Sidley's progress shows

Whilst there are still many areas where they can brush up, as joint manager Andy Laskey is the first to acknowledge, strides have certainly been made lately.

The Blues were beaten 8-1 by last season's Sussex Division One champions back in October but, instead of falling apart as they did then, Sidley responded positively to going a goal down and merited their point.

Although the improvement isn't particularly borne out by the league table (United lie fourth-from-bottom), Sidley are starting to nick points, often against many neutrals' expectations.

"That's the pleasing thing," Laskey said with reference to the aforementioned upturn in fortunes. "The side's improved all round but there's still room for improvement. Our back four is a lot more settled and the defenders know more about Greg (goalkeeper Greg Thurstans). And, although Jimmy (Watson) didn't play this week, he has improved since that (initial) Chichester game and the strikers (Kevin Rose and Keith Miles) have scored 17 goals between them."

It was Rose's sixth strike in nine fixtures against Sussex County League clubs that salvaged the Blues' 12th point in their last 10 matches against a side seemingly suffering an extended championship hangover down in the bottom half of the table. Rose controlled Jason Finch's cross on his chest before firing home two minutes from time.

Over and above the goal, much of the credit for Sidley's comeback must be attributed to the unfamiliar midfield pairing of reserve team joint manager Mark Lynch and Matt Dadswell, who has returned for Christmas from university.

"Matt Dadswell came in and did very well," Laskey continued. "And Lynchy was perhaps our best player in the second half. The midfield two were the key really, they were very strong.

"We did well with the absentees that we had (namely Watson, Steve Morris, Dave Ward, Lee Wood and Karl Tarrant) and a point was the least we deserved. We had 70 per cent of the game second half . They showed good attitude and got a good result."

Which was even better in light of the fact they went behind in the 25th minute when Scott Tipper mopped up after a deflection off Owen Ball turned a straight-forward save for Greg Thurstans into a parry. Sidley could have levelled before half time, though, but Graham Morris had one effort cleared off the goal-line and struck the crossbar with another.

Sidley: Thurstans, Parsons, Finch, Ball, G. Morris, Lynch, Dadswell, J. Wood, Rose, Miles, Lister (Oliver). Subs not used: Boyd, Hole, Lusted.