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| Wednesday 20 April 2005 East Court 6 Turners Hill II 1 EAST Court finished their season the same way they started it by putting six goals past Turners Hill II at Kings Centre last Wednesday night. The result guaranteed promotion to division 4 of the Mid Sussex Football League next season although with other results going their way that night they could've been beaten and still gone up. In front of a vociferous crowd it was Turners Hill who started the slightly brighter of the two sides. They had the first half chance when striker Chris Mason dragged a weak shot wide under pressure from 12 yards out in the opening five minutes. Carl Buckler, forced into left back duty again after his fine display against Village of Ditchling II, had struggled to contain right winger Matt Garrett early on but gradually got on top of his man and it was his throw-in that led to the opening goal. Buckler threw the ball in from the edge of the box and Paul Brice held off his marker before swivelling and firing a low shot right across the face of the goal and into the far corner. The lead was short lived however, a long ball was only half dealt with by the East Court back line and it was Turners midfield that were first to the loose ball and it was tucked away neatly past keeper Chris Butler. This seemed to spur East Court forward. Despite being out-numbered in midfield by the visitor's 4-5-1 formation it was East Court who pressed forward. With Mason left on his own up front it allowed East Court centre-backs Dan Medcalf and Martyn Bishop to push forward in support. But it was Carl Buckler who made the difference again. The left-back picked the ball up deep in Turners territory and released Ross Kelly who outpaced his marker and slid the ball past the keeper from 10 yards out to put East Court in front for the second time. This time there was to be no comeback, East Court kept pressing forward and moved the ball around well without really hurting Turners Hill who were still holding their own in midfield. In the end it took a long hopeful ball forward from centre-back Bishop to make the difference. Right winger Simon Nickols raced onto the pass to fire his shot powerfully past the away side's keeper. There were very few chances before half-time and East Court turned round 3-1 up. The second half was a much scrappier affair for long periods. Shortly into the second half skipper Nickols was replaced by Ben Sunderland after sustaining a knock and Adam Shillibeer came on for Bishop at the back. Chances were few and far between at either end although the East Court defence looked a lot more assured than their Turners Hill counterparts. Despite this it was a Turners Hill attack that led to the next goal, Lee Champion slipped in midfield and lost control of the ball, it was moved quickly forward to Garrett who was onside and in behind the defence. Medcalf made up the ground as he chased back and took the ball off Garrett before heading off up the field. A swift 1-2 with Brice put him in behind the full-back as Turners were caught on the break with a high line. After reaching the byline Medcalf squared the ball for the onrushing Billy Denyer to tuck home into an empty net from 6 yards out. Turners responded by throwing on a second striker but despite getting forward more often they only tested Butler in the East Court goal once. Instead it was left to Denyer to take advantage of the gaps this left behind as he first set up Nick Clarkson-Tooze for the fifth. East Court broke quickly from defence and the ball found its way to Denyer just inside the penalty area. He unselfishly laid the ball square for Clarkson-Tooze to turn and fire past the keeper's outstretched right hand. There was still time for one more goal as Denyer picked the ball up inside the centre circle and ran at the retreating defence. Having momentarily lost the ball he recovered to nip in front of the centre back and slide the ball past the oncoming keeper and in off the far post. The result left East Court in second place with 57 points from 18 wins, 3 draws and 1 defeat in their 22 games. They scored 107 goals and conceded only 17, both significant improvements over previous years. Despite finishing runners-up in both the league and the Stratford Challenge Cup the club is still in with a chance of silverware this season as they currently top the table for the Liverpool Arms Cup, which is awarded to the highest scoring first team in the Mid Sussex Football League. Team: C.Butler, A.Wright, C.Buckler, L.Champion, D.Medcalf, M.Bishop (A.Shillibeer), S.Nickols (B.Sunderland), B.Denyer, R.Kelly, N.Clarkson-Tooze, P.Brice |