Munday praises Alfold’s character, double debutant scorer and opponents AFC Varndeanians

Having made the switch from local rivals Storrington last week, he marked his first Fold appearance in some style with two first-half goals.

It brought up the host’s 16th league win of the campaign and kept them two points behind leaders Steyning Town.

Alfold led inside ten minutes through Lucas. Right-back Kieron Joseph passed into the lively new signing, who played a quick one-two with Tiago Andrade to then finish coolly past the keeper.

Lucas doubled the lead on 26 minutes with a superb finish from outside the box into the far bottom left corner.

The second half started with Alfold looking to increase their lead, but just five minutes in Aiden Cawte saw red much to his and the crowd’s surprise after the referee deemed his tackle dangerous and reckless.

This changed the complexion of the game and Alfold went from on the front foot to the back. Varndeanians had lots of possession but didn’t really threaten having lost both Matt Waterman and Joe Keehan in the first half to injury.

‘Fold manager Jack Munday said: “The team have shown we are capable of seeing out games in difficult situations, thankfully after scoring two goals in the first half we had a bit of a cushion to protect.

“We managed it well with our experienced players like Andy Howard and Jack Stafford taking charge. Credit to Kelvin Lucas who proved exactly why I’ve wanted him at Alfold all season.

“Varndeanians gave us two great games this season before today, they are a tough side to beat and I would still not rule them out of the title race as there is a lot of football still to play. They have contributed highly to what has been the most competitive this division has been in years.”

Alfold: Correia, Joseph, Jacques, Howard, Cawte, Stafford, Nourse, Mase, Lucas (Wanstall), Andrade (Sultan), De Meyer (Hallett), Unused: Fowler, Chowney.