superb Steyning side. It was yet another counter attack but Gabe seemed caught in two minds over where to place his shot and in the end just drilled it straight into the legs of the keeper. 

From then on, it all began to unravel. Belal’s errant backheader needed saving by Brown but, from the outswinging flag-kick, the ball found its way to Jarvis. The ex-Littlehampton man let fly and beat Jordan all ends up with a stunning finish 25 yards out. 

It was a copy and paste job for the equaliser. Yet another set piece, questionable Lancing marking and a Jarvis header beyond Jordan. 3-3: but there were yet more twists to come in this particular tale. 

Rhioui was sent off for reacting petulantly to a foul on him, kicking the ball away to receive a second yellow and leave the Lancers a man light in the closing stages.
From being in a position of relative comfort, it would need a Herculean effort to hold out for a point in the face of a late Steyning siege. Heath was narrowly off target with a header, the hat-trick hunting Jarvis flashed an effort wide and Brown saved twice to just about preserve parity. 

But then Lancing’s own self-inflicted fate was sealed. Bridgman must have thought all his Christmases had come at once to profit from more non-existent marking in the final act of this stunning seven goal bonanza. 

MOTM: There were a number of excellent performances, but my vote goes to left-back Ellis Collier for a fine all round display.