Lancing beat Sidley to remain unbeaten in the league

It was a dominant performance, in which Lancers could have won by a much greater margin, but goals from Sam O’Regan and dual-signed Jamie Groves proved enough.

Lancing joint manager Martin Gander was happy with his side’s showing and said: “We played really well, it was a great performance and probably one of the best since I have been here. We totally dominated, apart from one chance they had early on, which was a header at the back post. We should have won by a lot more, really.”

O’Regan broke the deadlock on 35 minutes with a fine left-footed volley, after Lee Denyer had worked tirelessly to keep the ball in after a corner.

Chances piled up, both before and after the goal, with Denyer missing a couple of headers and Darren Boswell shooting just wide.

Shaheen Sadough turned and drilled wide, while Dan McLoughlin’s volley was saved. Things continued in the same fashion after the break, and Lancers hit both the bar and post.

Graham Martin scooped an effort just over from Boswell’s cross, while Jack Hayward squandered a great chance. Sadough also went close after great build-up play from Boswell and Hayward.

Just when it looked as though Lancers were not going to add to their score, the returning Groves, who is dual-signed with Worthing, finally sealed the points late on.

Gander added: “It’s a great arrangement for us with Jamie, he’ll be here until he is fully fit or Chris (White, Worthing manager) wants him back.

“He enjoys his football here and to come back and score on his debut is great. He’s a great player and an infectious character in the dressing room.”

Despite being unbeaten in the league, the Lancing joint boss is not getting over-confident. Gander added: “Looking at our results, they have stacked up okay, but we have only played five games, so we’re not getting carried away.

“To have 11 points from five games is a good start in this division. Making sure we stay up is the first aim and then we’ll look on from there. As I have said, we want to finish as high as we possibly can and this is a good foundation.”

Gander rued two defensive mistakes as his team fell to their third consecutive cup defeat, with a 2-0 loss at home to East Grinstead in the Sussex RUR Cup on Saturday.

Gander said: “Matt Evans made an unfortunate mistake for the first goal and we got caught on the break right at the end when pushing forward and they got their second.

“I don’t like losing any game, and although the league is our priority, a good cup run is always nice, so it’s disappointing.”

Wayne Joseph hit the post early on for Lancers, but they struggled to carve out chances and fell behind in the 42nd minute through Michael Death after Evans fumbled. Grinstead sealed the win on the break late on when George Smith volleyed home.

LANCING v Sidley: Evans; Hunt, Taylor, O’Regan, Groves; Denyer, McLoughlin, Boswell, Hayward; Sadough, Martin. Subs: Annis, Joseph (Sadough, Hayward 78), Lamont (Boswell 90), Pickford, Elliot.

v East Grinstead: Evans; Denyer, Pickford, O’Regan; Martin, McLoughlin, Hayward, Taylor, Joseph; Boswell, Annis. Subs: Sadough (Annis 70), Hunt (O’Regan 75), Sharman, Lamont, Banasco-Zaragoza.