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Rocks 1 Sutton 2
A 73rd-minute goal from Charlie Oatway wasn't enough to earn a point at a wet Nyewood Lane after a rather scrappy performance.
It was the visitors who carved out the first chances. After just three minutes, midfielder Alan Pouton won a corner after good work down the right. However, his cross was headed well wide by Jason Goodliffe.
The Us were on the attack again moments later when Charlie Taylor worked hard down the left to win yet another corner after Mickey Demetriou slid in to stop the cross. The resulting corner was well cleared by the Rocks defence.
Goodliffe was found in the centre of the Rocks area again when a deep cross from Karim El-Salahi came from the left, but the defender miscued his header.
The Rocks were disappointed two minutes later when Lewis Ide slipped a forward pass to James Crane, whose searching cross could not find a Bognor player.
Daniel Bogard ran the full length of the opposition's half to try to get on to an Ide through-ball but Kevin Scriven in the visitors' goal leapt out of his area to get to the ball first.
Billy Hawes was a constant threat for Sutton with his long throws. On 11 minutes his lobbed effort couldn't reach ex-Rock Sam Gargan and was dealt with by Tim Bond.
Matt Wood played a long ball from deep in his own half and Jason Prior nodded on to Bogard, but again Scriven was there first to clear the danger.
It seemed like nothing would go right for the Rocks when Bogard again found himself in space on the edge of the area. He squared a pass across the box but no green and white shirt was there to get on the end of it.
Hawes looked dangerous when he cut inside after bringing down a long lofted pass from the left. He rounded Jack Clark but miscued his shot well wide of the near post.
Demetriou appeared to trip Gargan on 17 minutes and was awarded a free-kick, but James Norwood's shot went straight at Andrej Pernecky.
Minutes later Norwood was in the action again when his rasping shot from outside the area was tipped over the bar by the goalkeeper.
The breakthrough came for the visitors in the 26th minute. Gargan found himself with space and turned in the box and appeared to be tripped by Demetriou. The referee didn't hesitate in giving the penalty kick to the visitors.
Many of the Rocks faithful believed the penalty shouldn't have been awarded because of a dive by Gargan. However Pouton stepped up to smash the ball beyond Andrej Pernecky to put the visitors ahead.
Scriven had to commit to another long through-ball and managed to beat Bogard to the ball once again outside the box.
Things got worse for the Rocks when the visitors extended their lead in the 38th minute. Taylor found himself unmarked in the box and he made no mistake in drilling a volley past the helpless Pernecky.
Gargon could have made it three on the stroke of half-time. The ex-Rock managed to slide in a clean tackle on Demetriou in the Rocks half to win the ball. He got just inside the area before squirming his low effort wide of the far post.
The Rocks needed a change in the second half and so Darin Kilpatrick decided to add fresh legs into the side during the break. Michael Birmingham and Oatway replaced Richard Greenfield and Wood.
Five minutes after the restart, Oatway gathered the ball from Birmingham in the centre of the field before setting himself up for a 30-yard driving effort. Scriven managed to save the shot, getting down low to his left.
Temperatures flared in the torrential rain as Birmingham had words with Norwood after a rash tackle, though only a caution was given to both players.
A scramble after the hour mark in the Rocks area led to Crane clearing off the goal-line. Taylor couldn't hit the target on the rebound, sending his shot well over the bar.
The Us attacked again, this time with a curling effort by Danny Phillips from outside the box. Pernecky comfortably gathered the ball before it could bounce on the slippery surface.
The Rocks came close to pulling a goal back as Ide slid in on a Louie Castles cross, yet he only managed to divert the ball narrowly wide of the far post.
With 25 minutes left, Bogard latched on to a a good through-ball by Ide who then squared the ball to Prior. Prior's shot beat the outstretched Scriven but hit the side netting.
Minutes later Gargan rounded Tim Bond in the Rocks defence before striking straight at Pernecky. The goalkeeper could only manage to parry the ball back out and the rebound caught the leg of the onrushing Crane but the deflection went just wide, much to the relief of the defender.
The Rocks finally found the net in the 73rd minute when a neat pass from Ide was controlled by Prior. The striker did all the work by turning past El-Salahi near the edge of the area to square the ball to Oatway who slotted the ball home under the diving Scriven.
The Rocks piled on the pressure for the next 15 minutes. On 88 minutes Prior again got into a good position in the box and felt he was impeded by Steve McKimm in the visitors' defence. However, the referee waved away the appeal, much to the annoyance of the Nyewood Lane crowd.
Five minutes was added to the game and Crane and Prior linked up well when the latter flicked on a cross from the right into the path of Bogard. Unfortunately, the striker just couldn't get his boot around the ball to get appropriate contact and the effort was easily saved.
In a last-gasp attempt, Ide could only get his boot under the ball and send it flying well over the bar, to put an end to a disappointing day at Nyewood Lane.
Rocks: Pernecky, Crane, Clark, Ide, Bond (c), Demetriou, Castles, Wood, Prior, Bogard, Greenfield Subs: Norgate, Birmingham, Oatway, Smith, Ender.
Attendance: 402
Report by Liam Goodley
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Weather for Bognor
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: East
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Temperature: 12 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
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