Sidley United produce a stirring second-half comeback to claim a point

A stirring second half comeback earned Sidley United a point as they drew with Peacehaven & Telscombe II.
Gary Hempe drew Sidley level from the spotGary Hempe drew Sidley level from the spot
Gary Hempe drew Sidley level from the spot

The Blues began well and in the early stages looked solid but they then fell behind when a smart one-two got Tom Stevenson in on goal and he finished past Joe Rogers to put the visitors in front on 17 minutes.

And despite playing much better than the previous week it looked as if the Blues might suffer successive defeats as Stevenson struck an excellent free kick to double Peacehaven's lead on 28 minutes.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Sidley had chances to reduce the arrears but Ash Elphick and Tom Saunders were both off target as they went in behind at the break to the only two strikes that the visitors had at goal.

But the second half was a different affair as Sidley took the game to their opponents and they deservedly got one back as Arron Scrace beat the onrushing goalkeeper to a ball forward and poked it into the net on 65 minutes.

Sidley thought they had levelled shortly afterwards when, after some terrific work by Danny Ellis, a ball was half cleared to Dom Bristow whose excellent strike from outside the area found the back of the net but the linesman flagged for an offside in the middle which obstructed the goalkeeper's view much to the frustrations and doubts of the Sidley faithful.

As Peacehaven sat in to defend, visiting goalkeeper Dane Tasker then made no less than three very good saves to deny Sidley as time started to run out.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Undeterred a by now dominant Sidley kept coming and won a penalty on 85 minutes as Zac McEniry won a header before being clattered by the goalkeeper. The ever reliable from the spot Gary Hempe stepped up to send Tasker the wrong way and level the scores.

However despite the visitors slowing things down as much as possible, there was little stoppage time added and Sidley ran out of time to find a winning goal that their performance probably deserved.

Sidley remain top of the table on goal difference with 10 points and are at home again next week as they welcome Roffey II to Hooe Rec.

Sidley Team: Rogers, Davies (Walker), Scrace, McEniry, Saunders, Elliott-Noye, Bristow, Wells, Elphick (Hempe), Ellis, Baldwin.

Related topics: