Seven in midweek - then Pagham sides hit ten

Peacehaven were beaten 4-2 by the first team in the RUR Cup having been in the lead, while the reserves hit Sidley for six at Nyetimber.

At Peacehaven’s Sports Park, the Lions clawed their way back from being 2-1 down to get themselves a home tie against Rye or Ringmer in the next round of the RUR Cup.

A double strike from Michael Frangou plus another goal from Scott Murfin clinched the victory, while Ryan Champion scored on his debut.

Haven have been mentioned in the same breath as Pagham as title contenders, but in an entertaining game they proved second best as the Lions’ winning streak stretched to seven games.

Also no match for the Lions were Sidley’s reserves as Luke Cooper’s side ran riot.

With the win lifting them to third in the table, the only black mark was the broken ankle suffered by Gary Maskell midway through the first half.

The opening goal from Sam Dowsett early on was just the taster to a game Pagham dominated from start to finish. In his third game in a week, Dan Simmonds scored twice, the first of which a tremendous solo effort.

The goal of the game came from Adi Rosario, jinxing his way the length of the Sidley half before cutting in and striking the ball beyond a hapless Sidley keeper.

Samid Gashi enjoyed facing the porous Sidley defence as he weighed in with another, the rout completed with a well-taken Anders Wyatt penalty.

The first team’s cup win followed an emphatic 7-0 league win at Worthing United.

Murfin and Dan Simmonds each helped themselves to a hat-trick as the Lions kept up their 100 per cent first-division start.

Pagham skipper Darren Pearce said: “We clicked as a team and really moved the ball well and if we can keep supplying those two (Murfin and Simmonds), they will take their chances. They were fighting for the matchball.

“It also made it two clean sheets in a row for the boys at the back, with young James Binfield pulling off a great save when he had a quiet night – which shows his quality for a youngster.”

JON ROSE & MARTIN BURFORD