burnvsitt200304

Sittingbourne bounce back

Brickies were 5-0 up in emphatic away victory

Burnham 2-5 Sittingbourne
Dr Martens League Eastern Division
Saturday 20 March 2004
by Peter Pitts www.sittingbournefc.co.uk


Sittingbourne bounced back from their midweek defeat at Dartford by completing the double over Burnham courtesy of an emphatic 5-2 win.
 
In atrocious conditions of driving rain and a gusty swirling wind, the Brickies stamped their dominance on the game after just 2 minutes when Dean Hill collected Clint Gooding's pass 10 yards out from the Burnham goal, and
crashed his shot into the net off the underside of the cross bar.
 
Sittingbourne went further ahead 8 minutes later and again Clint Gooding was the provider, this time finding Michael Smissen who fired into the bottom right hand corner of the Burnham goal.
 
It was all Sittingbourne and both Jon Neal and Smissen forced good saves from the Burnham keeper.
 
Jamie Coyle headed narrowly over on 24 minutes and for a period the rain relented and a rainbow appeared over the Burnham ground. Burnham then added some pressure but on 37 minutes Smissen had a shot deflected for a corner
and from the corner Ben Taylor ghosted in, to thump a header into the net to put the Brickies 3 up.
 
Sittingbourne began the second half handicapped by kicking into the strong wind; however they extended their lead on 49 minutes when Smissen's shot defected to Kieran Marsh who fired home.
 
Sittingbourne continued to press and both Marsh and Smissen had shots saved.

Burnham had a couple of long range efforts but Sittingbourne were unstoppable and on 65 minutes Coyle broke away and found Smissen who fired the ball in to the net to give the Brickies a 5-0 lead.
 
Burnham won their first corner on 76 minutes but it came to nothing, however,  on 82 minutes from another corner the ball was headed past Brickies goalkeeper Kevin Fewell by Emms and Burnham had pulled a goal back.
 
Sittingbourne retaliated and Cory, Marsh and Coyle all came close.
 
Deep into injury time Burnham scored a second with a shot by Jones that cannoned into the bottom right hand corner of the net, but by then the game was well beyond them and Sittingbourne had clinched their highest score of
the season.
 
 
Sittingbourne: Fewell, Coyle, Berry, Hill, Ainsworth, Campbell, Gooding, (Taylor 21mins), Marsh, Neal (Cory 78mins), Smissen, Manning Subs not used: Yorath, Williams