Burgess Hill rue missed chances as visitors Margate triumph

Buoyed by their comeback against Kingstonian last week, the Hillians faced an in-form Margate side who hadn’t lost in the league for seven games.

Simon Wormull made 2 changes to the starting eleven that won last week with Josh James coming in for Mitch Bromage in goal and new signing Tom Wood, who grabbed the winner against Kingstonian, missing the match day squad due to injury.

Burgess Hill began the game energetically with the home team attempting to press Margate high up the pitch.

However, the first chance of the game fell to the visitors from a corner in the 9th minute as Ben Swift’s spectacular volley flew over the bar. Just moments later in the 12th minute Swift was in amongst the action again as he connected with an in-swinging corner from George Brown to head the ball past James and make it 1-0.

Gate began to control the game as they came close when Tobi Sho-Silva found himself in behind the Burgess Hill defence, the forward failed to make enough contact with his header and the ball hit the post.

The first half produced a relatively even contest as both teams found it difficult to break each other’s defences down. However, the Hillians struggled to finish off promising moves and the home side were punished for switching off when defending a set piece.

The visitors started the second half on the front foot with Sho- Silva breaking through the Burgess Hill defence from a Jordan Robins pass, but James Richmond recovered well to block the attempt from the Gate forward.

Margate’s Jack Paxman was able to find large amounts of space on the right side in the second half and was rewarded for his hard work in the 55th minute as his cross was diverted in by Cheick Toure for an own goal. 2-0.

Late in the game recent signing Murdoch attempted to add to his two goals on debut last week when he went to chip Margate Goalkeeper Louis Wells, but his effort landed on the roof of the net.

Today’s result leaves Burgess Hill bottom of the league and four points adrift of Harlow Town FC in 19th place. The last six games are crucial for the Hillians and they will face fourth- placed Merstham FC next Saturday as they continue to fight against relegation.