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| Saturday 21 January 2006 Nutley II 1 East Court 3 East Court recorded their first win in 2006 last weekend with a hard-fought victory over struggling Nutley II. Changes were made to the starting eleven after the previous weekends record defeat, Paul Brice and Ben Sunderland came in for Carl Buckler and James Salter. New signing Richard Hayes was left on the bench. It didn't take long for East Court to strike, within the first couple of minutes skipper Simon Nickols fired home from the edge of the area after running on to a pass from Billy Denyer. That was as good as it got for the visitors in the first half as Nutley ran the game, finding time and space all over the pich as East Court struggled to put any pressure on the ball. On the occasions that East Court got the ball down they sliced through the Nutley defence but were unable to capitalise on the chances. The home side grabbed a deserved equaliser just before the break when a free kick was only half cleared to a Nutley midfielder who shot home through a crowded panlty area. The shot took a late deflection to wrong foot keeper Dan Lamprell and it was 1-1. Even then East Court could have regained the lead before half-time, a wonderful right wing cross from Brice was met by the head of Denyer yards from goal with an open goal to aim for but he couldn?t quite get the connection he needed and the chance passed. A half-time reshuffle saw debutant Hayes replace right back Andrew Wright as East Court switched to a 3-5-2 formation. With the extra man in midfield East Court were finally able to stop the supply to the Nutley front men and apply concerted pressure on the Nutley goal. It was no surprise when the visitors did finally regain the lead. Denyer was again the architect, his cross from the left hand side of the penalty area found Brice sliding in to slam the ball home. East Court continued to press and grabbed a deserved third when Ross Kelly rose the highest to head home a Brice corner. The result puts East Court three points clear of local rivals Dormansland Rockets in the race for the second promotion spot behind AFC Ringmer. Team: D.Lamprell, A.Wright (R.Hayes), N.Palmer, S.Nickols, D.Medcalf, A.Shillibeer, P.Brice, L.Champion, R.Kelly, B.Denyer, B.Sunderland (C.Buckler). Unused Sub: P.Bishop |