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| Wednesday 02 April 2003 Wisdom Sports III 2 East Court FC 3 A RESILIENT East Court FC came from two goals down at half-time to beat Wisdom Sports III and lift the Malins Cup. East Court had plenty of possession in the first half of the match on Wednesday night last week (April 2) but could not turn their dominance into goals. Forward James Salter had to replaced by Ben Sunderland in the first couple of minutes after picking up a hamstring injury. Wisdom took the lead after a forward broke free. Nick Palmer put in a great tackle but the ball fell at the Wisdom player's feet and he tucked the ball into the net. They went in front further when a scramble in the box resulted in another Wisdom forward picking up the ball six yards out. Despite East Court keeper Paul Bishop getting a hand to it the ball crossed the line. East Court pushed forward and top-scorer Billy Denyer headed straight at the Wisdom keeper while Andrew Wright shot just wide after a good team move. Wisdom had difficulty containing Denyer's pace and a player was booked after pulling back the East Court midfielder. A rallying call from captain Simon Nickols and player-manager Daniel Medcalf at half-time kept East Court's players heads up and the team showed what it was capable of in the second half. Within minutes of the restart Ross Kelly went through and reduced the deficit as he calmly slotted home. Soon after East Court equalised when a cross from the left found Wright and he buried his shot beyond the Wisdom keeper. Wisdom were reduced to taking shots from distance due to excellent challenges from Martyn Bishop, Medcalf, Palmer, Nickols and Mark Nolan. Duncan Bewley came on for Carl Buckler and immediately made an impact by winning a free kick, which was cleared. With just two minutes remaining Medcalf picked up the ball on the edge of his own box and after evading a couple of challenges passed to Wright. Medcalf continued his run and Wright gave him back the ball. Medcalf's perfect cross fell to Denyer, who from 12 yards slammed the ball beyond the despairing dive of the Wisdom keeper. Players mobbed Denyer and Medcalf as East Court celebrated a glorious comeback. At the final whistle the East Court players congratulated one another on an excellent team performance and the cheers went up as Nickols lifted the cup to complete a great night for the East Grinstead side - who have collected silverware in their first season in the Mid Sussex League. Team: P.Bishop, A.Wright, C.Buckler (D.Bewley), M.Bishop, D.Medcalf, N.Palmer, S.Nickols, B.Denyer, R.Kelly, J.Salter (B.Sunderland), M.Nolan. Unused Sub: J.Nickols |