'Shocking 24 minutes' sees Loxwood concede six second-half goals at Pagham

Loxwood's Mark Goldson forced Pagham's James Binfield into a good save in the first-half as the Magpies fell to a 6-0 defeat to the Lions on Saturday. Picture by Steve Robards.

After a goalless first-half, the Magpies conceded six goals in 24 second-half minutes as Lions sub Harry Prisk hit a hat-trick.

This defeat, coupled with a win for Arundel and a draw for Little Common, saw Loxwood slip back into the drop zone, albeit one point from safety.

SEE ALSO Loxwood's 'belief in the camp' can help them take victory at Pagham | Loxwood can't 'take their foot off the gas' after win over Langney Wanderers takes them out of drop zone | Loxwood under-18s continue perfect league campaign and book last eight place in Youth Challenge CupWalsh said: “We set up slightly differently because we had a few players out with injuries. We changed the shape and it was working for a good 60 minutes, but unfortunately, they found the breakthrough.

“Six goals in 24 minutes is not acceptable and the players know that.

“It’s never easy taking positives from a 6-0 loss but we showed that we could compete for the majority of the game.

“It’s a shocking 24 minutes where we’ve switched off and I’m really disappointed with how we’ve reacted to that.

“In this division we have to compete for 90 minutes not 60 because that’s not good enough.”

The first-half was an even affair, with both sides creating chances.

Howard Neighbour had a goal ruled out for Pagham, and Mark Goldson had a shot well saved by Lions ‘keeper James Binfield but the game remained 0-0 at the break.

Ten minutes after the restart Pagham made a pivotal substitution as Prisk replaced Alfie Davidson.

The Lions forward had been on the pitch less than ten minutes before he collected a pass from Jamie Horncastle and finished past Magpies ‘keeper Liam Matthews to give Pagham a 63rd-minute lead.

Prisk doubled the advantage, and his goal tally, three minutes later with a fine long-range strike.

Liam Brady then made it three on 74 minutes before adding a fourth, and his second, six minutes later.

Neighbour’s sliced effort managed to beat Matthews on 84 minutes to make it five, before Prisk struck to complete his hat-trick on 87 minutes.

Walsh added: “They brought a couple of players on that definitely made the difference. They got a sub on and he scored a hat-trick and that gave them the boost they needed.

“Tactically they got that right. The sub certainly made the difference.”

The Magpies host Horsham YMCA on Saturday.

Loxwood: Matthews, Courtney, Parker, French, Williams, Swaine, Westlake, Mutongerwa, Goldson, Lapite, Bennett: Subs: Popham, Goddard, Ringrose.