Littlehampton propelled themselves into the Isthmian South Central Division play-off positions in an entertaining encounter at The Sportsfield on Tuesday night.
Golds had lost a seven goal thriller in the FA Cup at Bedfont at the end of August but this time came out on top in another goal filled match.
It took them only five minutes to open the scoring although there was a large dose of good fortune involved. A Bedfont defender intercepted a threatening ball at full stretch some 40 yards out. Unfortunately for the visitors it went in the direction of his own goal as keeper Lewis Everett had committed himself and the ball ended up rolling almost apologetically into the visitors’ net.
Golds grew in confidence and there was certainly nothing lucky about their second goal. Marcel Powell skilfully evaded his marker on the left wing and crossed for George Gaskin to double the advantage from close range.
It took a while for the visitors to respond but near misses from Tyler Robinson and Jamie Fuller just before the interval should have served as a warning sign to Littlehampton.
Unfortunately it wasn’t heeded as Bedfont halved the deficit immediately after half time with a soft goal courtesy of Lewis Flatman . Momentum shifted and Oliver Davison came close to an equaliser when hitting the bar in the the 65th minute.
Littlehampton responded swiftly though and the introduction of a returning hero from the substitutes bench paid immediate dividends. Lucas Pattenden had been a ‘star man’ in Golds amazing 2021-22 season and when he was found in the box by another beautiful cross from Powell he finished with aplomb to restore a two goal cushion.
The visitors weren’t finished yet and Jude Jakes-McKay halved the deficit in the 79th minute by finishing a right wing cross from close range.
Golds could easily have panicked but instead finished the game on the front foot. They saw out victory with a minimum of defensive dramas to end the evening in a very healthy fifth position in the league table, a mere three points behind leaders Leatherhead.