Dominant Lingers Are Reward With 3 Pts

The game started with both sides trying to apply early pressure but it was The Lingers who got off the brightest with early chances from Sam Bell & Marc Barnard forcing the Seaford keeper into some decent saves. The high pressure game played by the Lingers was continued, with good work down both flanks through TJ Stead & Dan Frith on the left and Connor Leach & Marc Barnard on the right who were flooding the opponents box with dangerous crosses that in the end were dealt with by the defence or goalkeeper.

On 30 & 37 minutes Lingfield were hit with injuries to both wingers, forcing the away bench into 2 early substitutions - Dan Frith & Marc Barnard OFF - Thomas Darko & Kerran Curtis ON

The 2 subs coming on seemed to inject some new energy into the travelling side and not long after the first goal was scored. A corner was delivered deep into the box by David Heaton and hooked back across goal by Sam Bell which was dealt with poorly by the defending side allowing Charlie Dodd a simple layoff for Marc McEvilly to smash the ball home and give The Lingers a 1-0 lead shortly before half time.

Starting the second half Seaford Town attempted to apply more pressure but Lingfield remained as solid as the first half, making it very difficult for Seaford to create any meaningful chances.

The Lingers doubled their lead 10 minutes into the 2nd half through an excellent finish from Sam Bell, after some tidy work in the middle of the park by Jake Horn & Harry Middleton, the ball was set to David Heaton who calmly slotted a pass through the Seaford midfield into Sam's feet who shrugged off his defender and cutting inside from the left across the edge of the box before firing a shot through the legs of the defence and back across the goalkeeper to leave him helpless.

2-0 Lingfield, who found themselves in a very similar situation to the game on Saturday knowing what was required of them to see out the result, whist trying not to sit back and invite pressure. Whilst Seaford attempted to make a breakthrough they found it very difficult to find an end product, a lot of long balls were easily dealt with by the Lingfield back 4 which helped them keep the threat alive on the counter with The Lingers still pushing on for more goals.

The third and final sub for The Lingers saw Joe Kensett replacing Harry Middleton to help keep their defence and creativity alive from midfield. Leading on to some very close efforts from Sam Bell hitting the crossbar with a curling, dipping effort and Joe Kensett neatly selling the defender to create space for a shot himself which ended up narrowly fizzing over the bar. Connor Leach also running down the right wing linking up well with Kerran Curtis finding him himself in behind the defence and sliding another effort just wide of the post.

Seaford now looked to have run out of ideas and failed to create any clear cut chances other than on one occasion which found them in behind for the first time in the game. After Marc McEvilly was swarmed by 3 players as he danced around on the ball they found themselves in on goal but thanks to a brilliant last ditch challenge by David Heaton the shot was never as dangerous as it once looked.

Lingfield stayed composed for the rest of the game and saw out the result which ended 2-0. With 3 clean sheets from the last 4 games, the teams confidence continues to grow, which they hope to take forward on Saturday to their second meeting with Hailsham Town in the FA Vase.

By Olly Moore
MOM Sam Bell