Steyning Town beat Roffey – but were they at home or away?

A hastily arranged game was brought forward from Saturday to Thursday evening and was switched from the unplayable Roffey pitch to The Shooting Field after agreement from all parties. This meant Steyning were playing an away game 'at home'.

There was another new signing in the squad - a versatile defender, Marc Gballou-Lida, who was on to the bench, not quite fit enough to start on the evening.

Roffey came in to the game showing green shoots of recovery in their form under the guidance of manager Jack Munday but still looking for their first league win of the campaign.

The squad had a familiar look about it for those that followed the Alfold FC progress in recent years, as a number of familiar faces started from the Alfold promotion-winning season in 2019 under the guidance of Munday, a team that went toe to toe with Steyning for most of a memorable season.

It was a freezing night at the Shooting Field and the rather low crowd suggested a relutance for many to be prised away from the fireside. On the 3G pitch conditions were slightly tricky and the pitch definitely firm up and made for a much firmer and faster playing surface than normal.

Overall the game was a rather cagey and tight affair with really good chances at a premium. Lucas in the Town goal was largely untroubled all evening and Roffey’s best chances came from set pieces and corners. The Barrowmen enjoyed the lion’s share of the possession but found the hosts resilient and stubborn opponents.

During the first half, Meehan was having some degree of success down the right flank but never found the killer ball despite getting to the touchline time and time again. Despite pushing and probing, and certainly improving as the half went on, it did feel a bit flat on the whole.

However the one moment of quality and inspiration that Town required to unlock the hosts came early in the second half as some one touch passing made its way to Barnes, whose threaded through ball set Langford away and he made no mistake finishing low and powerfully to the right of the keeper to add to his impressive tally for the season.

He was ably assisted up front by Djemaili, who again impressed in only this second game for the club. He really should have been given the chance to open his account for the club late on as Langford failed to square to him six yards out where he could have scored from close range. A number of other decent chances came and went for Town in the second half meaning the outcome continued to be in doubt.

As the second half wore of there was some dogged defending from Town which was most certainly required as Roffey started to push a few more numbers forward in hope. Potten was having a strong game at centre half and Clarke and Rondel were both putting a great shift, winning some great battles.

The referee somehow managed to find around 10 minutes of added time, and despite a number of late set pieces, and that impending sense of doom you get when hanging on to a single goal lead, Town managed to see it out and claim a valuable three points.

Not a vintage performance, but sometimes just getting the win is what you need to do, and that’s what Town did. Up to third in the league, albeit with extra games played, and next up is a trip to Midhurst on Saturday (Jan 28).

Steyning: Lucas Da Costa Clark Barnes Potten Downer Meehan Radley-Martin Langford Rondel Djemaili Subs used Hallett Radmore Bradley Not used: Gballou-Lida.