The victory was very much deserved after a gritty, no-nonsense display from Robbie Blake’s men giving them their first success in the league after five defeats on the spin that sees them sitting at the foot of the table.
But they will draw confidence from this performance as they head in to a Sussex derby with Lewes on Tuesday.
Lee-Higgs swivelled and connected with an oh-so sweet volley as he met with Calvin Davies’ corner in the 86th minute of the game against fellow strugglers Bowers.
The striker came on for Harvey Whyte on 70 minutes and gave the visitors some spark up front in a game that wasn’t pretty on the eye but was full of commitment, effort and desire from Blake’s troops — and a far cry from previous displays that have left a lot to be desired.
Bognor were unlucky not to be 1-0 up after 20 minutes when Whyte poked home from close range but the referee decided, rather bizarrely, that home keeper Rhys Byrne had been fouled when he had clearly dropped the ball.
Jasper Mather went close to giving the Rocks the lead on 61 minutes when he rose to head the ball goal wards but was frustrated to see his effort hit the post and bounce to safety.
Before that the hosts looked as if they had done enough to open the scoring on 51 minutes when the ball was worked to the feet of the lively TQ Addy, the Bowers captain and arguably their best player on the day, and he curled his drive off thd angel of the bar and the post.
The Rocks were resolute at the back with man-of-the-match Tommy Block delivering a commanding display alongside debutant Amadou Jallow, signed on loan for a month from Havant & Waterlooville. Overall, the display was one which will have pleased the travelling supporters among the 182 fans at a chilly Len Salmon Stadium.
Block was delighted with the triumph and told Rocks Radio’s Peter Kelly-Sullivan after the game: “The win couldn’t have come at a better time to be honest as we have been struggling in the last five or six games — and we really needed that win as a team. We scored from a set piece and it wasn’t a great performance — it was very direct — but we got the three points away at this place and it is definitely a good result.
“The gaffer said before the game that if we can keep a clean sheet we will win the game and obviously he was right. I think we defended really well. We defended very ugly won loads of headers, cleared everything and didn’t really play out much but that’s what you need to keep the ball away from our net and that’s what we did.”
Block’s partnership with Jallow proved to be a strong one which repelled the home side on many occasions and the former Hibernian schemer said he was pleased with the pair’s understanding.
He added: “I thought we developed a good partnership given that we have only had a week together but I sat next him on the coach and we talked a lot and it worked well.”
Lee-Higgs’ late goal earned the spoils and Block revealed that boss Blake has the utmost faith in the former Southampton youth attacker, telling his charges after the victory: “What player do you want more coming off the bench in the league other than Tommy Lee-Higgs to win the game?”
Bognor Regis Town: 1 Ryan Hall, 2 Spencer Spurway, 3 Hayden Gale, 4 Calvin Davies (C) 5 Tommy Block, 6 Amadou Jallow, 7 Harvey Whyte (Tommy-Lee Higgs 70′), 8 Matt Burgess, 9 Dan Gifford, 10 Jasper Mather, 11 Preston Woolston. Subs: 12 Tommy-Lee Higgs, 14 Doug Tuck, 15 Tyler Edmondson, 16 Billie Clark, 17 Toby Kingswell.
