Sidley v Peacehaven

There were two changes to Saturday's side with Tom Levitt and Sol Bowra being replaced by Craig Bunch and Aaron Gunn (making his first appearance for a month).

Kicking down the "Sidley Slope", it was Peacehaven who created the earliest chances. A looping effort from Scott Marshall produced a finger-tip save from Gavin Bourne, and he was in action again soon after, keeping out Rob O'Toole's close range shot.

At the other end, a swift counter-attack culminated in Jake Buss diving low to save from Steve Morris, and then 'Haven went close themselves when a fierce drive from Craig Bunch went narrowly over the bar.

The deadlock was finally broken midway through the first half when a Paul Tuppeney free kick was headed in by Scott McDonald to put the home side in front, but Peacehaven were soon on the attack, and within 5 minutes the scores were level. A direct free-kick from Carl Dunk crashed against the Sidley bar and fell at the feet of Craig Bunch who hammered home from 3 yards.

Both sides then had the chance to take a first half lead, with Sidley hitting the bar from both a corner and free-kick, whilst in the last minute of the half a Scott Marshall pass found Carl Dunk through on goal but Bourne did well to smother the ball before he could shoot.

The first chance of the second half fell to Peacehaven when there was a scramble in the Sidley area but the ball wouldn't fall to any of the forwards who seemed to be lining up to shoot. With the advantage of the slope, Sidley were keen to stream forward when they gained possession, but any 2nd half advantage they had from the pitch was thrown away after 53 minutes. Already cautioned in the first half, Mark Chandler received a second yellow, and Sidley were down to 10 men.

Despite being a man down, Sidley defended well and were still looking dangerous on the break, but Peacehaven finally got their noses in front 15 minutes from time. A high ball into the box was shielded well by Owen Callaghan, and Ashley Rees fired into the bottom corner.

With 5 minutes remaining, the result was put beyond doubt when a Carl Dunk free kick found Wes Millis in the box and his effort crept past the despairing dive of Bourne.

The home side had seemed less than happy with the officials performances all the game, and when they had a last minute goal ruled out for offside, it just about summed up their evening. For Peacehaven though, it was a valuable 3 points in their push or a top 2 finish.