Men's First Team
Isthmian League Premier Division Sat 1 February Hayes Lane
Cray Wanderers
1
Bognor Regis Town
1
1-1

On a day when all four teams above them lost, the Nyewood Lane outfit couldn’t take full advantage and were forced to settle for a single point from a gutsy performance in London. It came a week after a last-gasp penalty condemned the Rocks to a 2-1 loss at home to high-flying Dover Athletic.

The luck needs to change and change quickly before it becomes too late to pull away from the relegation zone; as it is, it already looks like an unlikely scenario to steer clear but until it is mathematically impossible Bognor will continue to scrap every inch of the way. One supporter has described the mission as “the great escape” — if it happens it will be exactly that.

The managers were desperately disappointed at the manner in which the lead was surrendered. Michael Birmingham said: “We were in possession with Jasper near the far corner flag with 30 seconds to go and again we gave the ball away cheaply and so until we grow up, until we mature, we are always going to have this conversation and to be honest, I’m really, really bored with it now.

“We’re gutted. Defensively the boys were absolutely fantastic today, they really were and it’s the mentality, they don’t seem to understand the consequences if the ball gets turned over as cheaply as it does with 30 seconds to go and that’s what we are really struggling with. It can’t keep happening.”

And Jamie Howell said: “The lapse in concentration is the difference and that’s why we are bottom of the league. I thought some of the football we played was excellent, the attitude was superb but we say the same thing every week. Jasper took his goal really well but then we switched off and it’s a naive decision and it’s cost us. We have to be honest and it is a common theme. We know the issues and we are really disappointed. I thought we deserved to win the game. It’s down to lack of concentration, people not being switched on.”

The hosts, who have now gone 11 games unbeaten at their new home Flamingo Park, had the ball in the net through Nyren Clunis on 49 minutes but it was correctly disallowed for offside.

Then Bognor went in front on 74 minutes after Preston Woolston fed Mather down the left and he cut inside and placed a shot wide of Shaun Rowley into the bottom left corner.

It was no more that the side bossed by Birmingham and Howell deserved after a display full of graft and determination. The challenge was then to hold on to the lead and grab an away day triumph. But the hosts showed great enterprise to bring about parity in dramatic fashion in the 94th minute.

They levelled deep into injury time as Remi Sutton’s ball was flicked on by Tom Bonner for Clunis and his shot was saved by Ryan Hall but Michael Ihiedi tapped in the rebound.

A sickening blow for the Rocks on the road — but lots of positives to take once more. Can Bognor turn those positives into a run of wins and maintain their status? Only time will tell.

1 Ryan Hall, 2 Spencer Spurway, 3 Dion Jarvis, 4 Calvin Davies, 5 Harvey Rew, 6 Chad Field, 7
Preston Woolston, 8 Matt Burgess, 9 Dan Gifford, 10 Tommy-Lee Higgs, 17Jasper Mather. Substitutes: Lewis Beale, Harvey Whyte – Tommy-Lee Higgs (82), Rio Long, Lennie Smith.