Sittingbourne claimed an important 3 points in their relegation dogfight & in a confident way which hopefully will help them for the rest of the season.
This was a game of two ‘ as Bourne were disappointing in the first but so much better in the second.
The game started well for Bourne as they pressed forward against an inform East Grinstead side, in the 2nd minute a long throw into the area by Lewis Chambers as headed clear but only to Chris Bernard & his shot from 20 yards was deflected just past the post. East Grinstead were second best in the opening minutes & then against the run of play they took the lead when a bad back pass forced Patrick Lee to hack clear & the ball came to Gregory Cundle who ran into the area before releasing the ball into the path of Jerson Dos Santos & from 10 yards he shot past Lee.
Sittingbourne’s players heads dropped for a while, in the 29th minute East Grinstead nearly increased their lead when a corner into the area was headed out but only to Ryan Johnson & from 20 yards his shot went just over the bar, three minutes later Cundle picked the ball up on halfway & ran towards the goal & from 18 yards his shot was saved by Lee.
Sittingbourne despite being down by one were still in the game & the 44th minute Johan Caney-Bryan on the left went across the field before seeing his shot go over the bar.
The second half started with Bourne bringing on Izzy Adebayo & Liam Middleton for Tom Loynes & T. Babington & this seemed to galvanise them as they dominated the second half. In the 52nd minute Middleton on the left wing crossed into the area & it was cleared out but only to Skipper Chris Webber who from 20 yards shot over the bar, a minute later Lewis Chambers tried his luck from 20 yards but it went just wide. Sittingbourne were still dominating the game when in the 70th minute they equalised when a Jack Morrell free kick into the 6 yard box was headed in by the smallest player on the pitch.
A minute later it was nearly two when Adebayo on the right wing his fizzed cross just evaded the dive of Lewin’s. In the 77th minute a ball crossed into the area was half cleared to Middleton whose shot went just past the post. In the 80th minute in a rare attack East Grinstead wasted a chance to back in front a ball when a ball from the left was chipped into the 6 yard box where Callum Emptage on his own headed over the bar.
Grinstead were now having a go but in the 83rd minute a corner was cleared for Adebayo on half way to race past Karn Miller-Neave & his cross was deflected into the net by Ryan Johnson. The last few moments of the game saw Grinstead have a couple of chances to equalise firstly in the 85th minute Cundle on the left went into the area & from an acute angle his shot was saved by Lee’s legs & then two minutes later a cross into the area by Ollie Boulding saw Lee come out to collect it but he dropped it but Chambers on the line cleared it back to Lee.
Although there were about 6 minutes off added on time Sittingbourne defended well & counter attacked. The final whistle went v& Sittingbourne deserved the three points.
SITTINGBOURNE:
P.LEE 2. C.WEBBER 3. J.MORRELL 4. B.FITCHETT (66) 5. J.SPENCER 6. L.CHAMBERS 7. T.LOYNES (45)
8. C.BERNARD 9. J.CANEY-BRYAN 10. B.LEWINS 11. T.BABINGTON (45)
SUBS USED: 16. I.ADEBAYO (45) 17. L.MIDDLETON (45) 14. T.LAWRENCE (66)
SUBS NOT USED: 12. R.LOFTING 15. K.McFARLANE
BOOKINGS: 9. J.CANEY-BRYAN (90)
EAST GRINSTEAD TOWN:
B.DALY 2. C.EMPTAGE 3. K.MILLER-NEAVE 4. R.JOHNSON 5. A.COONEY 6. J.BRAY 7. L.MAZZONE
8. M.CHAPMAN (64) 9. G.CUNDLE 10. J.DOS SANTOS (79) 11. O.BOULDING
SUBS USED: 15. J.JOHNSON (64) 12. G.LANDAIS (79)
SUBS NOT USED: 14. M.DAY 16. C.WILLIAMS
BOOKINGS: 4. R.JOHNSON (90)
REFEREE: Mr J.HORNE
ASSISTANTS: Mr S.MATTHEWS & Mr C.SMITH
ATTENDANCE: 175