Worthing down Darts ... Shoreham build for future ... Wick stay top

A clutch of summer signings made their competitive debuts for the Reds, Ellie Russell, Rachel Palmer, Hayley Bridge and Georgia Tibble the newbies.

The Darts made the better beginning, when Emily Vaughan set up Lizzie Adams to blast over.

Soon Vaughan swept a shot effortlessly into the top corner to leave goalkeeper Lauren Dolbear beaten all ends up.

That second minute strike stunned the visitors but they gradually grew into the game.

Bridge was beaten by a hair’s breadth to the ball by onrushing keeper Paris Smith.

For the Darts, Jo Woodgates whistled a shot just over.

Georgia Tibble’s foul on Nicha Dyett in the went unpunished via the subsequent set-piece didn’t cost Worthing.

Worthing’s Ella Newman got her eye in with a 30-yard screamer that flew wide, but made no mistake in first half added time to level it at 1-1.

A long pass along the right released Gemma Worsfold who pulled the ball back for Bridge to flash an effort across the face of goal.

Less than 20 minutes were left when a breakaway culminated in a centrally-placed Tibble playing in Humphrey, presenting an opportunity to surge into the area and slot home for 2-1.

Becs Bell might have extended the guests’ advantage but Smith held the shot. The last ten saw Humphrey race clear and go down for a good penalty claim that was turned down.

Humphrey slalomed her way through to tee up Bell, whose effort a touch too high.

Then, in several additional minutes, Katie Young couldn’t quite connect with Newman’s free-kick.

Lancing’s FA Cup run is over.

They found East Grinstead too strong for them at Culver Road and it finished 4-1.

The Wasps were four up by the 50th minute but the Lancers did put up a fight after that, pulling one back late on through Ashley Mutongerwa.

They return to league action with two Sussex derbies over the bank holiday weekend.

They go to Three Bridges on Saturday then host Chichester City on Monday.

East Preston's fine start to the SCFL division one season continued when they won 1-0 at home to Montpelier Villa courtesy of Carl Bennett's first-half goal.

Boss Chris Horner said: "MoM Lucas McGaw put on a midfield masterclass and Carl Bennett opened his account for the season with a lovely finish in front of a bumper 144 crowd. We created multiple chances to increase the lead but were unable to find the net."

Villa were awarded a penalty but keeper Maciek Kason kept it out. EP host Erith & Belvedere in the FA Vase on Saturday.

Elsewhere in division one Mike Oak lost 3-1 at Selsey and Worthing United lost 3-0 at home to Epsom and Ewell.

These are busy and exciting times at Shoreham FC – with lots happening off the pitch alongside a good start to the season on it.

The club have just undertaen their largest and most expensive project in their history.

Some 41 years from the installation of their original floodlights, purchased from Wimbledon FCs old Plough Lane ground, Shorehm have now installed new lights.

The installation of the most advanced LED lights in the county took two weeks to complete courtesy of D&H Electrical.They give the club 10 years of maintenance-free floodlighting and, importantly in times when energy costs are rocketing, they will halve their energy consumption during night matches and help the club lower their carbon footprint.

The new lights will also allow the club to provide additional evening training sessions for their other teams.Club owners Stuart Slaney and Malcolm Saunders said the LED upgrade was not cheap but funding from the Football Foundation and other organisations helped.

Slaney said: “We urge clubs who have old, dated lights to seriously investigate upgrading to LED. It’s not as expensive as you may think if you get the right funding, and we are always on the end of a phone or email to offer any guidance.

"Our next project will be looking at accessible toilets, which we hope to install within the next six to eight weeks. After that we will be looking at a main project for the clubhouse.”

On the field the Musselmen are handily placed near the top of the SCFL division one – having just missed promotion last season. They drew 1-1 at home to Arundel on Saturday.

Slaney said: “The season so far has gone well considering we have a new manager who’s new to the role. Michael Death and his coaching team have brought a more cohesive environment with all our players getting along as one big happy family. This is reflected in the performance of the team on the pitch and in training.

"Michael has also focused on our U18s and U23s teams offering multiple young talent the chance to play senior football, which was pretty rare moving towards the end of last season.”

Jame Thurgar scored his first two Wick goals as the Dragons cemented their place at the top of the Division One table with a 3-2 victory at Forest Row.

Wick were cruising when Thurgar beat the offside trap and the home keeper to open the scoring in the fifth minute at Tinsley Lane.

Nathan Foster, a pillar in defence all afternoon, headed a corner against the bar and the hosts equalised through a controversial penalty.

Just before the break Alex Kew was brought down after he jinked his way into the box and Dave Crouch tucked away his fifth goal in four matches from the spot.

Thurgar increased the lead three minutes after the restart, clipping a tidy finish over the keeper, and although Frow pulled one back immediately, Wick stood firm to make it 12 points out of 12 so far.

Dragons boss Lee Baldwin said: ‘We have still to play our best but we did well on a terrible pitch. Crouchy hit the bar and had a header well saved, Thurgs could have had a hat-trick and new signing Zac Harris was denied by good work from the keeper after leaving the bench.”

Harris will celebrate his 24th birthday on Saturday by making his home debut for Wick in the FA Vase against AFC Whyteleafe at Crabtree Park.

The striker’s move from Littlehampton Town is a coup for the Dragons and Harris will relish playing in the Vase after appearing for the Marigolds in their Wembley final in May.

"Zac adds another dimension to an already exciting attack,” said manager Baldwin.