Blues 2 Burgess Hill Town 2 – pics added
JAMIE Cureton’s injury time goal saw an weakened Blues’ team grab a point against basement side Burgess Hill.
It was heartbreak for the Hillians as a veteran striker Jamie denied the visitors their first win of the season.
With goalkeeper Kitscha injured, boss Steve Smith drafted in Chelmsford’s Patrick Ohman on loan, while Johnville Renee missed out due to suspension. Ruel Sotiriou was also injured, while Ryan Charles limped off during the warm-up. There was starts for Lewis Dark and Daniel Humphrys, while academy player Olly Miles was on the bench for the first time.
It was Cureton who hit the inside of an upright with a great shot in the 12th minute as Stortford had the early upper hand but a little against the run of play the Sussex side went ahead in the 26th minute when Ben Pope squared the ball for Pat Harding to place wide of Ohman.
Two minutes before the break the visitors’ Dan Beck handled in the box and Cureton scored his first goal of the afternoon from the penalty spot.
After a quiet start to the second period keeper Josh James made an excellent point-blank save from Alfie Mason midway through the half and Hillians substitute Aaron Smith-Joseph missed a good chance soon afterwards.
The visitors had the edge for most of the play after the break and they retook the lead with ten minutes to go as skipper Ben Pope turned in Beck’s cross at the near post.
There was late pressure from the Blues with James making a couple of fine stops from Cureton but just as it looked as though Hill would hold on for three points Mason hit the bar and Cureton drilled low into the net from 12 yards in the third minute of added time to seal a point.
Blues: P Ohman, D Humphreys, C Gregan, J Thomas, S Robbins, I Nkosi, R Charles, L Dark, J Cureton, A Mason, J Westcott. Unused subs: M Crowther, O Miles, L Byrne-Hewitt, F Oakman.
Atttendance: 302
