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| Saturday 12 April 2003 East Court FC 3 Bolney Rovers 2 EAST Court FC moved to within two points of the Mid Sussex Football League division 7 championship after a hard fought victory over Bolney Rovers at Imberhorne on Saturday (April 12). The win secured promotion to division 6 for East Court, who have taken 28 out of a possible 30 points at home this season. But in their final match at Imberhorne the home side failed to produce any real free-flowing football. Very few chances were created in the first half but quick-thinking at a free kick by captain Ross Kelly, deputising for injured skipper Simon Nickols, put Andrew Wright free and he sprinted past the Bolney defence before finishing into the bottom corner to put East Court ahead. The strain of four games in 10 days though was clearly showing on the home side and James Nickols came on to replace the injured Duncan Bewley. Bolney had the best of the possession but failed to create any real clear-cut opportunities. However, they should have equalised just before half-time whern a player was left free following a corner but he headed over with only East Court keeper Paul Bishop to beat. In the second half East Court started brighter but they failed to build on their lead. An injury to Mark Nolan forced player-manager Daniel Medcalf into another substitution and Ben Sunderland entered the game. The home side were then caught out twice in the space of five minutes as they failed to clear their lines. A Bolney player got on the end of a long ball, knocked it past Paul Bishop and, despite the efforts of Nick Palmer and Medcalf, it trickled over the line. The away team took a deserved lead when a similar move led to another player getting free and he tucked his shot into the net. But East Court showed their resiliance and equalised when Tom Greig sprinted down the wing and after eluding a challenge pased to Billy Denyer in the penalty area. Denyer had his shirt tugged by a Bolney player and Kelly converted the resulting spot kick. The home side re-took the lead with the best move of the game. Slick passing on the edge of the Bolney box between Martyn Bishop and Kelly resulted in the ball being flicked to top-scorer Denyer, who made no mistake with his finish. Bolney got frustrated and a player was booked after a wild challenge on James Salter. However, the away team nearly grabbed an equliser in the dying seconds when a corner fell to a Bolney player at the back post. He got in a shot, but thankfully for East Court, it went just wide of the far upright. Team: P.Bishop, A.Wright, D.Bewley (J.Nickols), M.Bishop, D.Medcalf, T.Greig, M.Nolan (B.Sunderland), B.Denyer, R.Kelly, J.Salter, N.Palmer. Unused Sub: N.Dawson |