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| Saturday 12 March 2005 East Court 2 Chailey 0 EAST Court reached the final of the Mid Sussex Football League Stratford Cup with a thoroughly deserved victory at Imberhorne School on Saturday (March 12). Both sides were dogged by injury, suspension and unavailability problems, with the home side without captain Simon Nickols, strikers Paul Brice and Ben Sunderland, defender James Crittell and player-manager Daniel Medcalf. But it was East Court that dealt better with the situation as Chailey came to keep it tight and play for extra time and penalties. And for 75 minutes they looked set to do so after the home team missed a string of chances. However, a long kick from goalkeeper Paul Bishop found Billy Denyer who laid the ball off to Carl Buckler and his swerving shot from outside the box beat the Chailey keeper. Minutes later the game was sewn up when Denyer saw his shot blocked and Nick Clarkson-Tooze fired home. In the first period both Buckler and Denyer had missed golden opportunities to put East Court ahead but urged on by captain Martyn Bishop they continued to play some free-flowing football. At the other end Chailey failed to create anything of note and it was a relatively quiet day for the home team's defence, who welcomed back Andy Wright after an ankle injury. Lee Champion dominated the midfield battle, keeping Chailey's influencial playmakers quiet throughout the 90 minutes. Their only slight scare came right at the end when a dangerous ball across the box bounced up and hit Adam Shillibeer on the arm as he tried to head clear but no penalty was given. And East Court find themselves competing in their third cup final in as many seasons since the club was formed. Team: P.Bishop, A.Wright, N.Palmer, L.Champion, A.Shillibeer, M.Bishop, C.Butler, B.Denyer, R.Kelly, B.Sunderland, C.Buckler |