Vs. Wadhurst II (H)
Starting XI	Substitutes:
Simon Cutler
Ian Nunn (c)	(71 Ollie Jeffs)
Wes Langley	(48 Jake Wilkinson)
Gary Williams
Seb Elliott
Bryan Leggett
Dale Scowen
Rafael Ribeiro
Matt Lee
Steve Chapman
Josh Mullett
Referee: I Pollard
Goals: Mullett (17), Ribeiro (50), Scowen (69), Leggett (85).
HT Score: 1-1
FT Score: 4-4

The Baptists stopped a run of successive defeats in an enthralling encounter played out in glorious sunshine.

For the first time this season, the Baptists were able to field a side which added a blend of experience to their normal youthful energy and the combination worked very well.

Having made the early running there was a setback inside five minutes as the Wadhurst forward cut in from the left and unleashed a drive that shot into the corner. Despite this the Baptists continued to hold the majority of possession and gained a deserved equaliser when Bryan had a shot following a corner that was blocked and Josh was on hand to roll the ball in.

Josh was soon involved again when he was pole-axed by the keeper’s clearance having chased down a back-pass. He was not the only one in the wars early on as first Bryan and then Rafa were taken out and in need of treatment.

As the Baptist pressure mounted, Bryan shot over from a corner before a long-range free kick from Dale flew just over the bar. Excellent play by Gary, carrying the ball out of defence before releasing Rafa, set up a chance that the keeper superbly parried away.

A few more late tackles on Bryan closed out the half as the Baptists went into the break confident of a good second half.

An injury to Wes forced a reshuffle, with the impressive Steve Chapman moved to centre-back and Jake Wilkinson coming on upfront. Jake made an immediate impression as he controlled a cross following a run by Matt and set up Rafa, who clinically powered the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

As Wadhurst hit back Simon injured his ankle saving a shot and he bravely continued despite being in clear discomfort. This was the prelude to ten action-packed minutes that featured four goals, three of them to the away side. Just before the hour mark, a gap in the defence allowed a run and cross for the equaliser, followed five minutes later by a corner that was not cleared which saw Wadhurst take the lead. A shocked Baptist side tried to regroup but another defensive error allowed a fourth to be added within a couple of minutes. The scoring did not stop there though as Dale pulled one back with a powerful free kick from 35-yards that squirmed inside the post as the keeper failed to get his body behind it.

Ollie then came on for Ian, with Matt covering the right-back position as the Battle side went all out to get the equaliser. However it was Wadhurst who almost put the game beyond them, latching onto a poor clearance in defence and hitting the post with a snapshot.

Battle pressed on and got a deserved equaliser with five minutes to go. A cross in from the left was headed out by the Wadhurst defence, only for Bryan to chest it down and volley it into the corner from 25-yards. A great goal that brought a huge roar from the partisan crowd. In the last few minutes Josh almost got through on goal with a couple of breaks from through balls from Rafa, but he was well marshalled by the defence.

This was a game that both sides will think they should have won, with the Baptists having more of the possession and Wadhurst holding a 4-2 lead with only twenty minutes to go. All in all, this was a highly entertaining game played in a good spirit that gives the Baptists renewed vigour to approach the next stage of the season.