Burgess Hill Town progressed through to the quarter finals of the Sussex Transport Senior Cup with a penalty shootout victory over Broadbridge Heath following a 2-2 draw after 90 minutes.

Manager Dean Cox named a strong starting XI although a few changes were made with James Shaw returning in goal and Reggie Ward and Marcel Powell both coming back in. Curtis Gayler was cup tied so missed the match. 

Hillians had a half chance early as Dan Perry set up Rob O’Toole but his shot dribbled past the post. 

Hill did open the scoring after 16 minutes as Powell reached the end of a cross in the middle of the box and calmly slotted the ball home.

The hosts pressed for a second with Kieran Rowe skipping past two players before playing it to Mo Jammeh, the ball eventually reaches O’Toole’s head in the box but nothing came of it and minutes later Rowe had an ambitious shot from outside the box deflected wide.

The visitors found an equaliser though on 29 minutes as Bradley Peters headed past Shaw from close range but the scores were only level for a minute as the Hillians re-took the lead.

A long throw by Nic D’Arienzo was flicked on to skipper Marcus Allen who got the assist with a brilliant overhead kick to set up Dan Perry to tap home from close range. 

The rest of the half saw limited chances for either side with Jammeh shooting off target but it was the Hill who went in leading at the break.

Broadbridge Heath’s Mason Doughty had a shot miss the target on 50 minutes and at the other end Jammeh pounced onto a weak clearance in a dangerous area only to see his shot blocked on the line by a visiting defender. 

Shaw was called into action on 78 minutes making a brilliant save.

Hill then made a triple substitution with Ward, Finn Daniels-Yeoman and O’Toole going off and Zack Lawrence, Joe Overy and Darren Budd entering the action. Budd’s introduction meant that he has now reached 200 appearances for the Club over two spells. Soon after that young midfielder Harry Lawson came on for Jammeh.

As the game looked to be finishing 2-1 former Hill midfielder Doughty popped up with a last second equaliser to send the game straight to penalties.

The Hillians won this 5-4 with Perry, Rowe, Budd, Allen and Overy all scoring whilst Heath scored their first four but hit the bar on their 5th to send Hill through. 

Cox’s side now await the draw for the next round which takes place on Saturday evening to see who we will face in the quarter finals.

Hillians: James Shaw, Reggie Ward (Zack Lawrence 78), Nic D’Arienzo, Finn Daniels-Yeoman (Darren Budd 78), Marcus Allen, Jack Taylor, Rob O’Toole (Joe Overy 78), Kieran Rowe, Dan Perry, Mo Jammeh (Harry Lawson 84), Marcel Powell. Sub not used: Alex Brewer.