MATCH REPORT

Darren Anslow suffered his first defeat as Lordswood boss as his side were victims of a smash and grab raid against Southern Combination League side Steyning Town.

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There were two changes to the side that convincingly beat Glebe last Saturday with Jai McKinlay coming in for Juljano Marku who sadly suffered a family bereavement before the game, and we send our deepest sympathies to him and his family. Whilst Luke Medley started in place of Daniel Pepple who dropped to the bench.

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Martyn Grove suffered at the hands of a very strong wind which clearly affected the level of football that could be played, and both sides struggled to get to grips initially with the conditions.

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Lordswood forced the first chance of the game after just 3 minutes when Jordan Samuel burst free of Steyning's left back, but his shot was saved well by the legs of Banasco-Zaragoza in goal at the expense of a corner.  From Jamie Taylor's delivery, Jai McKinlay rose highest to meet the ball but his header flew over the crossbar.

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Steyning's only chance in the opening 10 minutes was a free-kick to the left of the area, but Tiago Andrade's effort flew way over the bar and out of the ground.

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Lordswood continued to dictate the game and Tyler Anderson-Parr, who had an excellent first half combined well down the left with Michael Kuku before turning Rob Clark inside-out and driving along the edge of the box laid the ball into the path of Klaudio Krasniqi who touched it off to Medley, but Medley's weak effort drifted harmlessly past the post.

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Steyning had their only shot on target on 17 minutes, breaking free in the right hand side of the box, but their driven effort was touched wide by Rilwan Anibaba for a corner.

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Medley again found himself breaking through into the box, latching onto a good throughball by Krasniqi, but again his shot lacked power and was comfortably gathered by Banasco-Zaragoza.

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Marlon Patterson was next in on the act, receiving the ball from Medley on the right, but his left footed effort caught on the strong wind and flew over the crossbar.

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Medley then broke past Clark down the left and his excellent cross flew across the 6 yard box just out of the reach of Samuel who was inches away from making contact.

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Anderson-Parr was giving Clark a torrid time and his trickery down the left created an opportunity that almost resulted in an own goal.  He worked the ball out to Medley whose cross was parried clear by Banasco-Zaragoza, and Scott Faber's attempted clearance smacked against Ryan Timms ad narrowly went wide for a corner.

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Banasco-Zaragoza then made the save of the game in the last minute of the half.  Anderson-Parr once again the architect as he left Clark laying on the grass before feeding Taylor on the edge of the box, but the centre midfielder's first time effort was well turned away by the Steyning keeper for a corner.

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The second half started in much the same vein.  Lordswood came out of the blocks quickly and Jordan Samuel flew down the right wing and his excellent cross was met by Taylor on the edge of the 6 yard box but his effort just went past the far post under pressure from Timms.

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You started to get a feeling that it wasn't going to be Lordswood's day when Krasniqi crashed a shot against the crossbar from 16 yards out after being found by Samuel's cross on 60 minutes

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Unfortunately for Lordswood, their opponents decided the only way to stop Anderson-Parr was to deliberately try and injure him.  A crude and nasty challenge in front of the dugouts that set off a melee between both sides resulted in Lordswood Assistant Manager Owen Price being sent off, whilst the offending party from Steyning was only shown a yellow card.

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Lordswood continued to press and Jamie Taylor wasn't far away from finding the top corner from 20 yards.

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Disaster struck for the Lords when Steyning took the lead on 76 minutes with their only shot on target of the 2nd half. Guilty of not clearing their lines, the Lordswood defence allowed a cross to drop in the area and Conor Bull reacted quickest to fire an unstoppable shot into the top corner of the net giving Anibaba no chance.

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Pepple was brought on to try and give an extra attacking option upfront and his strong forward run was unceremoniously ended 25 yards out. Luke Medley's freekick was blocked by the wall and his follow up cross was cleared for a corner.  Patterson's corner kick caused uncertainty in the Steyning area and Pepple was close to levelling the scores but his effort at the far post was blocked by Banasco-Zaragoza.

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That was the last of the action, and it is now 6 years since Lordswood last won an FA Cup game.  Whilst it is obviously disappointing to lose, there were plenty of positives to take from the game, and the Lords will look to get things back on track when they return to league action next Saturday with a visit to Erith Town.

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