Deal Town 3-1 Lancing - Our first job is to make sure that we stay in this league, says newly-promoted Deal Town boss Steven King

Deal Town 3 – 1 Lancing
Location	The Charles Sports Ground, St Leonards Road, Deal, Kent CT14 9AU
Kickoff	10/08/2024 15:00

DEAL TOWN  3-1  LANCING
Isthmian League South East Division
Saturday 10 August 2024
Stephen McCartney reports from Charles Sports Ground

DEAL TOWN manager Steven King says his first job is to make sure the club stays in the Isthmian League South East Division after claiming a comfortable opening day home victory over Lancing.

The Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division champions were playing in the Isthmian League for the very first time – although Deal Town won only 15 of its 130 games in the old Southern League First Division over three seasons between 1963 and 1966, finishing no higher than nineteenth.

The eighth-tier Hoops beat Roffey 4-0 here in the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round last weekend and they found themselves 3-0 up inside the opening 41 minutes as last season’s sixth-placed finishers were put to the sword in Jamie Hollis’ first game in charge of the West Sussex side.

Lancing goalkeeper, Lorenz Ferdinand, 18, the son of former West Ham United and England centre-half Rio, was beaten by strikes from attackers Ben Chapman, Rory Smith and Ashley Miller.

Lancing put in a vastly-improved second half performance and pulled a 90^th minute goal back from the penalty spot, converted by substitute central midfielder Kalan Lisbie.

Sittingbourne (5-0 winners over Broadbridge Heath), Beckenham Town (3-1 winners at newly-promoted Eastbourne Town), Deal Town, Sevenoaks Town 3-1 winners over Burgess Hill Town), Hythe Town (2-1 winners over Phoenix Sports) make up the top five.

Five Sussex sides are in the bottom five; newly-promoted Steyning Town Community, Burgess Hill Town, Eastbourne Town, Lancing and Broadbridge Heath.

King revealed that Jamie Kennedy did not train in the week due to ‘struggling with a bit of covid,’ and fellow substitute Wes Hennessey ‘ hasn’t been able to train a huge amount.’

“I thought it was a pretty comfortable win in the end.  I thought we played very well.  Going forward we were very good all afternoon. I thought we defended well,” said a very happy King.

“My only disappointment is that we didn’t score more goals in the second half.  We had so many chances on the counter-attack and we should’ve been a little bit more clinical but I was delighted with the boys.

“Going 3-0 up at half-time is decent but I thought we were just as good second half than we were first half. We just didn’t put the ball in the net.

“We’ve been successful playing the way we’ve played and we’re trying to bring that style of football to Step Four and see where it takes us.

“We’ve had Lancing watched. We knew how they would play. I thought we nullified their threats quite well.  We were happy for them to have the ball in areas where it didn’t really hurt us.  They probably had 60-65% of the ball in the first half and I think they only had one shot on target, so we knew they were going to play like that.

“We worked in the week where we were happy for them to have it and where we thought we could win it back and counter and I thought the boys did that well.

“We’ve got our forward players; Ashley Miller, Rory Smith and Tom Chapman, they’re Step Four standard players and good Step Four standard players, so we want to unleash them against these sides.  Sides are going to attack us a little bit more than what we had faced last year and it will make it easier for our attacking players to influence the games so I thought they executed really well.

“We want to be Deal Town. We’ve been successful doing it and we’re going to keep doing it. We’ll have to adjust but we’re going to keep doing what we’ve done and see where it takes us.”

Hollis’ game plan was to play with high full-backs with right-back Shay Leahy often going AWOL while defending and Deal Town often exploited the space in behind him during the first half.

An example of this came with seven and a half minutes on the clock when Deal Town centre-half Josh Vincent swept a right-footed ball in behind Leahy to put in striker Rory Smith, who cut in from the left before stroking a right-footed angled drive from 15-yards towards goal, which was palmed away by Ferdinand’s left-hand.

“We hit the target early. I thought we looked bright early. Rory got in. I thought he was outstanding today, just got man-of-the-match and it was a spot on decision for me. I thought he was excellent and the keeper made a good save,” added King.

Deal Town took the lead with 15 minutes and 18 seconds on the clock, courtesy of Ben Chapman’s second goal of the season.

Holding midfielder Macauley Murray fed a deep Rory Smith, who easily poked the ball past the high Leahy close to the half-way line before sprinting down the left and cutting into the box.  His low cross was dummied by Miller in the middle and was swept across the keeper by Tom Chapman’s right-footed shot, which was slid into the bottom left-hand corner by Ben Chapman from four-yards at the far post.

King said: “We got good bodies in the box. Obviously that’s what Ben Chapman does. I was joking with him before the game saying ‘you’ve never scored an Isthmian goal’.  He hasn’t played an Isthmian game!

“He got one last week in the six-yard box and he got another one this week in the six-yard box. Really pleased, I thought we deserved it.  When you get promoted and you’re at home that first goal to go in front probably just settled us down and then we got into full flow.”

Lancing’s high left-back Charlie Gibson floated in their only corner of the game towards a crowd of players where centre-half Joshua Tuck emerged and sent his towering header sailing just over the crossbar.

Lancing produced their best move of the first half (32:43) down the right through Leahy and striker Stanley Berry, who played in Billy Oliver but the attacking midfielder drilled a dipping right-footed drive towards goal from 15-yards, which was beaten away by Deal Town goalkeeper Adam Molloy.

King added: “Adam’s a very good goalkeeper, he’s a great shot-stopper and I expect him to save those.

“I thought Lancing were very tidy on the ball. You can see what they’re trying to do. You can see why they’re a good side but I thought we limited their actual goalscoring opportunities in the first half very well.”

Deal Town counter-attacked swiftly and decisively as they doubled their lead with 33 minutes and 20 seconds on the clock.

Left-back Alex Green played the ball down the line to release winger Tom Chapman down the left and his left-footed cross was clinically swept into the bottom far corner by the unmarked Rory Smith, at the back-post, eight-yards from goal.

“Brilliant from Tom wasn’t it?  I had a little pop at him about a minute before for giving the ball away a bit too cheaply – shoved that one down my throat,” admitted King.

“A great run, a great delivery on his left-foot. Rory deserved his goal and a good finish at the back post.

“We played a lot of teams last year that sat in a very low block (parked the bus), especially at home and we had to try to break them down and it was quite frustrating.

“But Lancing today have come out and tried to attack us and it left us space to go and attack them and when you look at that goal, that’s us at our best.  Pace and power and Tom running into space from the half-way line. It was a brilliant goal from our point of view.”

The home side won five corners and Rory Smith played their first short to Murray, who teed up the unmarked Tom Chapman and his right-footed shot from 25-yards looped comfortably into Ferdinand’s midriff for a comfortable catch.

Deal Town notched their third goal of the game with 40 minutes and 5 seconds on the clock, as some more awful defending from Leahy opened the gate again.

A sublime through ball from Murray from inside the Deal Town half was superbly controlled by Miller, who was played in behind Leahy and Owen Spicer failed to shut the gate as he cut across.

The striker clinically swept his right-footed shot across the diving keeper to bend his shot into the far corner from 12-yards.

King said: “It was just quality wasn’t it. It was a great pass from Macca, picked him out and we all know what Ashley Miller can do.

“My job, the club’s job, is to get the very best out of him and we know we will do that and I’m pleased that he’s opened his account for the season today with a great finish – he is quality!

“We have no worries at this level about the quality of our forward players and I expect them to do very well this season.”

It proved to be a chastening first-half for Lancing, who played like 11 individuals rather than the well-oiled machine that is Deal Town, a side that should comfortably be in the top half this season.

