Callum Glen’s side welcomed Bognor Regis Town to the John Jenkins on Tuesday night, in an Isthmian South Central Division match, for a first ever competitive meeting between the two clubs.

Moneys recent nervy starts continued as Bognor took an early lead. A cross came in from the attacking right side which got stuck under Tom Cains feet as he lost his footing right infront of the goal. Dembele jumped on the loose ball and put the ball into the net for a 0-1 lead for ‘the Rocks’ inside 2 minutes.

It took the best part of 40 minutes for anything else of note to happen, as neither team particularly threatened their oppositions goal. A fairly routine but speculative long ball was pumped out of defence by Bognor, but the attempted clearing header from the Moneys backline was weak and went straight back to a Bognor midfielder. They passed the ball into former Moneys striker Cal Laycock, who took a touch left to make some space around Cain, and fired off a shot low to the bottom right hand corner for a 0-2 lead.

Bognor would have been delighted with that first half as we approached half time, but in the 45th minute, Moneys did get one back at what felt like a pivotal time. Gates took a throw in 20 yards up from the goal line into Tayo Singerr, who brought the ball down well and charged towards the right hand edge of the 18 yard box. He lashed a cross in on the half-volley, dealing incredibly well with the heavy pressure from the defender. The cross landed at the feet of Rudi Blankson right in-front of goal, who put the ball into an almost empty net for a lifeline back into the game as we headed into half time.

Half Time – Moneyfields 1-2 Bognor Regis Town

Moneys were lucky not to concede within 120 seconds of the restart, as a clearance from Jeffes was blocked by one of a number of former Pompey academy players on the pitch, Lee Seok-Jae. He put Dembele through with a good sight of goal, but he dragged his shot wide.

A minute or so later, James Franklyn had a shot just inside the right hand edge of the box to come close to bringing Moneys level, but it trickled narrowly wide of the far post.

Moving on to just short of the hour mark, Moneys did level the game up. The ball was passed into Blankson just outside the box with his back almost completely facing the goal. He took a fantastic touch after a dropped shoulder, taking the ball into the box with plenty of space to pick out a pass in the direction of Faris Khallouqi who’d made his way just inside the box. He took one touch with his left foot, back in the direction the ball came, sending a defender for a cup of tea, and then rocketed the ball into the net for 2-2.

A first sub was made on 72 minutes as Simba came on to make his Moneys debut in place of Faris. Mlambo had joined us only days earlier from Bognor.

Moments later, a moment of brilliance. The ball sat with veteran defender Tom Jeffes just inside the Moneys half, where he spotted Louis Gates in space down the right wing. Gates edged into the corner of the 18 yard box on the right hand side and let go a curling beauty of a shot up and over former Dorking Wanderers keeper Slav Huk, into the top left hand corner. An absolutely amazing piece of play, for the defenders 3rd goal already this season. Some find he is proving to be after joining from Crawley Down Gatwick.

As the game wound down, Moneys made a second sub on 87 minutes as Kieran Alcock was brought on for Rudi Blankson, and then in the 92nd minute, Ibrahim Busari came on for Lawrence Cooper.

Soon after that brought the final whistle and a much needed, first win for Moneys in 7 games. The win puts Moneys up to 11th in the table on 8 points, and leaves Bognor down in 21st on 4 points, just 1 place off the bottom.

Full Time – Moneyfields 3-2 Bognor Regis Town