DAZZLING DAN PUTS LIVEWIRE LINGERS BACK ON COURSE AT LONG LAST

Former Whyteleafe captain Frith enjoyed his best performance yet for the reviving village club, receiving his richly merited bottle of champagne from Lingfield official David Groves afterwards.

Frith revelled in a more attacking left-sided role, linking effectively with Marco Mwanza, and being a constant thorn in the side for the third-placed visitors, his lethal long throws and penetrative set-pieces proving to be a nightmare to defend against.

Following the previous Saturday’s 3-2 home league defeat against Lancing, a sixth successive defeat for The Lingers, beleaguered boss Dixie Dean had axed joint leading goalscorers Daryl Coleman and Craig Pitterson, along with centre back Fred Fleming.

Such ruthless action produced instant dividends, Lingfield going back to basics in keeping a clean sheet and hitting the woodwork twice as they contrived to miss an agonising succession of chances yet again.

If only a predatory striker could be found, following in the footsteps of former professional striker Nicky Forster, then a totally different scenario could unfold and return Lingfield to winning ways at long last.

Replacements Johnathan Soares, Joel Amos and Dan Oakins all coped admirably, while former youth team captain midfielder Harry Boultwood, who has bounced back from serious injury, underlined his potential with an impressive substitute cameo role.

The dreaded Lingfield curse struck again on half-time when back to form Harry Sintim set up Frith superbly from the right and the man of the match was unlucky to see his eight yard far post shot rebound to safety via the upright.

After 52 minutes The Lingers experienced that familiar sinking feeling again when influential Sintim found Oakins whose shot hit a post, summing up another frustrating afternoon.

Littlehampton Town’s goalkeeper/captain Jon Hendrick finished the game a relieved man as the hosts were virtually encamped in the final third of the pitch for a nail-biting finale, with centre-back Jay Kalama, in particular, missing some glorious late chances to snatch success.

Three added minutes failed to resolve the issue but this result and performance has provided a long overdue shot in the arm for Lingfield’s flagging season and could provide a springboard for revived successes again for the remainder of this campaign which had promised so much.

By David Groves