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| Saturday 01 March 2003 Village of Ditchling III 2 East Court 5 East Court FC took all 3 points from a hotly contested match against Village of Ditchling III on Saturday. Early goals from East Court striker James Salter and top scorer Billy Denyer gave Court the perfect start, but the lead was squandered as Ditchling staged a fight back to pull the score back to 2 goals a piece. East Court suffered a blow on 30 minutes when a late challenge on defender Dave Nolan meant that Court had to play the rest of the match with 10 men due to lack of a substitute. The ensuing period before half time saw some competitive challenges by both teams as tempers were flared after the incident that has possibly ruled Nolan out for the remainder of the season with a fractured metatarsal. Court came out fighting in the second half with the back three of Dan Medcalf, Nick Palmer and Martyn Bishop working hard to counteract Ditchling's extra player advantage. Court took control of the game through strong tackling by captain Simon Nickols, whilst good midfield work from Mark Nolan set Carl Buckler up to score his third of the season after 65 minutes. East Court's fourth came via a clinical volley from Martyn Bishop and the game was wrapped up after tireless running from wingback Andy Wright set Salter up for his eighteenth goal of the season. The win takes Court four points clear with two games in hand at the top of Div 7, whilst keeper Paul Bishop could be busier between the posts when East Court take on Div 8 leaders Chailey in an eagerly anticipated Malins Cup Semi-final this Saturday. Team: P.Bishop, A.Wright, C.Buckler, D.Nolan, D.Medcalf, N.Palmer, M.Bishop, B.Denyer, S.Nickols, J.Salter, M.Nolan |