Prize cup scalp

Peacehaven 0 Burgess Hill 1

by Chris Francis

Saturday may have provided the showpiece performance but Tuesday’s League Cup win at the Division South leaders was equally satisfying to manager Ian Chapman.

“It was workmanlike and I thought we deserved it,” he said afterwards. And a fourth successive clean sheet was certainly a real plus.

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“We’ve struggled a bit in central defence and it’s important for any side to be solid at the back,” he added. “I think we’ve now achieved that and it provides a strong base to work on.”

Peacehaven certainly provided a prize scalp and gave some compensation for last month’s unlucky 3-2 league defeat at Piddinghoe Avenue.

The only goal was certainly a bit of a gift for Hillians but Chapman was right in saying his side deserved to book a fourth round place against either Lewes or Redhill.

Home keeper Tony Di Bernado came out of his area in the 11th minute but made a complete hash of his clearance. Pat Harding failed to cash in but visiting skipper Darren Budd was not so forgiving as he planted the ball into the unguarded goal.

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That was the first of three occasions where the home keeper presented Hillians with decent chances by fluffing clearances but they only needed to convert one of them as Peacehaven failed to show much of a will to win.For that the Hill defence must take full credit although defending extended as far forward as young Greg Luer, who may not have shown too much of his attacking flair but provided plenty of important tackling back to show there is plenty to his all-round game.

Alan Mansfield’s only save of real note came from the hosts’ in-form Charlie Walker (5 in the last three games).

But Hillians had the better of things for the most part and their impressive work rate helped close down hosts who struggled to raise their game.

That was particular so in the second half when another two clearance problems for Di Bernado presented chances to Max Miller and Pat Harding.

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On the first occasion Miller crossed the ball into the box where Scott Kirkwood was just thwarted.

The hosts did a little more but Hill continued to defend solidly.

Hillians: Mansfield; Watts, Keehan, Denyer, Pointing; P Harding, Budd, Armstrong, Kirkwood; Luer, Miller. Middy Starman: Toby Pointing, another consistent performance.

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