Gibson drilled his left-footed drive harmlessly wide of Molloy’s goal from outside the box, before centre-half Alfie Foster drilled a long ball over the top to put Rory Smith through on goal before the hungry Deal striker swept his left-footed shot past the foot of the near-post (45:36).

“We were really rolling at that point.  We got a head of steam up and we looked like Deal Town. We were really on the front foot and we didn’t really want half-time to be honest but we’re obviously delighted going in 3-0 up,” added King.

Hollis made a double substitution at the interval, bringing on centre-half Harrison Parker and striker Noel Fisher, while Leahy sat in front of the back three of Parker, Spicer and Tuck.

“They changed their shape right before half-time – they went to a back three – so we basically just chatted about what we would do out of possession and the different shapes that they would play,” said King.

“We were very calm (during the half-time interval).  We’re not ranters or ravers at half-time. We try to get decent tactical information and we try to help them, not hinder them and give them the information and just making sure that we were organised against their possible shapes and told them don’t be complacent and try to keep a clean-sheet in the second half, which we very nearly did.”

Fisher’s introduction gave Lancing more attacking impetus and they were denied a counter-attacking goal inside the opening five minutes.

Fisher threaded ineffective winger Tyrese Sutherland in behind Foster but Molloy stuck out his right-leg to make a vital save.

“That was nothing to do with shape, we just gave the ball away. We got countered on but it was a great save from Adam. He deserved a clean-sheet. He did very well,” added the Deal Town manager.

“Every side is going to cause a problem, every side is going to pose a threat and for us to pick up victories, we’re going to have to play very well, which I thought we did today.

“We think we’ve got players who we think are good enough to play at this level.”

Brighton & Hove Albion loanee Ferdinand made a morale boosting save to deny Deal Town scoring a fourth goal in the 55^th minute.

Leahy brought down Rory Smith and Murray stroked his right-footed free-kick from 25-yards around the four-man wall and Ferdinand dived to his left to parry the shot and Lancing got bodies back to prevent Billy Munday scoring from the rebound.

King added: “I thought it was a good strike, pretty regulation save wasn’t it?  We had a lot of chances second half – I thought we could’ve been a little bit more clinical.”

Deal Town went close on the hour-mark when Vincent released Tom Chapman, who played in a low cross from the right and Rory Smith nipped in front of Tuck to stab his shot past the foot of the right-hand post.

Spicer played a fine diagonal pass from the half-way line to put Sutherland through on goal but he lacked composure and drilled his left-footed shot over the top of the near-post.

Deal Town produced a well-worked move halfway through the second half when Rory Smith switched the ball from the left, Tom Chapman and substitute Wes Hennessey linked up well in the middle before Munday drilled his right-footed shot past the near-post.

Ferdinand stooped down to pick up the ball after substitute striker Jamie Kennedy picked up a loose ball in midfield and drove straight down the heart of the pitch and into the Lancing penalty area as the game entered the final 15 minutes.

“I thought we were brilliant in the last half-an-hour, other than putting the ball in the back of the net,” admitted King.

“I thought if we had scored another two or three, I generally don’t think they could’ve complained. 

“Fair play to them, at 3-0 down away from home, they can shut up shop at half-time but they didn’t. They kept attacking, they kept trying to get back into it.  That’s when we had the chances because they were committing a lot of bodies forward.”

Green floated in the home side’s fifth and final corner towards the back post where Munday steered his header towards the far post, which was cleared off the line by Lancing substitute Shay Matthews.

Referee Richard Joss pointed to the spot after Deal Town substitute Zak Hammond was adjudged to have fouled Lisbie on the very edge of the penalty area on the left-hand side.

Lisbie stroked his right-footed penalty into the bottom left-hand corner, sending Molloy the other way, as Lancing notched their first goal of the season (44:26).

“I’ll have to watch it back. The boys thought it was outside the box,” claimed King.

