Burgess Hill pass toughest test yet with Faversham Town win

Burgess Hill Town faced there toughest test at the Green Elephants Stadium against Faversham Town who currently sit in third place, the fixture attracted an excellent midweek crowd of 296 who witnessed an exciting game.
Football. Sussex League. Burgess Hill V Eastbourne Brough friendly. Action from the match. Eastbourne's Dean Sinclair tackles  Burgess Hill's Joe Keehan.     Picture: Liz Pearce 260714. SUS-140726-200744008Football. Sussex League. Burgess Hill V Eastbourne Brough friendly. Action from the match. Eastbourne's Dean Sinclair tackles  Burgess Hill's Joe Keehan.     Picture: Liz Pearce 260714. SUS-140726-200744008
Football. Sussex League. Burgess Hill V Eastbourne Brough friendly. Action from the match. Eastbourne's Dean Sinclair tackles Burgess Hill's Joe Keehan. Picture: Liz Pearce 260714. SUS-140726-200744008

Manager Ian Chapman was forced into one change as skipper Darren Budd was away so Graham Martin came in for his first start of the season.

Faversham had the perfect start when after only one minute Faversham’s keeper Simon Overland’s long clearance found Luke Harvey who managed to get the wrong side of Toby Pointing and his powerful shot found the back of the net. Burgess Hill looked a little stunned and Faversham pushed hard for a second and on eight minutes David Botterill nearly added a second when his shot just missed the far post from 20 yards out.

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Burgess Hill got back into the game on eleven minutes when the ball fell to Joe Keehan just outside the box and his firmly struck shot saw Overland’s spill the ball, Rob O’Toole reacted first and as he attempted to round the keeper he was bought down for a penalty, Keehan made no mistake from the spot smashing the ball down the middle to draw the Hillians level.

This lifted Hill and they started to apply pressure on the visitors and Pat Harding nearly added a second when Neil Watts found the striker inside the box and his first time effort saw Overlands pull of a fine save and the next attack saw Faversham clear the ball off the line when Sam Fisk’s ball into the box looped over Overland’s head. Faversham’s George Monger forced Josh James into a smart save when his well struck free kick was heading into the bottom corner, the rest of the half saw both sides have half chances but neither could add to the score.

Ian Chapman and his management team sent the Hillians out for the second half with what appeared to be a very attacking attitude and they didn’t give Faversham any time on the ball and applied plenty of pressure from the whistle.

Greg Luer started to create some real problems for the visiting defence and was found by Keehan inside the box and it was only for a saving tackle by Aiden Sherlock that Hill didn’t take the lead, Luer was soon again involved when his goal bound shot unfortunately hit Keehan before being cleared.

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Ian Chapman made a change on sixty five minutes when he introduced Lee Harding for Rob O’Toole. Joe Keehan had two golden opportunities to score his second of the game when he was found with two good crosses but he failed to make connection with the first and the second saw him head over from five yards out.

Burgess hill scored the crucial winner on sevent minutes when the newly introduced Lee Harding was put through by Greg Luer and his firmly struck shot found the back of the net to the delight of the home crowd.

The Hillians pushed hard to add to their lead and half chances fell to Pat Harding and Luer while Faversham tried hard to get back into the game however a strong Hillian defence were not prepared to concede again and were delighted when the referee called time on ninety three minutes to keep Hill’s unbeaten run going.

Hillians: Josh James, Neil Watts, Sam Fisk, Andy Pearson, Toby Pointing, Graham Martin, Joe Keehan, Scott Kirkwood, Rob O’Toole (Lee Harding 65), Greg Luer (Dann Perry 90), Pat Harding.

Not used: Will Miles, Chris Breach, Stuart Tuck.