Heath overcome injuries to book Peter Bentley Cup semi-final spot

Broadbridge Heath booked their place in the semi-finals of the Peter Bentley Cup with a hard-fought win over lower-division Little Common.
Premier Division: Broadbridge Heath v Arundel. Pic Steve Robards SR1522662 SUS-150928-131959001Premier Division: Broadbridge Heath v Arundel. Pic Steve Robards SR1522662 SUS-150928-131959001
Premier Division: Broadbridge Heath v Arundel. Pic Steve Robards SR1522662 SUS-150928-131959001

Steve Painter was without Adam Wicking, Jake Legrange and Rob Godfrey from Saturday’s team, while a thigh injury continued to keep Jack Lyons out along with long-term casualties Tim Martin and Merv Bhujun.

However, dual-signed Tiago Andrade was available and netted a crucial goal along with Jake Holmes’ winner as Heath came from behind to win.

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From the start, Common set out their stall to stifle their hosts and, marshalled by Russell Eldridge, they looked a well-organised unit, relying on the lively Jamie Crone and top scorer Lewis Hole in behind the Heath rearguard.

Heath dominated the possession and played some attractive football without ever finding the final ball to unlock their visitors.

After the break, Common took advantage to open the scoring through Crone after a long ball was not dealt with.

It looked a stiff task for Heath to get back into the game, but within five minutes, Jamie Robinson skipped away down the left and put in the perfect cross for Andrade to finish clinically.

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Before the restart, Dom Ozga who had replaced Stuart Chester was forced off with a reoccurrence of a hamstring problem and was replaced by Martin Mutangi.

Heath then lost the influential Piers McDermott to injury with Shane Meech coming on and Heath reverting to a 4-4-2 formation.

This paid dividends almost immediately when Shaun Findlay and Andrade combined to find Holmes and he finished coolly into the far corner, despite injuring himself in the act of scoring .

With nothing to lose, the visitors threw men forward and were nearly caught out by several breaks down the flanks by Meech and Mutangi.

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The nearest the visitors came to equalising was when their keeper, up for a corner, got the last touch in a scramble but Michael Chester gathered. Heath saw out more than seven minutes of stoppage time to go through to face either Hassocks (Saturday’s visitors) or Lancing.

Heath: M.Chester, S.Chester (Ozga (Mutangi), Robinson, Flack, Howard, McDermott (Meech), Findlay, Andrade, Holmes, Weller.

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