Leighton Hits Four as Bridges Thrash Beckenham

Three Bridges produced a superb attacking display to return to winning ways with a commanding 6–1 victory away at Beckenham Town on Tuesday night, extending their lead at the top of the Isthmian South East League to eight points.

After the narrow defeat at Sittingbourne last weekend, Bridges responded emphatically with Noel Leighton leading the charge in spectacular fashion. The forward, who will miss the next two matches through suspension, made his mark early with a quickfire double to put the visitors firmly in control.

The breakthrough arrived in the 14th minute following an outstanding run from Hayden Velvick, which created the opening for Leighton to finish and give Bridges the lead. Just two minutes later the striker struck again, meeting Bryan Villavicencio’s delivery inside the box and finishing confidently to make it 2–0 and hand the visitors a dream start.

Beckenham responded in the 22nd minute when Alfie Bloomfield finished off a flowing move to reduce the deficit and briefly give the hosts hope.

Carlos Richards, a brand new signing handed an early opportunity due to injuries in the squad, almost marked his debut with a spectacular goal in the 34th minute. His powerful effort from 25 yards forced a strong save from the Beckenham goalkeeper, who managed to divert the shot behind for a corner.

Bridges restored their two-goal cushion just before the interval. In the 44th minute Richards showed superb skill to beat his defender before delivering an excellent cross for Leighton, who powered home a header to complete his hat-trick and send Bridges into the break leading 3–1.

The visitors remained firmly in control after the restart. Sam Roberts was alert early in the second half to deny Corbin with a sharp save, ensuring Beckenham were unable to build momentum.
Any lingering hopes for the hosts were ended in the 64th minute when Charlie Bennett reacted quickest after Leighton’s shot had been saved, tapping into an empty net to make it 4–1.

Just two minutes later Leighton capped a remarkable individual performance with his fourth goal of the night. Pressuring Beckenham goalkeeper Sullivan, the striker forced a rushed clearance that fell kindly for him to convert into an empty net, taking his tally to 29 league goals for the season.

A perfect evening for Bridges was completed in the 74th minute when the electric Richards claimed a well-deserved debut goal, racing down the left before rounding the goalkeeper and finishing confidently to seal a 6–1 victory.

The result strengthens Bridges’ position at the summit of the table, where they now sit on 81 points from 34 matches, eight clear of nearest challengers AFC Croydon Athletic with eight league fixtures remaining.

Attention now turns back to Jubilee Field, where Bridges host Sevenoaks Town this Saturday (15:00 kick-off) before facing Worthing in the Sussex Senior Cup semi-final next Tuesday evening at Culver Road, Lancing (19:45).

			Home				Away				Total
			P	W	D	L	P	W	D	L	P	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
	1	Three Bridges	17	15	1	1	17	11	2	4	34	26	3	5	108	34	+74	81
	2	AFC Croydon Athletic	17	12	1	4	17	11	3	3	34	23	4	7	81	47	+34	73
	3	AFC Whyteleafe	17	11	3	3	17	10	3	4	34	21	6	7	90	35	+55	69
	4	Sittingbourne	17	11	5	1	16	7	4	5	33	18	9	6	69	40	+29	63
	5	Jersey Bulls	17	10	5	2	17	7	6	4	34	17	11	6	59	32	+27	62
	6	Faversham Town	17	9	5	3	16	8	6	2	33	17	11	5	71	45	+26	62
	7	Deal Town	17	10	2	5	17	8	2	7	34	18	4	12	75	54	+21	58
	8	Margate	17	8	2	7	16	6	7	3	33	14	9	10	71	60	+11	51
	9	Merstham	17	6	4	7	17	8	3	6	34	14	7	13	54	51	+3	49
	10	Ashford United	17	7	5	5	16	7	0	9	33	14	5	14	73	58	+15	47
	11	Herne Bay	17	5	5	7	16	7	3	6	33	12	8	13	49	59	-10	44
	12	Sevenoaks Town	17	7	2	8	17	6	3	8	34	13	5	16	53	67	-14	44
	13	Broadbridge Heath	16	8	1	7	17	5	3	9	33	13	4	16	67	66	+1	43
	14	Sheppey United	17	7	4	6	17	5	3	9	34	12	7	15	55	65	-10	43
	15	Crowborough Athletic	16	6	3	7	17	6	3	8	33	12	6	15	49	65	-16	42
	16	Eastbourne Town	17	7	4	6	17	4	3	10	34	11	7	16	44	70	-26	40
	17	Hastings United	17	5	4	8	17	6	2	9	34	11	6	17	47	57	-10	39
	18	Erith Town (-1)	15	3	5	7	17	5	5	7	32	8	10	14	47	62	-15	33
	19	Hassocks	17	4	3	10	16	3	5	8	33	7	8	18	37	59	-22	29
	20	VCD Athletic	17	4	4	9	16	2	3	11	33	6	7	20	41	78	-37	25
	21	Beckenham Town	15	3	4	8	17	2	5	10	32	5	9	18	43	75	-32	24
	R	East Grinstead Town	16	0	2	14	17	1	0	16	33	1	2	30	23	127	-104	5