Rovers first competitive game in the Sam Morgan era ended in a hugely creditable 1-1 draw against an excellent Burgess Hill Town side in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Morgan handed debuts to Aaron Jenkins, Charlie Martin and Ben Holden (fun fact, Ben’s dad Alex was once manager of the SCR third team way back in the day), and later in the game, 16 year old Noah Africa made his first team bow.
Both sides had chances in the opening half, with both keepers in excellent form, but it was the Hillians who led at the break courtesy of an excellent header from the prolific Rob O’Toole.
Rovers started positively in the second half, but a combination of poor finishing and more good keeping kept them at bay and as the half wore on it looked as though the visitors were the more likely of the two to score. James Dillon made one outstanding save to keep it at 1-0, and a couple of other smart stops.
As the clock ticked onto the 97th minute Rovers won a free kick on the right, Courtney Swaby swung it over, Bertie Lloyd headed back across goal, Max Oldham saw his shot blocked by Conan Torpey, but recycled the ball and Charlie Martin hammered the ball home to secure a replay on Tuesday night.
Full report to follow.