Burgess Hill beat Sittingbourne to make it 14 consecutive wins

Burgess Hill Town’s impressive run continued with a dominating performance against Sittingbourne.
Pat Harding, Burgess Hill Town. Picture by Steve Robards SUS-140822-130042001Pat Harding, Burgess Hill Town. Picture by Steve Robards SUS-140822-130042001
Pat Harding, Burgess Hill Town. Picture by Steve Robards SUS-140822-130042001

Ian Chapman made three changes from the Sutton victory replacing Graham Martin, Rob O’Toole and Toby Pointing with Chris Breach, Will Miles and Lee Harding.

Hill started brightly and had many chances early on. The first chance came for Burgess Hill on 4 minutes when Greg Luer put in an accurate pass to Scott Kirkwood who evaded many defenders to put a cross into the box. Burgess Hill were out numbered in the box and the ball was subsequently headed wide for a corner. Hill managed to keep possession and shortly after were close to scoring when a Joe Keehan pass out wide to Sam Fisk, who was un-marked, ended up with a cross into the box. With nobody there to receive it the ball rolled straight into the arms of Sittingbourne goalkeeper Adam Molloy. Lee Harding and Greg Luer also had near misses within the first fifteen minutes. Burgess Hill’s best chance of the half came when on 18 minutes Pat Harding broke free in the centre of the field and had his shot saved by the Sittingbourne keeper who tipped the ball out for yet another Burgess Hill corner.

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Sittingbourne’s first chance came soon after when captain Tom Brunt put a low cross into the box that landed just infront of Josh James. James did well to regain possession of the ball with Sittingbourne’s number 8 Joe Nwoko poised and ready to shoot.

Burgess Hill responded quickly with Greg Luer crossing the ball to Scott Kirkwood who under pressure from several of the opposition, saw his shot fly over the cross bar.

Tom Brunt earned a free kick for Sittingbourne after Andy Pearson and Will Miles brought him down just shy of the half way line. Hicham Akhazzan took the free kick but only fired the ball into the Burgess Hill wall.

Burgess Hill’s breakthrough came on 42 minutes when Pat Harding made the most of a gap in Sittingbourne’s defence and sent a powerful shot into the back of the net. The half finished 1-0 to Burgess Hill.

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Hill’s lead quickly doubled as just 2 minutes after the re-start Pat Harding gave the ball to Sam Fisk who found space and slotted the ball past the keeper into the bottom right corner. Possession stayed with Burgess Hill and after a series of successful passes Lee Harding had a long range effort that was comfortably stopped by Adam Molloy. On 62 minutes pressure was put on Burgess Hill after Sittingbourne number 8 Ollie Brown tackled Andy Pearson and gained control of the ball. With Josh James off his line, Will Miles stepped in to clear the danger and send the weak shot out for a corner. Scott Kirkwood and Pat Harding came close once again with shots being deflected wide of the post. Ian Chapman made the decision to replace Greg Luer with Rob O’Toole on 77 minutes. A minute later Pat Harding got his second goal of the night after a fantastic cross from Neil Watts set him up with an effortless looking shot into the back of the net.

Further changes were made on 82 minutes when Burgess Hill’s double substitution saw Darren Budd and Dan Perry replace Joe Keehan and Pat Harding. Budd and Perry instantly made an impact as after only being on the pitch for two minutes they created a chance that ended with Dan Perry’s shot curling just wide. Dan Perry looked keen to replicate his late goal scored at Sutton in the FA Cup just 3 days earlier. On 86 minutes he did exactly that as a Scott Kirkwood and Darren Budd passing manoeuvre ended up at Dan’s feet and he thundered a shot into the back of the net. For the remainder of the game Burgess Hill continued with the close chances and Scott Kirkwood had another long range goal denied by the Sittingbourne defence. The game finished 4-0 to Burgess Hill to keep them top of the table after a very satisfying evening.

Burgess Hill Town: Josh James, Neil Watts, Sam Fisk, Chris Breach, Andy Pearson, Will Miles, Scott Kirkwood, Joe Keehan (Darren Budd 82), Pat Harding (Dan Perry 82), Greg Luer (Rob O’Toole 77), Lee Harding

Subs Not Used: Graham Martin, Toby Pointing