'Scarlett' sees red as 10-man Whyteleafe draw

Ryman League Division One South.

Burgess Hill 0

Out to clear: Rob O'Hara brought down a forward when he came out of his penalty area to thwart an attack and was sent off

Whyteleafe 0

BOSS Stuart Massey has never had the best of luck at Burgess Hill, but while his side picked up a point, they had to battle for it, playing with 10 men for 35 minutes.

Keeper Rob O'Hara – nicknamed by the team as 'Scarlett, after the character in Gone With The Wind – , trying to deal with a breakaway, handled outside the box, giving the referee little choice but to send him off for denying a clear scoring chance.

Leafe struggled against an in form Burgess Hill, failing to muster a shot on target.

O'Hara was quick to smother an early Danny Curd Shot, before dangerman Will Berry shot wide.

The Leafe keeper also denied Berry with his feet.

The second half was little better. Leo Day was booked for a late challenge on Darryl Coleman, who was back from a long ban, before O'Hara was sent off on 54 minutes.

Ryan Royston, Leafe's best defender up till then, took over and made a couple of crucial punched clearances and commanded his area well, but the hosts will rue awful finishing.

The game became a bit niggly and ex-Croydon Athletic defender Bradley Duke escaped punishment for lashing out at Dan Aldous and shoving Leon McDowall into the perimeter fencing.

Berry missed a sitter from three yards in the 65th minute, then shot over the bar a few minutes later.

The closest Leafe came was when a free-kick towards Aldous was headed clear for a corner by a defender.

Leafe had to show all their battling qualities for a hard-earned point against a team in good form.