Midhurst marvels are happy at the Heath

Midhurst were without six first-team regulars but with experience through the spine of the team and youth and energy on the flanks, they continued their rich vein of form with a 4-1 win at Haywards Heath.
Action from Wick v Midhurst & Easebourne earlier on in the seasonAction from Wick v Midhurst & Easebourne earlier on in the season
Action from Wick v Midhurst & Easebourne earlier on in the season

Heath started the Sussex League division-two clash brightly, carving open the Stags defence on a couple of occasions only to be denied by last-ditch tackles or the reliable Dan Roberts in goal.

Chances for Hamilton and veteran Jamie Angell drew comfortable saves from the Heath keeper.

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Midhurst broke the deadlock on 15 minutes. Neat interplay by Dreckman and Hamilton saw Newton slipped in on goal and he kept his composure and rifled into the roof of the net for his first goal of the season.

Just before the half-time whistle, Heath equalised with a deserved goal when a striker bent the ball into the top corner.

The Stags started the second half in control.

Fifteen minutes into the half, the Stags stepped up a gear and scored three goals in seven minutes.

The first went to Lewis Hamilton, who raced on to a through ball from Loz Hyde and coolly lobbed the onrushing keeper to make it 2-1.

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The second was a desrved goal for Jimmy Turner, who had worked hard all game. A ball threaded through from Hyde saw Turner win a 50/50 with the keeper and then slot into an empty net.

The final goal came from Hamilton. A jinking run on the edge of the box ended with him cutting inside and curling the ball left footed into the top corner.

Joint MoMs were Angell and Roberts.

Midhurst boss Gary Norgate said: “I was really happy with the performace overall. There were a couple of shaky first-half moments but we turned it on when we needed to and grabbed a deserved win.

“We want to finish in our highest league position for some seasons and this is another step towards achieving that.”

The Stags face another big game this week at Rustington.

MIDHURST: Roberts, Stevens, Casselton, Broughton, Norgate, Angell, Hyde, Newton, L Hamilton, Dreckman (M Hamilton), Turner (Dowdell) Sub not used: Sheldrick.

DARREN CHIVERTON