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| Saturday 28 October 2006 East Grinstead Mariners 1 East Court 1 East Court made the short trip to Talbot Road as they took on local rivals East Grinstead Mariners last Saturday. A Billy Denyer goal was enough to claim a point from a game where Court were second best throughout. After the previous week's disappointing draw with Roffey Nick Palmer and Carl Buckler were recalled to the starting eleven. Mariners were the quicker out of the blocks with Rob Whiting in particular causing problems for the visitors as he dropped off the front man and gave the home side an extra man in midfield. With East Court struggling to string more than two passes together it was no surprise when mariners took the lead. With Mariners lone striker coming back from an offside position as a long ball was played over the top, Whiting was allowed to run through the East Court backline while the defenders looked in vain for an offside flag. Whiting ran on into the penalty area before smashing the ball past a helpless Dan Lamprell in the East Court goal. It didn't take long for the away team to equalise. Carl Buckler picked the ball just inside the Mariners half and beat two men as he made his way to the byline. He fired a low ball into the area and Denyer was first to the ball to poke it home at the near post. The action didn't stop there though, Whiting was dismissed for foul and abusive language towards the referee but despite being outnumbered it was still Mariners in control. The home team hit the bar and had the ball in the net from the rebound only for it to be ruled out for offside as they searched for a second goal. The second half continued in much the same fashion but this time it was East Court who had a goal ruled out. For the first time in the entire match the visitors were able to put a series of passes together and a right wing cross found its way to Buckler who slammed the ball home. That was as good as it got for the visitors as Tom Butcher ran the show for the home team. It was Butcher who had the best chance to score a winner as he burst through from central midfield before firing wide. East Court were constantly chasing shadows as Mariners controlled the game but the East Court defence, marshalled by Nizam?s man of the match Simon Nickols, held firm. Team: D.Lamprell, D.Medcalf, N.Palmer (B.Sunderland), R.Hayes, M.Champion, S.Nickols, S.Moseley (A.Wright), C.Zimmatore, R.Kelly (A.Shillibeer), B.Denyer, B.Sunderland Unused Sub: P.Bishop |