Vs. Wadhurst III (H)
Starting XI	Substitutions:
Jamie Pooley
Ian Nunn	(45 Owen Davies)
Gary Wenham	(77 Gary Walsh)
Gary Williams
Darrell Hartley
Andy Mills
Stuart Batchelor
Andy Frere-Smith (c)
Dave Mills
Tom Frere-Smith
Dom Fowler	(69 Steve Chapman)
Referee: S Green
Goals: Davies (71 pen), Chapman (79).
HT Score: 0-2
FT Score: 2-2
Booking: Batchelor (35)

A stirring second-half comeback was not enough to secure three much needed points for Battle Baptists in their pursuit of promotion from Division Five.

A tame opening fifteen minutes sprang into life when two Wadhurst goals in a minute shocked the home side, who up until then had dominated against their relegation threatened visitors. A fumble from keeper Jamie Pooley presented an easy tap-in for the first, then two defensive slips only seconds later left him exposed as the Wadhurst striker rolled the second home.

Battle tried to hit back, but lacked the impetus needed to take the game to the opposition. A couple of bookings just past the half hour mark did nothing to ease the flow of the game, with a Wadhurst defender justly shown the yellow card for repeated swearing, and Stuart Batchelor picking up a caution for the home side after delaying a free-kick. Just before half time, Andy Mills fired wide after a great passing move encompassing the length of the pitch and five Battle players. There was still time for Tom Frere-Smith to show his class by beating two men on his way through to goal, but the angle was tight and the ball nestled in the side netting.

After a short period of reflection, the match resumed with the introduction of Owen Davies and Dom Fowler almost immediately grabbed a goal back when his header flicked past the post from a Tom cross. The Baptists continued to press, and it took a great save on the hour mark to deny Tom and concede a corner. The resulting corner saw a goal-bound volley from Dom deflected just over the bar. That was Dom’s last involvement of the season as he was replaced for the more physical presence of Steve Chapman. This change had an immediate impact as Steve was fouled barely two minutes after coming on and a penalty was awarded. Owen smashed the spot-kick high into the roof of the net, banishing memories of his miss against Hastings APF last month.

This was the signal for manager Gary Walsh to put himself on at the expense of a defender and change to 3-4-3. The impact of the substitute was again dramatic as he caused panic in the Wadhurst defence at a corner and Steve bundled the ball home. With five minutes to go, Gary had the chance to make it a goal from each of the substitutes, but he swung and missed at a close-range volley. The drama was not over yet as Frere-Smith was hauled down in the box, only to have his claims for a penalty waved away. With the Baptists still piling men forward, deep into injury time they were caught out when a weak back header by Gary Williams was seized upon by the Wadhurst forward. He lobbed the stranded Jamie, only to see his effort cleared off the line as the keeper raced back to spare his defender’s blushes.

Although Battle avoided a third successive home defeat, this was definitely two points dropped as on paper this was by far the easiest game of a tough run in for the Baptist side.