Jenkis’ late winner earns Mullets second victory

It was a fairly typical beginning of season fare during the first half, with Lancers having most of the possession without penetrating, and hosts Arundel a little wayward with their passing.

The visitors took the lead, however, in only the eighth minute after Darren Boswell picked up a half-cleared free kick and sent a cross to the back post, where right-back Lee Denyer was afforded the freedom to nod home past a helpless Tom Betts in the Mullets goal.

The rest of the half produced little of note for either side, with both sides getting bogged down in midfield and taking too many touches to really threaten the opposition.

Arundel began the second half a lot brighter and nearly levelled the scores just a minute in when substitute Dale Campbell’s cross found Ashley Hunter at the back post, but the full-back’s finish was just the wrong side of the post.

Boswell then had a long-range effort tipped over by Betts, while Mullets’ Dave Herbert headed straight at Alex Bryant.

The 57th minute of the game proved the turning point as Lancers’ Sam O’Regan had a long shot saved, but then sold Bryant short with a back-pass. Bryant’s attempted clearance was charged down by Josh Biggs and the ball ended up in the back of the net to level the scores.

Lancing should have had a penalty in the 72nd minute when Biggs clearly wrestled Adam Hunt to the floor at the far post, but the claims were waved away by the referee and Hunt received a yellow card for his protests.

The winner came with just six minutes left as Jenkins ran onto a crossfield ball, played onside by the injured Dan McLoughlin, and slotted past Bryant to give the hosts all three points.

Mullets manager Brett Torode said: “We’ve played two good sides in our first two games and won both so I’ve got to be pleased. There’s a great atmosphere in the club at the moment with the squad blending really nicely.”

Mullets had got their season off to a winning start on Saturday as they beat Lingfield 1-0 at home.

Full report and pictures in this week’s Gazette.