One to forget as Lingers are thrashed by title contenders Chichester City

Review: Again, there was no midweek game so it was a week to rest and recover after what has been a busy start to the '18/19 campaign. We were looking to build on a convincing second-half display against East Preston last week but faced an angry Chichester who had just experienced defeat for the first team this season away at Saltdean Utd.

There were a host of absentees from the Lingfield squad which included key personnel; Clemo, Gravesy, Wilf, Rans, Blake amongst others all missing for various reasons. We were always expecting a really tough test and this was only going to get tougher with 5/6 players unavailable. Timely holidays and random injuries always seem to materialise when there is a 100 mile round trip against a league favourite (no fingers pointed though...).

Jokes aside, we had a strong squad of 13 that we felt could put up a fight in the game. The management opted for a 3-5-2 formation which has suited us well recently and they wanted us to have an outlet to get us up the pitch, which made sense. We started the game quite strongly in the opening exchanges with a couple of forays down the right-hand side, however, Chichester took an early lead when a half-hearted tackle allowed their winger to run through the middle of the defence and slot past Dan, 1-0. The scoring continued throughout the half as Chichester made the pitch big and exploited spaces behind our wing backs and finished clinically. We did actually create some good openings mainly through Nas, Connaris and myself but it was 4-0 at halftime to the home side.

The management changed the formation to a back 4 which made us more solid and both sides made changes as the second half progressed but the game was now dead and we were only fighting for pride. However, the second half continued in similar fashion with Chichester knocking the ball around at will and we spent most of the afternoon chasing shadows. We lost motivation and the intensity drained as the game was over and Chichester continued to add to their lead. Again, we did create some openings going forward but when Ben C missed from 6 yards with only the keeper to beat, we knew it was just one of those days. The final score was 7-0.

It has to be said that Chichester was probably the best team that most of us have faced at this level and they play football the way the game is meant to be played. It was a huge lesson for all of us; young players all the way through to the management. There is a lot we can learn from the way Chichester play their football and we will need to adapt our game much more efficiently if we want to compete with the similar quality of opposition in the future. We look forward to welcoming Chichester to the Lair later in the season where we will certainly give a more valid reflection of the team we actually are.

We will look to bounce back immediately when we face Shoreham next Saturday at our home ground. I expect us to welcome back at least 3 of the lads who were missing on Saturday and we'll be looking write last weekend off and deliver maximum points. I can also hand back the armband and report writing after being slightly stitched up by this one.

Onto the next one, up the Lingers!

By David Heaton