Selsey get a bit of luck... Midhurst pay for lapses

Selsey manager Steve Bailey is looking up not down after seeing his side getting some long-overdue good luck in gaining a point in a 2-2 draw at Lingfield.
Morgan Forry was one of Selsey's scorers against Lingfield / Picture by Kate ShemiltMorgan Forry was one of Selsey's scorers against Lingfield / Picture by Kate Shemilt
Morgan Forry was one of Selsey's scorers against Lingfield / Picture by Kate Shemilt

Bailey admitted the Blues were fortunate to come away from the SCFL division-one game with a point after looking second best for the much of the afternoon.

But he said it was about time his team got the rub of the green after suffering plenty of ill fortune during a run of only one win in nine.

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Goals by Morgan Forry and, in injury time, Toby Lempriere, earned a 2-2 draw which left Selsey 11th in division one.

Bailey said: “I was pleased to get a point because Lingfield were the better side. We dug in. It’s the first we’ve been lucky for a while – we have had so much bad luck it’s not true.”

Bailey is upbeat about the Blues’ chances of climbing into a top-six position that’s their target for the season.

“We have a few games in hand on many teams and three of our next four are at home – which will be welcome after we have played six out of seven away.”

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Selsey remain a very young team – their oldest player is 25 and they have used numerous 16, 17 and 18-year-olds –and Bailey said tht was sometimes a disadvantage against older sides with more nous.

Joe Clarke, one of the 16-year-olds, has been showing up well in midfield and has been picked for an England Colleges trial, while striker Lindon Miller is another said to have great potential.

They’re out of the division-one cup after a 1-0 reverse at Billingshurst which leaves them free to focus on the league and Bailey added: “If we can take nine points from the next 12 it will make things look much better.”

Selsey host Mile Oak this Saturday and Langney a week later.

STEVE BONE

Midhurst 3 Langney 5

SCFL division one

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A disappointing day saw the Stags fall to a well-drilled Langley team.

It started well as Midhurst dominated early possession and they were ahead after 15 minutes through a 30-yard wonder-strike from the versatile Joel Stevens.

A minute later sloppy play from front to back allowed Langley to equalise immediately through Wayne Wilkinson.

The visitors made Midhurst pay for a period of sloppiness and went 2-1 up through Nathan Crabb.

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They could have gone further ahead but a couple of good saves from Cowell prevented this.

Just before half-time Lawrence Hyde equalised for Midhurst. Mason released Nial McKenley-Burke down the left. His first-time ball found Hyde, whose curling 20-yard strike nestled in the visitors’ net.

The second half saw both teams with equal possession but the turning point came on 65 minutes.

What looked like a blatant handball by the visitors wasn’t spotted by the referee. Langley made the most of the Stags appeals and caught them cold. Langney went on to lead 4-2 and added a fifth on 80 minutes to compound the hosts’ misery.

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A late penalty converted by Lewis Hamilton was a mere consolation for Midhurst, who will look to bounce back in a tough one at home to high-flying East Preston on Friday night.

Midhurst: Cowell, Stevens (Brazier 75), Broughton, Grantham, Hunt, Martin, Mason (Sheldrick 65), Hamilton, Hyde, Niah, Norgate. Subs unused: Castleton, Chaplin.

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