MATCH REPORT: Burgess Hill shock Aldershot in FA Trophy

To bring anything home Burgess Hill would have to overcome Aldershot Town who are three leagues ahead of Burgess Hill Town and sit in 16th position in the Vanarama Conference.

While Aldershot seemed the clear favourites, Burgess Hill Town’s superb league and cup form this season meant that player and management confidence was at a record high. If ever there was a time for the ultimate giant killing, it was now.

From the very beginning the crowd of Hillians fans that had made the trip made themselves heard and spurred on the underdogs. The match started evenly and neither side looked particularly dominant. 15 minutes into the match, Aldershot’s strength started to show and they created the first real chance of the game when Dan Holman managed to take a shot. The ball however, was no threat as Andy Pearson cleared the ball from the box. After a quick furry of goal scoring opportunities from Aldershot, Burgess Hill Town stepped up the pace and started to take control of the game. Half an hour into the match Neil Watts made a sharp turn, defeating two Aldershot strikers to cross the ball in to Dan Perry who was ready to knock the ball towards Spencer Slaughter. Unfortunately for Burgess Hill Town, Slaughter saw his resulting shot head just wide of the post. Just three minutes later Burgess Hill Town created another great chance and from a corner Spencer Slaughter made contact with the ball that flew in the direction of Phil Smith in the Aldershot goal. Looking slightly shocked at Burgess Hill’s sudden dominance, he pushed the ball back into the box where Dan Perry took full advantage of this break and smashed the ball into the back of the net. The away fans exploded in the stand and applauded goal scorer Perry as he celebrated in full view of the stand, quickly followed by the rest of the jubilant Hillians squad.

Burgess Hill Town remained the dominant team for the rest of the half and came so close to doubling their lead just a minute before the break. A Greg Luer cross had Dan Perry running into the box to connect with the ball but Perry was just inches away from securing his second goal of the afternoon and the ball rolled out of play.

At the half Aldershot Town made a change to their line up to put more pressure on Greg Luer who was in a different league when it came to pace down the wing. For a while this seemed to work as on 58 minutes Dan Holman made a swift run down the left wing to challenge the Burgess Hill goalkeeper. Josh James did not seem troubled and simply pushed the ball out for Spencer Slaughter to clear.

On 63 minutes Josh James had to work to keep his clean sheet when Manny Oyeleke’s free kick required a smart save low on the right hand side of the goal.