Bridges Collapse at Herne Bay

On a cold Tuesday night, Three Bridges made yet another trip to Kent, this time the opposition being Herne Bay. With both teams finding themselves at the wrong end of the table early in the season, this game was a must-win for all parties involved.

Bridges started off with purpose as Reece Hallard hit the side netting within the 1^st minute of the game. 7 minutes in, Kevin Rivera wriggles his way through Herne Bay’s defenders and is pushed inside the box, the ref points to the penalty spot with no hesitation. Ben Holden converts to get Bridges are off to a flying start.

Bridges are the side on top even after scoring the opener, however in the 19^th minute, Luke Glover spills a cross from a free kick taken by Saunders and Kane Rowland taps in from close range to level the score.

6 minutes later, Herne Bay attack and Saunders is played through on the left side where his excellent cross finds Michael Salako with plenty of space inside the box and his bullet header puts the hosts ahead..

Between their goal and the end of the 1^st half Herne Bay are having the better of the game and it’s just an outstanding save from Luke Glover when Reid is being played through one-on-one that prevents the hosts from extending their lead. Herne Bay 2 Three Bridges 1 at the half and it’s still all to play for.

A rejuvenated Bridges side comes out from the dressing room and in the 52^nd minute, Nodi Bobomurodov squares a ball back to Junior Ze at the edge of the box, Bridges number 9 is calm and collected and we’re all square once again.

2 minutes later, Junior Ze controls a ball in the middle of the park, plays through the once again excellent Reece Hallard who beats his defender and with a composed finish places the ball past Herne Bay’s keeper putting Three Bridges back in the lead.

In the 58^th minute, Herne Bay’s manager Steve Lovell is sent off by the referee and Bridges continue to be the better team on the pitch. 6 minutes later Reece Hallard gets denied from point blank range after a corner and at this stage it looks like a matter of time until Three Bridges are going to put the game to bed.

Or so we thought until the 79^th minute when Karim Kamhouri clumsily tries to clear a ball from Three Bridges box, however he catches one of the Herne Bay’s players in the process leaving the referee with no choice but to award a penalty for the hosts. Haysman steps up confidently and it’s Herne Bay 3 Three Bridges 3.

			Home				Away				Total
			P	W	D	L	P	W	D	L	P	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
	1	Ramsgate	8	7	1	0	8	8	0	0	16	15	1	0	46	14	+32	46
	2	Beckenham Town	8	5	1	2	11	8	1	2	19	13	2	4	47	28	+19	41
	3	Sittingbourne	9	9	0	0	6	3	2	1	15	12	2	1	51	11	+40	38
	4	Margate	8	3	5	0	9	7	1	1	17	10	6	1	32	16	+16	36
	5	Burgess Hill Town	9	8	0	1	6	2	3	1	15	10	3	2	34	18	+16	33
	6	Sheppey United	8	6	0	2	8	4	2	2	16	10	2	4	33	21	+12	32
	7	Erith Town	9	5	2	2	9	3	4	2	18	8	6	4	33	19	+14	30
	8	Merstham	8	3	4	1	9	5	1	3	17	8	5	4	37	30	+7	29
	9	Deal Town	10	5	0	5	8	3	0	5	18	8	0	10	39	42	-3	24
	10	Ashford United	7	3	1	3	9	4	1	4	16	7	2	7	30	32	-2	23
	11	Broadbridge Heath	8	2	1	5	8	5	0	3	16	7	1	8	25	28	-3	22
	12	Eastbourne Town	9	3	1	5	7	4	0	3	16	7	1	8	25	30	-5	22
	13	AFC Croydon Athletic	9	3	4	2	7	1	4	2	16	4	8	4	27	24	+3	20
	14	Sevenoaks Town	9	2	4	3	8	3	1	4	17	5	5	7	29	39	-10	20
	15	East Grinstead Town	7	2	0	5	8	3	2	3	15	5	2	8	21	30	-9	17
	16	Herne Bay	7	3	1	3	8	2	1	5	15	5	2	8	22	34	-12	17
	17	Littlehampton Town	7	2	1	4	9	2	2	5	16	4	3	9	30	37	-7	15
	18	Hythe Town	8	4	0	4	9	0	1	8	17	4	1	12	16	44	-28	13
	19	Three Bridges	6	0	1	5	9	3	2	4	15	3	3	9	24	31	-7	12
	20	Lancing	9	2	0	7	7	0	1	6	16	2	1	13	11	32	-21	7
	21	Steyning Town Community	8	1	1	6	9	1	0	8	17	2	1	14	17	39	-22	7
	22	Phoenix Sports	9	2	1	6	8	0	0	8	17	2	1	14	14	44	-30	7