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| Saturday 03 December 2005 Old Varndeanians III 0 East Court 5 EAST Court returned to the coast for this Mid Sussex League Division 4 clash two weeks after winning 8-1 at the same ground in the cup. There were two changes to the team that won so convincingly in the cup with Carl Buckler and James Salter in the starting line-up in place of Daniel Lamprell and Paul Brice. Player-manager Daniel Medcalf was sufficiently recovered from injury to retain his place in the centre of defence. East Court kicked into the wind in the first half but easily had the upper hand as keeper Paul Bishop was underemployed for the second successive week. The back four of Andy Wright, Adam Shillibeer, Medcalf and Buckler kept the ball well but East Court struggled to create any clear-cut chances. The only goal of the half came when Salter crossed in from the left wing, Shillibeer challenged the keeper for the ball and it dropped to Ross Kelly who lashed it home from 6 yards. In the second half East Court increased their dominance and soon the game was out of reach for the home side as Billy Denyer scored twice in quick succession to put the visitors 3-0 up. On both occasions Ben Sunderland was the architect with some sublime passing putting Denyer clear. Skipper Simon Nickols added a scrappy fourth goal as he reacted quickest to his initial shot being blocked and poked the ball home from inside the six yard box. Nickols grabbed his second of the match to round off the scoring but this time he beat two players before unleashing an unstoppable drive into the corner of the net. At the other end there were a couple of scares, Medcalf had to clear from the line after Bishop had been beaten and Bishop had to be alert late on to deny the Varndeanians lone striker a consolation goal. Lamprell replaced Salter for the last 10 minutes as East Court eased to their third consecutive win. Next Saturday East Court entertain Fletching, the last team to beat them, and hope to welcome Paul brice and Nick Palmer back into the squad. Team: P.Bishop, A.Wright, C.Buckler, S.Nickols, D.Medcalf, A.Shillibeer, B.Sunderland, L.Champion, R.Kelly, B.Denyer, J.Salter (D.Lamprell) |