It was an afternoon of frustration for Steyning after 7 league wins on the bounce, as they dropped two points and those around them all picking up 3 points to narrow the position at the top of the table. On a gloomy afternoon at the Shooting Field Town threw everything at the visitors, especially in the last twenty minutes however the visitors rearguard were in excellent form and managed to deal with everything we came up with, possibly inspired by keeper Stenning who was making his 400th appearance for the Oak. Congratulations Aaron.

Overall on the afternoon Town struggled to find the zip and speed of previous performances and seemed to look a bit laboured, with their passing game never really feeling totally fluid. Despite dominating possession and territory Town were limited to just a few clear cut chances on the day. Front man Radmore spurning the a couple of the best chances of the afternoon, once bringing an excellent first half save from Stenning from point blank range. Clark went close as he flashed a shot across goal, and the lively Bull had a couple of chances on the run that he could not convert. At the other end Oak were limited in terms of chances but still provided the occasional threat. Their best chances came in the second half with a long drive that clipped the Steyning bar, and then a header flashing over from an excellent cross from former Steyning man Lee Early.

The last 20 minutes saw Steyning bring on the returning front man Ben Bacon and Dom Taylor and Mayckol Sabino, as they went with 4 up top, playing a 4-2-4 formation. A succession of corners, crosses, goal mouth scrambles all came to nothing as Oak put their bodies on the line, and were excellent in the air, winning absolutely everything thrown in to the box . The final whistle went and Town were left to rue the dropping of a couple of points, however another clean sheet and still top of the league meant it was not all doom and gloom as the players disappeared off in to Brighton for a night out. Congratulations to Oak who, although stretched squad wise, look to have a good togetherness and will expect to be turning a corner and moving up the table in the second half of the season.

A few sore heads today no doubt for the Steyning squad this morning, but a lot to look forward to for the rest of the season. The next challenge is a league game away on Tuesday evening against Midhurst & Easebourne at The Rotherfield. Never an easy place to go and get a result so we will need to be right on it.

Town : Banasco-Zaragoza, Clark, Gathern, Parazo, Timms, Maher, Levoi, Haulkham, Bull, Gritt, Radmore : Subs used Sabino, Taylor, Bacon. Not used Hunter, Neatherway