“I can’t see. I thought it was possibly a little bit soft in terms of contact but when you get isolated one-v-one and when someone runs at you like that – but I can’t really comment. I’ll have a look at the video.

“We’d like to have a clean-sheet but it’s three points at the end of the day.  If you offer me 3-0 most weeks and we concede in the 90^th minute then I’m not going to be losing sleep over that.”

King takes his men to Haywards Heath Town next Saturday, 17 August (15:00) in The FA Cup Preliminary Round.

The hosts have risen to the summit of the Southern Combination League Premier with wins over Eastbourne United (2-0), Little Common (3-0) and Pagham (3-0) – and they came away from Hassocks with a 3-2 win in The FA Cup.

King revealed that Jack Penny (muscular injury) and Aaron Millbank (holiday) will be added to his squad for the trip to Hanbury Park Stadium.

“We can now look forward to the FA Cup next week.  You always want to get that first win of the season, every manager will tell you that, so that’s on the board and no-one can take that away from us,” said King.

“We now really focus on Haywards Heath and try to progress through the FA Cup next week and then we can worry about Broadbridge Heath (away on Saturday 24 August).

“To me Haywards Heath are a Step Four club. They’ve been a Step Four club a long time and I watched them lose to Herne Bay in the play-off Semi-Final a couple of years ago and then they got relegated.

“We’ve got a pretty good record when we’ve gone down to Sussex in The FA Vase.

“I think it’s a very even game, probably on paper, they’re the favourites for their league. We’ve just got promoted from SCEFL.  They’ve got home advantage. We haven’t reached the First Qualifying Round in four years so let’s see if we can do that and see if we can have a little run.”

When asked what his aspirations are for the season ahead, King revealed: “It’s nice to win today for the club, nice to win for the crowd and everybody outside the club will look at it and go ‘Deal have had a good start’.

“I’ve said it to everybody, I will continue to say the same thing. We are going to go out and play and enjoy the first 10 games and at that point when I speak to the press I’ll then give a fair objective and comment on what we would like to do this year.

“I’m very, very aware that Phoenix, Erith & Belvedere and Beckenham had really, really tough seasons last year, having been promoted (over the past couple of seasons), so our first job is to make sure that we stay in this league.

“If after 10 games we’re doing a bit better than that, we might reevaluate at that point – but we need to learn this league and we need to see where we’re at.

“We’ve had a good start today but that’s all it is. I said to the boys in the huddle out on the pitch, after four games last year we had two points and everybody would’ve written us off -  but we went on a run afterwards and we won the league by nine points.

“What happens in this first four or five games isn’t going to determine a 42 game season, so we’ve had one win, brilliant, but we’ve got 41 games to play, so third, second, nineteenth right now, it doesn’t matter.”

Deal Town: Adam Molloy, Jack Paxman, Alex Green, Macauley Murray (Kane Smith 87), Alfie Foster, Josh Vincent, Ashley Miller (Wesley Hennessey 63), Billy Munday, Rory Smith (Zak Hammond 85), Ben Chapman, Tom Chapman (Jamie Kennedy 72).
Sub: Kye Davidson

Goals: Ben Chapman 16, Rory Smith 34, Ashley Miller 41

Booked: Alfie Foster 79, Billy Munday 90

Lancing: Lorenz Ferdinand, Shay Leahy, Charlie Gibson, Harry Docherty (Kalan Lisbie 79), Joshua Tuck, Owen Spicer, Lewis Lembikisa (Shay Matthews 73), Ta’shae Andall-Gibbons, Stanley Berry (Harrison Parker 46), Billy Oliver (Noel Fisher 46), Tyrese Sutherland.
Sub: Ahmed Belgarne

Goal: Kalan Lisbie 90 (penalty)

Booked: Jamie Hollis 90 (manager)

Attendance: 462
Referee: Mr Richard Joss
Assistants: Mr Ismail Isik & James Gerring`