THEY can give the championship trophy to
Burgess Hill,' said frustrated YM manager John
Suter after his side twice surrendered a lead at
Sidlesham.
The Gorings Mead boss had all but given up hope of catching the leaders after YM's home defeat against Sidley but a second successive loss combined with poor results for most of the major challengers has left Burgess Hill in a commanding position to retain their title,
"They're a class apart from the other sides —they're consistently good. Most of the other teams in the top eight are fairly even - every team is capable of beating everyone else." conceded Suter.
"Two weeks running weve not been good enough to win We're not playing as well as we can. We had enough chances to have won the game although they could also have scored more goals. If we'd won these two games, we would've been two points in front of Burgess Hill and could put them under pressure. We can't do that now.
Matt Duffield put the visitors ahead against the run of play after 27 minutes but Sidlesham's Mark Wozniak levelled two minutes later with a scorching 30-yarder.
Shortly after the break Wayne Potter headed YM tn front but again they surrendered their lead almost immediately when Jimmy Brown scored a superb individual goal. Scott Tipper headed the hosts ahead arid although YM had chances to nick a point they could have no real complaints.
The game was the sort of midfield battle on a heavy pitch against committed opponents that YM always seem to struggle in and they were not helped
by a fussy referee who booked six players for mainly trivial offences.
"We are just losing our way a little. It was enormously frustrating." admitted Suter, whose side looked a shadow of the free-scoring team that walloped Littlehampton 22-1.
Suter predicted that win could be hard to live up to and is has. But even without the experienced Peter Durrant, who was reduced to kicking- a ball about with his kids on the sidelines, and flair players like Micky Hennessy and Nick Flint who were unavailable, YM have enough good players to win games like this.
'I think people worked hard enough but we were not as noisy as them. They were verbally aggressive which perhaps gave the impression they were working harder? said Suter.
But with the exception of keeper Jason Dumbrill. who made three unbelievable saves, the combative Scott Langridge and the cool Stewart MeCreadie. most of the other players will feel they could have done better.
The hosts are always an awkward side to play and although YM won at the Recreation Ground last season on a pitch surrounded by a moles' playground. the travelling fans were not so optimistic.
The sunshine sparked Sidleham early on and they should have gone ahead in the fifth minute when Tipper's cross slipped under Langridge's boot. But the unmarked Riqhard Davies failed to accept the gift as Dumbrill brilliantly saved from five yards out.
The visitors took their time to settle and some casual passing and over elaboration in their own half did not help as the Sidlesham midfield hunted down the ball like a pack of rabid terriers.
When YM did string a few passes together they looked dangerous and Paul Young's neat lay-off allowed Gil Taylor to run at the heart of the defence. The striker slipped the ball to the overlapping Duffield but the Horsham skipper's shot was straight at Steve Judd who saved with his feet,
Tipper. a Dolph Lungren lookalike with- cropped ginger hair, put himself about early on but wher YM gave the ball away he could only shoot into the side-netting.
YM's first decent shot came when Taylor oul muscled the home defence but David Oakes' crisp
strike was always rising just over the bar.
The visitors took the lead in the 27th minute when McCreadie's 50-yard pass sent Duffield racing down the middle. The midfielder controlled the ball with his head, neatly rolled it past the oncoming Judd and wheeled away to celebrate. "Good clearance Macca," was the less than generous analysis from the Horsham bench,
However, Sidlesham equalised within two minutes with a goal symptomatic of YM's mental sloppiness- Paul Charman, returning to the first team for the first time in more than a year after injury problems, played a square ball straight to Wozniak, and the impressive midfielder's right foot 30-yard strike screamed into the top-corner.
MeCreadie, who is never shod of advice for the men Ln black, was already in deep conversation with referee Peter Lindsey after a bad challenge on him went unpunished but Nathan Sleat picked up the first booking of the afternoon for something he said just before the break.
The visitors went ahead three minutes after the re-start when Duffield burst down the right, got to the by-line and crossed to the far post where Wayne Potter was first in the queue to head home from close range. The ease with which Duffield outstripped the home defence suggested he would continue to be a threat but-he was starved of the ball and made little impression.
But again YM went to sleep and rather than consolidating their lead, let the home side equalise within four minutes when Brown picked up the ball on the left, swept Maradona-style past three tackles. surged into the box and dinked the ball over Dumbrill into the net. The hosts then took the lead in the 58th minute when Tipper rose unmarked in the box to head home Davies' free-kick.
Between the action. Mr Lindsey was dishing out cards like a pushy salesman. Ryan Andrews became the second YM player to see yellow after he kicked the ball away. Langridge was booked for dissent, and Sidlesham's Ben Johnson and Liam Reed joined them for equally minor offences.
Langridge was pushing his luck as he argued witi one of the linesmen but was unfortunate when he was penalised for a hard but perfectly fair challenge on Tipper that left the number nine needing treatment.
However, once Sidlesham were ahead they always looked the likely winners- YM showed glimpses of their passing game when Andrews finished off a sweet move with a shot straight at Judd, but too often they played sideways and backwards balls that were picked ofiby the home side.
Suter threw on Michael Death and Dean Carden but the away bench became increasingly frustrated. Durrant screamed at Mr Lindsey after one non-decision and even the normally calm Suter was starting to bite on the childish jibes coming from the home bench.
Sidlesham should have settled it with ten minutes left when Tipper's shot rebounded out to Brown. Themidfielder connected sweetly but Dumbrill pulled off another spectacular flying save. Oakes joined his team—mates in the book when he clipped the heels of the flying Tipper.
"Get it forward, get it forward? urged Suter, but he probably knew it was not going to be his day when Potter mis-kicked in front of goal.
YM wasted another glorious chance to equalise when Taylor broke into the box in the final minute of normal time. He cut inside the last defender but his shot was blocked and Death sliced the rebound wide of an empty net.
As the visitors pushed forward, they should have been punished when Sidlesham broke quickly. The unmarked Dave Towers met Tipper's cross six yards out but the substitute was denied by another breathtaking Dumbrill save.
YM had seven and a half minutes stoppage time to salvage a point but Death's low shot into the side-netting was as close as they got.
Team: Dumbrill; Charman (Garden 76), Mccreadie, Langridge; Duffield, Andrews, W Potter, Oakes, Sleat; Young (Death 73), Taylor.
Match Report