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| Saturday 21 December 2002 East Court FC 4 Balcombe II 2 AT THE Christmas break East Court FC are sitting top of the Mid Sussex League Division 7 after coming from behind to beat Balcombe II on Saturday. In a bad tempered match the home side fell behind after just two minutes when a Balcombe player was left unmarked to steer in a cross. East Court hit back and equalised through Billy Denyer who held off a couple of challenges before calmly slotting past the keeper. Carl Buckler then put East Court ahead with his first goal for the club. The Balcombe keeper failed to hold on to a through ball in slippery conditions and Buckler was left to tap into an empty net. Right on the half-time whistle East Court grabbed a third when James Salter headed home a Ross Kelly cross. In the second half Balcombe came back strongly and deservedly pulled a goal back when one of their players was sent clear and he drove his shot past East Court keeper Ben Sunderland. The away side were on top but had a player sent off after he swore at one of the officials. East Court were getting back on top and a Balcombe player was booked for a late challenge on Martyn Bishop. Balcombe were then reduced to nine men when the same player received a second yellow card after going in late on Andrew Wright. The home side put the result beyond doubt five minutes from time when captain Simon Nickols got on the end of a pass and slotted past the keeper. Team: B.Sunderland, A.Wright, C.Buckler (T.Greig), D.Nolan, D.Medcalf, N.Palmer, S.Nickols, B.Denyer, R.Kelly (M.Nolan), J.Salter, M.Bishop. Unused Sub: P.Honeywood |