Losing free-scoring striker would be 'like a divorce' - Donnelly

Dalhouse got his 11th goal of the season from the penalty spot after Ross Myers was brought down inside 15 minutes in the SCFL Premier Division clash.

Arundel equalised after the restart with a spot-kick of their own through Ben Gray before going on to win another penalty in stoppage time. Gray couldn’t convert this time, firing wide of goal meaning Shoreham came away from the game with a point.

Mussels are now winless in ten matches in all competitions but Dalhouse’s form - netting 11 goals in 14 matches for the club - has been a silver lining and manager Donnelly believes his frontman could have scored even more this season.

He said: “Andrew (Dalhouse) will score you goals. If I’m being totally honest he could treble that figure by doing more correct things.

“We’re certainly not a one-man team but we should be looking to get more goals from various players such as the wingers, the midfield and defenders from set plays. Although it’s not quite true that we’re relying on Andrew every game, it was pleasing on Saturday because Ross Myers won us a penalty.”

Donnelly admitted he’s not worried about potential transfer speculation should other clubs come calling for Dalhouse, saying: “It would be like a divorce. I’m not worried, there’s no doubt things can happen in the background when you’ve got a goalscorer like that at the club, but if the players enjoy working with us then I don’t see why they’d want to go.”

Shoreham currently sit in 14th in the SCFL Premier Division and Donnelly hopes a win will come sooner rather than later.

He added: “We’re picking points up, we could have lost all three on Saturday. There’s nothing like winning. The win will come and we all want it sooner rather than later. It’s very frustrating but you’ve got to be realistic. It’s got to be a team effort. We’ll play worse than what we did on Saturday and win.

“First half we started well. If we could have kept that going it would have continued. After the goal we got a little bit lazy in terms of passing. We seemed to find the opposition more than ourselves. During the second period we had moments but if I’m honest, they shaded the second half.

“On a personal note I feel that we dropped two points. Having said that you’ve got to give Arundel a lot of credit for their work rate and they could have knicked it. Personally it was disappointing but professionally it’s a point that we gained.

“This week we didn’t play well, we didn’t gel as a team. If you don’t take your chances it always gives the opposition a bit of hope.”

Shoreham make the trip to two places above Lingfield in the SCFL Premier Division on Saturday.

Have you read?

Mile Oak reinstated in the Peter Bentley Cup

Worthing Raiders v Birmingham & Solihull picture gallery

Raiders regroup to avoid sting against valiant Bees