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Title race alive as Blues beat Battle again

Sidley United 2 - 0 Battle Baptists - ESFL Premier Division

For the second time this season goals from Zac McEniry and Sean Baldwin helped Sidley United to record a 2 - 0 win over Battle Baptists on a day that the title race was blown wide open.

The Blues gave a debut to Charlie Cornford and he twice went close to opening the scoring. Firstly a great Baldwin cross from the left saw Cornford head just over before an attempted Battle clearance cannoned back off him and struck the post. 

Battle had a good chance with a breakaway move but the final shot was wide of Joe Rogers' far post. 

But Sidley went in front on 27 minutes. A terrific corner from Gary Hempe was met powerfully and directed into the back of the net by McEniry to give Sidley the edge at the break.

Kicking into the strong wind in the second half, the Blues may have felt that they were going to be up against it. But they doubled the lead on 52 minutes as Rogers started an excellent move down the left which involved nice touches from Danny Ellis and Lee Carey which saw Baldwin finish past the goalkeeper from the left of the penalty area. 

With a two goal advantage Sidley looked to defend and not allow Battle back into the game. Despite facing a number of corners the Blues generally succeeded in snuffing out the threat from the visitors.

The closest that Battle came was when a shot was deflected onto the outside of the post and smuggled behind for a corner. 

A terrific win for Sidley who had further reason to celebrate at the final whistle when news came through that league leaders Bexhill Town had slipped to a surprise defeat to St Leonards Social. Those results mean the Blues are joint top of the table with Town with both sides having 3 matches remaining whilst Battle are a further 3 points back with a game in hand. 

Sidley Team: Rogers, Walker, Hempe (Scrace), Copley (Funnell), Elliott-Noye, McEniry, Wells, Ellis, Cornford (Dadswell), Carey, Baldwin.

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