Laycock into double figures for the season as Moneyfields claim ‘very much-needed’ Wessex League victory at Pagham

The striker grabbed the decider just before half-time in a 2-1 Premier Division win at Pagham.

Chad Cornwell, playing on the left of an attacking three behind Laycock, had opened the scoring early on for the visitors.

Pagham equalised through former Baffins wideman George Britton shortly after the game had restarted following a 20-minute break due to a medical incident.

An ambulance had to be driven on the pitch prior to medics delivering treatment to a Pagham committee member.

‘It wasn’t the prettiest performance,’ said Moneys assistant manager Joe Noakes after his side had ended a run of six league and cup losses in seven matches.

‘But I said to the boys beforehand, I don’t care if it’s a smash and grab or we play them off the park, I wanted nothing less than the three points. It was a very much-needed win.’

With teenage keeper Bailey Neil having picked up a dead leg in the previous week’s shock FA Vase exit at lower tier Whitchurch, Moneys gave Dylan Kramer has first start.

Harry Birmingham, whose three-game ban had lasted an entire month, won an instant recall at right-back as Jack Chandler was unavailable. Tom Cain and Jack Lee were paired together in a flat back four.

SEE MORE: Down memory lane – 28 Portsmouth area football teams, 2001-2007Up front, Steve Hutchings started on the bench for the first time this season, introduced for Laycock three minutes into the second half.

Harry Sargeant, also a regular starter normally, was another introduced after the break as Moneys comfortably held onto their lead against a Pagham side including former Pompey Academy pair Oscar Johnston and Stan Bridgman.

‘Bailey wasn’t 100 per cent fit,’ reported Noakes, ‘and we needed every player fighting fit and ready for war.

‘Dylan had a quiet afternoon, he would have been disappointed with the goal but there could have been some nerves as it was his first game.

‘I spoke to Hutch and said he’d be coming on as a battering ram when their defenders were getting knackered. As a defender, the last person you want to see coming on when you’re tiring is Hutch - and he did what we needed him to do.

‘Harry Sargeant is an ‘enforcer’ sort of player and he came on to help us shut up shop. There were periods when we were under the cosh a bit but I wouldn’t say it was ever backs to the wall.’

With no midweek fixture, Moneys’ next game - their 13th on the road in a row in 2022/23 - is their shortest of the season so far, away to US Portsmouth.

Chandler will be available for the game against his former club, but Joe Briggs remains sidelined with a knee injury.

He hasn’t played since the Wessex League Cup loss at New Milton at the end of August and is due to see a specialist this week.