Burgess Hill Town 4, Folkestone 2: Bank Holiday victory for Chapman's men

Burgess HIll Town picked up their second win of the season on Bank Holiday Monday in a six goal thriller against Folkestone Invicta.

The game got off to a cagey start with neither side taking control until Folkestone secured an early lead in the eighth minute. Lee Harding gave away a free kick on the right wing which Ronnie Dolan curled in at the near post from a tight angle.

The goal seemed to shake Hill into life and they proceeded to show their class. A minute later Sam Gargan had the ball in the back of the net from an offside position and when play resumed another attacking move from the home side resulted in Harding hitting the bar.

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The pressure paid off for the Hillians in the 12th minute when Gargan supplied a low cross from the left and Tyrell Richardson-Brown tapped home the equaliser.

The Sussex side continued to dominate the rest of the first half and could have taken the lead as golden opportunities fell for both Richardson-Brown and then Gargan, but neither managed to convert.

Leon Redwood eventually made it 2-1 in the second half, beating the opposition keeper with a well struck free kick into the top left corner on 60 minutes.

However Hill were given a late scare as first Ian Draycott equalised with a smart back post header in the 75th minute and then a strong Invicta penalty claim was denied by the referee after Ashley Miller was brought down in the box.

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But with nine minutes to play, the home side retook the lead as a well worked move ended with Dan Thompson drilling the ball across goal for the waiting Dan Pearse to tap home.

The result was confirmed with an own goal in the dying seconds as Nat Blanks slotted a back-pass into his own net after being closed down by Pat Harding, despite the sprawling efforts of the Folkestone keeper.

“It was a deserved three points”, noted Hill manager Ian Chapman, “I think if we had taken our chances we would have won more comfortably.

“We’ve shown real good character at two all to pick ourselves up and go again, and overall we definitely deserved to win the game.”

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