Burgess Hill 2 Rocks 1

This was a game Bognor players and fans will want to forget after they dominated the second half and still came away pointless. Despite hitting the crossbar twice, Rocks could not find a breakthrough and slipped to their first defeat of the season.

Michael Birmingham returned to the starting line-up at Leylands Park. Richard Hudson was out of the squad through injury and Phil Turner started. Tim Bond was wearing a headband to protect the gash he received to the head during the game against Ringmer on Saturday.

Straight from kick-off Bognor had to deal with a long forward ball that James Crane had to head away for a corner. The kick was easily headed out of the box by the Rocks defence.

Then Lloyd Cotton won a further corner but this time on the right, rebounding the ball off Matt Whitehead. But again the men in green and white defended well as Stuart Axten headed Matt Percival's corner away.

Cotton received a caution from the referee after bringing down James Fraser in the centre of the field.

After seven minutes, perhaps Percival should have gone a bit further towards goal when he reached the ball well outside the area. However, his shot was well blocked by Bond.

Inside a torrid first 20 minutes for the Rocks, the yellows were on the attack again when Sacha Opinal half-volleyed a cross from the left towards the back post. Craig Stoner flapped at the cross but Steve Harper's header flew the wrong side of the opposite post.

The large number of Bognor supporters behind the goal began to try to spur their team on, but it got worse.

In a quick attack, Stuart Axten brought down Ronnie Green in the area as the midfielder ran in near the right post. The referee didn't hesitate to point to the spot and Harper didn't miss, slotting the ball coolly into the bottom left corner and sending Stoner the wrong way.

The opening goal seemed to spark something in the Rocks play as they created a good run of chances after a dismal start. Crane's cross from the right was headed low towards goal by Jason Prior but it was too easy for goalkeeper Joel Harding as he caught the ball on the bounce. This came after good work from Ben Johnson and James Fraser.

Burgess Hill had a chance on 18 minutes when captain Leo Day chipped the ball back into the area for Harper whose header was straight at Stoner.

Bognor's equaliser came on 20 minutes. Turner sped forward with the ball, beating Cotton in the process, and during the scramble in the area, Johnson hooked the ball over his head to Prior. The striker composed himself well to fire low into the bottom right corner.

This was the result of the decent flowing football that the Rocks are best known for, which had been unseen from the start of this game.

The Rocks could have taken the lead on 22 minutes. Day was shown the yellow card after bringing down Turner in his own half. But Johnson's free-kick was poor and the defence cleared the danger.

Bond showed his superiority in defence to block off Harper's attempted low cross from the left five minutes later.