Polished performance from Sidley

Their hosts had knocked Sidley out of the John O'Hara Challenge Cup earlier in the season but there was never even the merest hint of a repeat dose on Saturday.

Joint manager Andy Laskey said: "It wasn't just the result, it was the performance as well which was excellent. We absolutely hammered them and four or five-nil wouldn't have been over-stating what we should have won by. We created chance after chance but the longer the game went on the more I thought we were not going to score. It was probably one of our best away performances of the season and it was probably as good as Hassocks (whom they beat 2-1 on January 16)."

Liam Barham made his Sidley debut and long-awaited return from a sickening Achilles injury ironically sustained against the same opposition when playing for Rye & Iden United 12 months ago.

And Barham played a starring role as the midfield seized control, the wing-backs bombed forward at every opportunity and the mercurial Wes Tate was back on form up-front. The defence, with Brad Poole back in harness, seems to be eradicating the individual mistakes that have taken the gloss off their season to date.

Tate had four efforts on target during the opening period but none found the back of the net and they couldn't capitalise on half a dozen top draw corners from Adam Day and Craig Ottley.

Day went close a couple of times from long range, Dave Ward rolled the ball just past the post after a surging run and the Blues had nothing to show for some delightful one touch football.

The passing and movement was even better in the second half, a statement exemplified by a sparkling sequence of passes involving Day and Tate which ended with Ottley's first time shot being pushed aside by the home goalkeeper.

Barham saw a delicate lob tipped over and the ensuing corner instigated a game of pin-ball in the Sidlesham goalmouth during which Chris Copley, Karl Tarrant and Tate had efforts hacked off the goal-line.

Something simply had to give and it duly did as Poole rose highest at the back post to head home another pinpoint Day corner with a quarter-of-an-hour remaining.

Sidley visit East Grinstead Town on Saturday February 21.