Oak felled by first half Sidley double

First half goals from the strike pairing of Steve Morris and Lewis Hole settled the second round clash at Gullivers on Tuesday night.

The victory was Sidley’s first on home soil since seeing off AFC Uckfield after extra time in the FA Vase almost exactly a month ago. Since then the Blues have lost five on the spin at their own ground.

Division Two outfit Mile Oak caused quite a few problems for their top flight hosts, particularly in the opening half-an-hour. They actually had the ball in the net after only seven minutes but Karl Gillingham’s header was ruled out for an infringement.

The opening goal came on 17 minutes when Jason Taylor and Callum McDonald combined to set up Morris who applied a cool finish into the bottom corner.

Both sides had their moments before Hole all but killed off the tie four minutes from half time by netting at the second attempt after more good work by Taylor.

Kevin Barden might have had a hat-trick after coming on for the last half-an-hour but headed wide, hit the post and volleyed over from six yards.