Lordswood travelled to Sussex side Selsey and came away with a well deserved victory in a game they dominated from start to finish, and they will now face another Sussex side, Southwick, in the next round.
The game started with Lordswood on the front foot and in the 4th minute the first of many chances came when Matt McHugh’s corner to the backpost was met by Chris Eather on his own but his header went over the bar. In the 12th minute another McHugh corner was partially cleared back to him and he passed to Richard Dimmock who from 8 yards out turned and shot but Sam Joyce in the Selsey goal saved easily. Another chance came a minute later when McHugh was put in and he went into the area but shot wide and he wasted another chance in the 19th minute when a Chris Eather cross into the area was cleared to him but he shot wide from 18 yards. In the very next minute Lordswood nearly took the lead when another Eather long throw into the area was flicked on by debutant Rob Denness for Steven Elliott but his volleyed shot from 10 yards came back off the crossbar. Selsey had their first real chance in the 26th minute when Stuart Soutar saw his 25 yard shot deflect over the bar for a corner. In the 31st minute another McHugh corner to the backpost found Eather and his header goalwards was deflected for a corner. Another rare chance came Selsey’s way in the 35th minute when the ball on the edge of the area came out to Soutar and his volleyed shot went over the bar. In the 39th minute another chance went begging as another long throw into the area came out to Elliott who shot wide from 20 yards and then in the 43rd minute Rob Denness was put into the area and his shot from 10 yards was pushed away by Joyce but only to Peter Huggens who controlled it and shot but again Joyce saved it before Elliott blazed wide. The half time whistle went and Jason and the management team could not believe it was still level.
The second half continued like the first with Lordswood again on the front foot and in the 47th minute Wes Hammond put Denness in on the left and his cross came to Jason Long whose shot from 15 yards whistled past the post. Again chances were a plenty and in the 51st minute Long running forward pushed the ball into the path of Denness in the area but his shot went wide. In the 55th minute Lordswood thought they should have had a penalty when Denness on the right cut inside beating three defenders and went inside the area before going to ground but the referee decided to let play on. Then, in the 59th minute, McHugh’s long ball forward found Denness in the area and his shot was saved by Joyce. In a rare Selsey raid, they nearly scored when Ross Woolf was put through in the area and he was put under pressure from Andy Forster which forced him to shoot early and Stuart Clark saved easily. In the 70th minute nobody in the ground could believe that Lordswood had not scored when Chris Eather’s cross to the backpost saw Denness challenge Joyce and the ball came out to Dimmock but from 6 yards he spooned his shot over the bar. Iin the very next minute Denness on the left cut inside and his cross to the backpost found Dimmock but his header went wide of the post. In the 73rd minute Lordswood had a scare when a long ball forward saw Clarke dally on his line enabling Max Thoms to get his shot away from 5 yards but luckily for Lordswood it came back off the stanchion. In the 75th minute Lordswood finally took the lead when another Chris Eather long throw into the near post area was met by Peter Huggens and his header beat Joyce. In the last 13 minutes only one real chance came Selsey’s way when a ball to the backpost was met by Soutar whose cross shot was met by Woolf but his side foot effort went wide. The final whistle went and the Lordswood players and Management were ecstatic as they finally got their first win of the season.