Pagham moved into the semi-finals of the Peter Bentley Cup on Saturday afternoon but they were made to work very hard for the win against a strong Peacehaven & Telscombe side.

The designated Legends Day at the Covers Arena drew a large crowd to watch in the late autumn sunshine as both sides contributed to an entertaining game of football.

Both sides were keen to attack from the word go but creating the chances defences were on top mostly to snuff out most getting close to the penalty area.

The opening goal on 38 minutes, which proved to be the only score of the contest, went the way of the home side. A cross in from the left hand side which had been the less used of the two in the first half, saw Harry Giles head home which saw the Lions ahead at the interval.

The visitors provided much of the pressure in the second half but without creating the chances again, Pagham found it hard to escape their half until the tables turned and every out ball for the hosts turned into attack.

They should have put the game out of sight with some excellent chances, the best of which saw Josh Irish cut back inside on his right foot, whilst the ball beat keeper James Broadbent it came back off the bar and cleared to safety.

With over eight minutes of stoppage time added on, the visitors came again but the Lions held firm and held onto the one goal advantage.

Next weekend Pagham head to face play-off rivals Newhaven whilst Peacehaven & Telscombe host Forest Row on Tuesday evening (ko 8pm) and follow that up with a trip to Midhurst & Easebourne.