It may not have been a pretty game, but it took an early own goal for league leaders, Hillians, and a finger tip save to grab, then hold on to, all three points off an injury depleted Herne Bay.

I’m disappointed,” said Sam Denly, “we wasn’t great today, don’t get me wrong, but we only lost 1-0 to the team that sits top of the league, it shows how far we’ve come.”

Analysis shows that Burgess Hill score a good proportion of their goals early in the game and they certainly started brightly with Rob O’Toole prominent on the left wing and it was, indeed, from that area that Danny Williams, back to defend a corner that had initially been cleared, deflected a cross over the head of his own ‘keeper in the 11^th minute.

Soon after Jack Delo saved with his feet from the hard working Pat Harding but on the half hour mark, Williams with a chance to make amends, turned his marker in the home box only to see his shot blocked for a corner.

The Hillians seemed quicker to the ball, more accurate with their passing, won almost everything in the air with strong headers and broke quickly threatening to overload the visitors’ back line. Liam Quinn and Connor Sanders stood tall in the centre of that Bay defence and gave their side the confidence to lift their collective performance after the break.

Tacticly, Herne Bay changed their approach on the restart. Having little joy with their normal brand of passing football, an aerial route drove the home side back four deeper and prevented waves of quick paced counter assaults.

That is not to say that Burgess Hill did not have chances in the second period. They did. Greg Luer slid the ball wide, O’Toole had an effort cleared off the line by Quinn and Pat Harding shot straight at Delo, but Bay looked livelier, and more likely, in the second 45 than they had in the first. It took a finger tip save from Josh James to deny Danny Williams and although the visitors pressed hard their attacks were, in the main, thwarted by a well drilled defence.

Herne Bay’s three match winning run in the league was halted with this reverse and they slipped to 9^th in the league table as a result.

“I don’t think we deserved to win it”, said Bay manager Sam Denly, “I don’t think they did either. It was a draw all day long for me, we’ve given away a soft goal and paid the price for it.”

 

 

Burgess Hill Town: Josh James, Neil Watts, Sam Fisk, Darren Budd, Andy Pearson, Toby Pointing, Scott Kirkwood, Joe Keehan, Pat Harding, Greg Luer (Lee Harding 73), Rob O’Toole

Subs Not Used: Graham Matin, Will Miles, Stuart Tuck, Dan Perry.

Cautions: None             Sent Off: None

Herne Bay: Jack Delo , Michael Turner (Gary Sayer 84), Harry Brown, Connor Sanders, Liam Quinn, Nathan Eastwood (Jordan Casey 43), Joe Nelder (Kane Butler 78), Sam Staunton, Dan Parkinson, Stephen Ita, Danny Williams

Subs Not Used: James Brown, Oliver Lee.

Cautions: Connor Sanders, Harry Brown Sent Off: None

 

Man of the Match: Liam Quinn (Herne Bay)

Referee: Mike Desborough        Assistants: Daniel Austin, Paula Wyatt

 

Burgess Hill Town (1) 1

Williams (o.g.) 11

 

Herne Bay (0) 0

 

at Leylands Park

 

Ryman Isthmian League Division One (South)

Saturday 20^th September 2014.

 

Attendance: 241

 

(photo credit: Steve Barton – Hillians ‘keeper saves from Danny Williams.)