Marshall had his eyes firmly on the ball when he made the tackle and did not appear to have an ounce of malicious intent when he went in for the challenge. The referee saw the incident differently and Marshall was off.

Manager Mark Shutt now had to re-shuffle his pack as Peacehaven faced the next hour with just ten men against a spirited Pagham side.

Up until the sending off, Peacehaven had dominated proceedings with Tyler Capon having the first effort of note on 12 minutes with a good rasping shot after good work from Josh Marshall. But danger man Capon had to be withdrawn on 18 minutes when it looked like he had tweaked his hamstring.

But when you’ve got a player of the quality of Mikey Lloyd (pictured) on the bench who was himself coming back from injury and who has been scoring goals for fun in recent weeks, this is not a bad swap and he wasn’t about to let the Haven faithful down.

Just after the substitution, Josh Marshall went close after Charlie Lambert had had a long range effort blocked. And then two minutes later defender Bradley Bant tried a shot from 30 yards which hit the top of the bar and which had the Pagham keeper beaten.

Shortly after, good play from Manny Okorougo saw his cross met by Charlie Lambert who shot on the turn but the ‘keeper made a smart save.

And then Lloyd did what he seems to always do, made it 1-0 to Peacehaven. Adams went on a brilliant solo run from the halfway line leaving several Pagham players in his wake. He passed the ball to Lloyd who slammed it goalwards where it took a deflection and ended up in the back of the Pagham net.

And then came the Scott Marshall sending off incident. To their enormous credit, Peacehaven re-grouped and it was difficult to see that the home side were one player down.

Pagham were beginning to grow in confidence, but didn’t really offer any real threat going forward. Whereas Peacehaven still looked threatening when they attacked and looked like they had another goal in them.

Rab Kinkene sent in a dangerous cross in the 42nd minute which saw Lambert bundled over in the six yard box and Haven thought they had a decent penalty shout.

Two minutes later, Okorougo went close when his effort found its way into the side netting.

Half time: Peacehaven & Telscombe 1, Pagham 0.

The opening period had a more even feel about it, and on 49 minutes Pagham had a decent effort but Loz Sanded in the Peacehaven goal was right behind it. And six minutes later Marshall was put through and was one on one with the ‘keeper who blocked his effort.

With the one player difference now beginning to make a difference, Peacehaven’s defence really stepped up to the plate. The whole defence was outstanding with Marcus Allen and Jake Le Grange superb at the heart throughout and Allen even gave blood for the team when he was injured in a collision.

Bant had arguably one of his best games for the club and with Kinkene who was also excellent, defended as if their lives depended on it.

And when this brick wall was breached, which it was in the 83rd minute, Sanded was there to pick up the pieces. He made two superb saves in quick succession when first he smothered a shot when he was one on with the Pagham striker. From the resulting corner he made an excellent save when he pushed the effort round the post.

This was a magnificent team effort with every player stepping up their work rate to compensate for being one player down.

Somebody said after the Seaford game in midweek that that game was a bit boring when you’re 2-0 up at half time and in total control. Be careful what you wish for as Saturday’s encounter was far from boring!

When a team believes in themselves as this group of players do, they can grind out 1-0 wins when the odds are stacked against them and claim three valuable points.

Peacehaven & Telscombe: Sanded, Le Grange, Bant, Kinkene, Allen, Capon, Marshall (S), Lambert, Okorougo, Marshall (J), Wiltshire. Subs: Waller, Richmond, Langan, Fitzpatrick, Lloyd.

Attendance: 267.

Peacehaven are next in action on Saturday when Glebe Utd are the visitors to The Sports Park in the first round of the FA Vase.