Results 04/04/15

[blueboybird]

Ticehurst 1 - 2 Sidley United - ESFL Division One

A second half strike from Keith Miles made it 4 wins in a row as Sidley moved up to fourth place in the table.

Ticehurst began the game stronger but without creating too many clear opportunities to test Sidley goalkeeper Adam Skelton. In fact their best chance came from a Sidley mix up between defenders and goalkeeper but Skelton made a strong one handed save to keep the scores level.

Sidley grew into the game and were rewarded for their positive approach. On 20 minutes some neat play down the left saw the ball played in to Aaron Cochrane inside the penalty area and his lobbed finish gave Sidley the lead. (In truth it was a bit of a shiner, but they all count!)

Sidley shaded the rest of the first half but neither side created a clear cut opportunity and Blues went in 1 - 0 up at the break

Ticehurst came out positively at the start of the second half but again struggled to test Skelton until bringing the scores level out of the blue. A long ball forward was left by a Sidley defender for Skelton to pick up but just as he was about to the ball bounced oddly causing Skelton to lose his grip on the ball and Ticehurst forward Robbie Guyle was on hand to roll the ball into the net.

That knocked Sidley back and at that stage Ticehurst were on top. They almost went in front with a curling shot from just inside the area but luckily for Sidley the ball hit the post and was cleared.

However, Sidley gathered themselves and kept playing a positive game. They retook the lead on 77 minutes as a ball over the top put James Bailey in one on one with the goalkeeper and while the goalkeeper parried his shot, Miles was on hand to slot the ball home.

Naturally with little time remaining, Sidley dropped deeper to protect the lead but despite Ticehurst coming forward, they were unable to put enough pressure on the Sidley goal and the Blues saw out the game for a 4th consecutive win.

Sidley team: Skelton, May (Holland), Foord, Funnell, Walker, Day, Briscoe, Bailey, Cochrane, Carroll, Miles