Sidley inch closer to relegation

ANOTHER nail was hammered into Sidley United's Sussex Division One relegation coffin with a 3-2 defeat at home to East Preston.

The Blues have claimed just one point from their last five games and, with East Grinstead Town winning on Saturday and Hailsham Town picking up six points over the past week, are now four points adrift of salvation.

They do at least have games in hand on all of the sides around them.

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The damage was done in the opening 45 minutes again because Sidley went in at half time three-down. Credit must go to a gallant second half performance which almost salvaged a point, but they are going to have to start performing for 90 and not 45 minutes if they're to beat the odds and dig their way out of the ever-deepening hole they find themselves in.

"It was definitely a missed opportunity," said manager Andy Laskey, of a defeat to an under-strength East Preston side playing for nothing but pride. "That's probably four or five games in a row where, first half, we've been poor. First half I thought maybe eight people played below par, and that's being polite, and we haven't got the players to carry them. The players are nervous because they know they're in a poor position and, when the second goal (a quickly-taken free kick, the legitimacy of which Sidley hotly-contested) went in, it was like the whole world's against us.

"They got a rollicking at half time to say the least and, second half, I thought everyone was superb. And when you look at the chances over the game, I thought we had more than they did."

Even in the first half, Sidley had decent chances. Callum Wooller drove just wide, Steve Morris blazed over when it looked easier to score and Kevin Rose couldn't direct his header on target.

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East Preston played much the better football, though, and had the goals to show for it through Matt Huckett (10) and Chris Hibbard (34, 36).

After the introductions of Liam Barham, Chris Scott and Dan Woods plus switching Rose up-front, Sidley took the game to their opponents in the second half. A Rose tap-in (70) and a Graham Morris penalty (81) gave them hope and they may have emerged with something had earlier shots from Shae Spreafico and Rose not been cleared off the line.