Sidley lift curse of Gullivers

THE curse of Gullivers has finally been lifted after Sidley United claimed a 3-2 win over Sidlesham.

Excluding victory in the St Leonards fixture which has since been expunged from the record books in the wake of Saints' resignation, Sidley had not won at home since November 8.

"I think it was a terrific result and an excellent team performance," enthused joint manager Andy Laskey. "I thought we were well worth the win. In terms of domination perhaps we had 65 per cent of the game and they only had 35. We worked hard and got the result."

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The principal difference between this performance and that of recent narrow misses was that there was finally an end product to match the measured approach work.

Ben White and Kevin Rose were a handful up front and Blues still took the three points despite twice having leads cancelled out - the first time that's happened all campaign.

But it was the dominant performance of the midfield triumvirate of Jimmy Watson, Adam Day and Dave Ward, whom Laskey says when on top form "you will struggle to find a better midfield three in the league", that was the key to the success with their understanding of each other's games and their ability to complement each other giving the side a genuinely balanced feel.

Ward was narrowly off target within the first 30 seconds but United did get their noses in front after 23 minutes when Owen Ball's free kick from deep slipped through the goalkeeper's fingers. Rose, White and Craig Ottley went close but Tim Lester levelled in first half stoppage time after Lee Wood slipped.

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White restored Sidley's advantage with a terrific header from Ottley's centre. But again they were pegged back as Sidlesham's Richie Davies equalised two minutes later with Blues still reshuffling following the substitution of the injured Ball.

United weren't to be denied though and responded strongly once again with Ward and Rose whiskers away before the former teed up the latter to supply a sublime finish to a flowing move also involving White and Watson - which according to some onlookers was one of the best goals seen at Gullivers for years.

Sidley entertain Redhill on Saturday March 20.