For the second week running The Archers travelled to Lingfield, to Notre Dame School, home of Surrey-based outfit East Court. New manager Rhys Williams was looking to his team to bounce straight back after last week’s bleak performance, making several personnel changes. Darren Bradley was promoted from The Reserves to take his place in goal, which allowed Mark Dann to form a central defensive partnership with Jefford, who was also recalled. Switching to a 4-4-2 formation with Dowding pushing up, new signing Frank ‘Fun Time’ Egleton made his first competitive start for the Archers, whilst Williams had the option of a four highly experienced members in the form of the returning Leeves, Funnell, Duff and Cork.

On a decent playing surface, captain and born again footballer Ian Dowding won the toss and elected to kick against the hill for the first period, against a side who like the visitors were on the wrong end of a result from the previous week, however with the ever-dangerous Kelly and Denyer heading the attack, they were always likely to cause a threat. Once again though The Villagers started out poorly on the whole, and failed to get to grips defensively, this despite having the better of the opening exchanges in the opening five minutes. ‘Titch’ Barter wasted a glorious opportunity to open the scoring from close range after he cut in from wide, after good work from Wolvey. The diminutive winger failed to get a proper connection on his effort which was blocked by the keeper.

It was after this that Court then took the game to their opponents, effectively killing off any hopes of a point for The Archers, all in the space of a couple of minutes. The hosts were beginning to cause all sorts of problems at the back as the roamed freely from midfield with expertly timed late runs from deep. They had already rattled the crossbar with a booming effort, before Hayes opened the scoring when he reacted quickest to a free kick – his guided header leaving Bradley with no chance.

Moments later and EC’s lead was doubled. Once again it came from a set piece; a quick throw into the near post caught the back line napping, as Kelly audaciously flicked on his header into the roof of the net. The Archers seemed to be rocked by this, as they tried in vain to play the football they know they are capable of. Glimmers of the hard work put in during a rigorous pre-season were evident, Egleton showing some neat touches and Wolvey as always working desperately for the cause in the middle of the park, but Williams men could not find an end product, especially in wide areas, which saw Barter and Donnelly swapping on occasions.

Court pounced on every second ball and got a third. A deep and speedy run from the tricky Denyer saw him stroll past Dann to go through one-on-one; the hitman making no mistake as he calmly side footed past Bradley.

It took this wake up call to bring Fletching to life, and the rest of the half saw a much more even contest without the visitors creating too much of note. Williams took the bold decision to remove Wolvey from the field of play after only twenty-five minutes, Leeves coming on in place of the big guy as The Archers began to show some smart touches through the middle. They were eventually rewarded after Courts keeper came charging out wide of his goal to clear, his failed kick falling straight to powerhouse Dowding, who took one touch to control before curling into an empty goal from distance. However things worsened moments later when the visitors were forced into another change, Barter’s hamstring forcing him off as Michael Duff came on in a straight swap, as The Villagers went in at the break with a two goal deficit.

The second period saw the hosts ease off in the scorching afternoon sun, whilst Fletching upped their game resulting in a much more evenly contested and entertaining encounter, thanks also in part to a lenient referee who allowed the game flow. Kelly and his strike partner were still a real threat, but The Villagers defence worked hard and well together, keeping them at bay. At the other end Burchett and Dowding continued to feed on the morsels of delicate passing moves from the resourceful two of Egleton and Leeves, but they struggled with the lack of support from deep, being forced to hold the ball up and forge their own chances. The two hitmen failing to trouble the keeper from distance.

Steve ‘Stavros’ Barbe had a good chance to open his Fletching account after he had strayed up for an attack. The Turkish full back arrived late on a ball laid back into his path on the edge of the box, but proceeded to drive a thunderous effort over the bar and into the distance. Williams’ boys continued to chase the game, Egleton pushing forward and Dowding making way as long term servant Funnell was introduced to the midfield fray with a little over ten minutes remaining. His first touch creating the visitors best chance of the half, when he fed Donnelly on the left with a precision one-two. The youngster cutting across his man as he drove into the box, firing a teasing effort across the face of goal which failed to find any connection with a teammate.

After the effort shown Fletching can consider themselves unlucky to concede a fourth – a comical misunderstanding with no more than thirty seconds remaining in the game. A speculative long ball from the hosts was hit towards Jefford, who under pressure had instinctively turned to knock it back to Bradley in goal. With absolutely no shout from the long standing keeper Bradley had already come charging out of his area to clear his lines, only to see the ball sail over his head, where Denyer had pounced to slip home from a tight angle, as East Court ran out 4-1 winners.

Team: Bradley, Holford, Barbe, Jefford, Dann, Wolvey (Leeves), Egleton, Barter (Duff), Donnelly, Burchett, Dowding (Funnell) Sub Not Used: Cork