Dial boss Steve Brown was full of praise following his side's 5-1 win away to Cranleigh this afternoon (13 Sept) at Glebelands.

A brace apiece from Harry Rice and George Lawrence - and another from Dan Cenzano - sent Dial to the top of the Surrey Premier County Football League table.

It was Dial's biggest (goals scored) away win since beating Bagshot 6-1 in the league on 9 November 2024.

With Chertsey Town receiving a home tie in the second qualifying round of The Emirates FA Cup, the match was switched from Alwyns Lane to the neutral venue of Glebelands in Cranleigh.

Brown fielded an almost unchanged side from the one that beat Laleham 2-0 in midweek with Matt Bunyan and Zac Hawker the only absentees from the starting XI. And it wasn’t long before Dial got their noses in front when Michael Burton was upended by Joe Hurel, gifting the opportunity for Harry Rice to score from the penalty spot after just 11 minutes.

Rice was again in the thick of the action five minutes later when he twist and turned Ciaran Lynch in the box, before picking his spot past Hurel to double Dial’s advantage.

As frustrations began to mount, the hosts were temporarily reduced to 10-men when Jake Collins was sin-binned for dissent. It served as the precursor for Jason Pacey, the referee, to summon both captains to lay down the law.

With Dial forced into making two early substitutions due Burton and Jonathan Corner picking up ankle injuries, it was always going to be a battle of wills from thereon.

Despite losing Sam Jones to another sin bin, The Cranes were given a lifeline when Charlie Marshall was judged to have pushed Adam Bicknell in the box; much to the dismay of the visitors' bench. Undeterred, the former Dial-man made no mistake from the spot to reduce the deficit in the fourth-minute of first half stoppage time.

Dial managed to restore their two-goal cushion just 90 seconds after the restart when Dan Cenzano slid in to score his first of the season after an inviting cross from Rice.

The introduction of Hawker in the 59th-minute gave Dial some added potency in the middle of the park as Dial remained resilient at the back and attacked at pace.

And it came as no real surprise when Dial mustered a fourth-goal when George Lawrence outmanoeuvred four Cranes’ players, before curling the ball into the top corner in the 74th-goal. It was a stunning goal from the young winger in what had the hallmark of a goal-of-the-season contender.

Having only just cemented his arrival with a goal, Lawrence latched onto the end of a superb through ball from Finley Rose-Davies to run on to notch his second of the afternoon to secure a resounding and well-deserved 5-1 win.

Speaking after the match, Brown said: “I thought our win against Cranleigh showed what we were capable of. I couldn’t fault the players’ work-rate throughout the 90 minutes.

“Every player, including the substitutes, gave a performance to be proud of, and it’s humbling to know that there’s still some headroom to kick-on that little bit further.

“The boys took their goals really well today, and defensively I thought we were excellent, especially in the second half. I thought the result was just-reward for what was a superb all-round team performance,” he added.

DIAL SQUARE: Mead, Corner (Rose-Davies), Vass, Doran (Hawker), Marshall, Phillips, Carter, Rice, Burton (Brown), Frith (Xavier), Cenzano (Lawrence).

Dial are next in action on Tuesday, 23 September against three-time Surrey Premier County Football League champions Wimbledon Casuals at the Elmbridge Xcel Sports Hub (3G). 7:45pm k.o.