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| Saturday 06 November 2004 East Court FC 4 Chailey 4 (aet) - Chailey won 4-2 on pens IT TOOK a penalty shootout in near darkness to separate these two sides in the Mid Sussex Football League Sommerville Cup at Imberhorne School on Saturday (November 6). Chailey raced into a two goal lead in the opening ten minutes. First a forward beat East Court keeper Paul Bishop to the ball to head the away team ahead and then the same player got free to score again via the inside of a post. But it proved to be his last action of the game as the player suffered a broken leg after accidentally colliding with Nick Palmer which led to the match being held up for 30 minutes. When play restarted Chailey threatened to extend their lead but it was the home side who reduced the deficit. Billy Denyer played in Carl Buckler down the left and his cross found Ben Sunderland, who made no mistake. But the away team restored their two goal advantage just before the half-time when East Court failed to clear their lines allowing a Chailey player to prod the ball home. Player-manager Daniel Medcalf shuffled his pack during the break pushing Martyn Bishop into midfield and asked Buckler and Andrew Wright to get further forward. Lee Champion, who suffered a knee injury, was replaced by Paul Brice Man-of-the-match captain Simon Nickols pulled East Court back into the match again with a sublime header from the edge of the area after a Brice freekick and the home team was soon level when top-scorer Billy Denyer rifled home after being nicely set up by Brice. Chailey nearly got back in front when East Court were saved in quick succession by the post and Wright's header off the line. By this time Nick Clarkson-Tooze had come on for Sunderland and Ross Kelly was booked for a late challenge as the game headed for extra time. In the first period Kelly put East Court ahead for the first time in the match when he headed home Wright's pinpoint cross. But with just minutes remaining Chailey grabbed an equaliser to force penalty kicks. Paul Bishop pulled off an early save in the shootout and although Adam Shillibeer and Kelly scored, Denyer and Nickols saw their efforts well stopped by the Chailey keeper putting the away team through to the quarter finals. Team: P.Bishop, A.Wright, C.Buckler, A.Shillibeer, M.Bishop, N.Palmer, S.Nickols, B.Denyer, R.Kelly, B.Sunderland (N.Clarkson-Tooze), L.Champion (P.Brice). Unused Sub: Ja.Crittell |