Fletching traveled to near neighbours Chailey for a first league encounter in several years, a game which on paper was destined to be a tight affair and one which eventually turned out to be an explosive encounter. With The Archers occupying sixth spot in Division Four and the hosts a place behind, both with games in hand on those immediately above them, a win for either team was sure to help in the chase for a Champions League spot. Cork & Davidson missed out again with Donnelly dropping back down to The Reserves. Mark Dann returned to First Team action and was rewarded with a start to support Funnell and Holford at the back. Duff pushed back up into midfield for an otherwise unchanged team which included a Chelsea-esq bench featuring Marten Leeves and Mike Cronin.

The first fifteen minutes saw a sustained spell of pressure from the young home team, who took the game to Fletching, not allowing Hylands men to get out of their own third, as for the second week running The Villagers started very slowly. Chailey who were clearly the better kept Funnell and co busy with some teasing crosses and balls over top, but were unable to create any clear cut opportunities as the defence held firm to weather this early danger. With some big tackles going in from either side, the game was on the edge, but with both teams looking to attack, at times there was some attractive football being played. Phillips had to be at his best to deny the Chailey striker from a free kick, and Archers goal machine Burchett went close with a shot the keeper did well to palm away. The deadlock was broken when a long ball from the back found Burchett, who got in front of the defender to launch a twenty-five yard screamer into the top corner, leaving the hosts shot stopper with absolutely no chance. The game continued to be extremely tight and rather scrappy, particularly after a crunching tackle from Wolvey that put Chailey’s midfielder out of commission ten minutes previously and with no more clear chances the score was 1-0 at half time.

With the second half under way Chailey, who were making use of home advantage to cleverly play it into wide spaces on a very expansive pitch, found themselves level fifteen minutes in. The Archers defence went to sleep after the big Chailey front man dropped off deep to receive the ball before placing it through for his strike partner to finish well in the bottom corner from just inside the box. The game started to become a real battle as the hosts attempted to intimidate their opponents, and with tempers boiling over from both sides and late challenges being ignored the football became increasing littered with free kicks. The introduction of the skillful Cronin gave Fletching something different up front, whilst Greg Roberts was having another class game pursuing the channels. Both went close in the final stages, the former amazingly outpacing someone to bare down on goal only to be denied by some smart keeping. At the other end Philips did well to beat a fierce shot away from the hosts midfielder, but the game ended in a draw with both teams sharing the spoils.

View From The Dancefloor with Billy Elliot (a.k.a Chris Hyland)

Overall the lads were satisfied with a hard fought draw away from home against a young talented team. If we can take four points off the likes off Chailey, Lewes and Dormansland, we will be in with a real chance of promotion, and as we now have seven out our remaining nine games at The Recreation ground, we are confident this can be a very successful season. This was a real test for Fletching as we came up against an aggressive side, and maybe in the past we may of buckled, but we are playing much better as a team these days and are harder to break down. Next week Davidson & Cork should return, but Mark Dann is likely to miss out after a suspected fractured foot. We are at home to Crowborough who we narrowly beat at their place earlier in the season, so we will all be expecting a tough game but will look to continue our impressive home form and gain the three points.

Team: Philips, Holford, Funnell, Dann (Leeves 33), Bradford, Wolvey, Duff, Roberts, Hyland, Unwin (Cronin 72), Burchett.