Another defeat

A decent enough first half was marred by a second half display that did no favours for either side. Referee Graham Swanton was not the most popular man in either dressing room after the game, but he cannot be held totally responsible for the indiscipline shown by both sets of players as there were constant demands for action to be taken against their opponents!
Bridges could hardly have made a worse start when Tom Chambers got the better of the otherwise steadfast Billy Irving in the first minute, the subsequent low cross from the left being prodded home by HASSAN IBRAHIYM.
Leo Anderson just about tipped away another Ibrahiym effort, but at the other end a Brannon O’Neill corner was headed back across goal by Camron Lawson only to be headed wide by Joe Tennent, again a rare slip by the visiting defender.
Michael Wilson made an ambitious attempt from the half way line which almost caught out Chris Lewington, who then held onto a Noel Leighton effort. But he was easily beaten after 33 minutes when Tennent’s long ball down the left beat Finn O’Mara and left GIANNI ASHLEY to drive clear before shooting inside the near post.
The 39th minute brought action at both ends, starting with a good cross from the dangerous Denzel Gayle that was completely missed by Adam Coombes before Anderson smothered Dan Bennett’s follow up. Play swept to the other end with O’Neill supplying the perfectly weighted pass for KEVIN RIVERA to apply a cool finish.
But Cray were level five minutes into the second half when another good cross by Chambers was bundled in by BENNETT.
After that, however, the game became a stop start affair with too many niggles and backchat. Anderson held a Coombes free kick whilst Kieron Pamment tested Lewington twice in the space of three minutes.
As the bookings mounted up, a melee in the Bridges goalmouth produced a scrappy effort by CEM TUMKAYA that not only proved to be the winner but also saw Callum Donaghey dismissed for his protests and confrontation with the baying Cray contingent.
O’Mara made a few comments as Donaghey trudged off, so it was perhaps ironic when he later also received a second yellow as an ugly affair came to an untidy end.

Bridges Man of the Match – Noel Leighton.

			Home				Away				Total
			P	W	D	L	P	W	D	L	P	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
	1	Chatham Town	6	6	0	0	4	1	2	1	10	7	2	1	21	8	+13	23
	2	Ashford United	4	3	1	0	6	4	1	1	10	7	2	1	18	7	+11	23
	3	Ramsgate	6	4	0	2	5	3	2	0	11	7	2	2	22	13	+9	23
	4	Whitehawk	5	4	1	0	4	1	3	0	9	5	4	0	17	5	+12	19
	5	VCD Athletic	7	3	2	2	5	2	0	3	12	5	2	5	15	19	-4	17
	6	Chichester City	5	3	2	0	5	1	2	2	10	4	4	2	14	11	+3	16
	7	Beckenham Town	5	3	1	1	4	2	0	2	9	5	1	3	14	12	+2	16
	8	Cray Valley PM	5	3	1	1	5	1	2	2	10	4	3	3	15	13	+2	15
	9	Littlehampton Town	3	0	1	2	7	4	2	1	10	4	3	3	9	9	0	15
	10	Lancing	6	3	2	1	5	1	1	3	11	4	3	4	13	15	-2	15
	11	Sittingbourne	6	1	2	3	5	3	0	2	11	4	2	5	13	13	0	14
	12	East Grinstead Town	6	3	0	3	5	1	1	3	11	4	1	6	11	14	-3	13
	13	Hythe Town	4	1	3	0	5	2	0	3	9	3	3	3	11	12	-1	12
	14	Haywards Heath Town	6	2	2	2	5	1	1	3	11	3	3	5	15	19	-4	12
	15	Burgess Hill Town	5	2	1	2	4	1	1	2	9	3	2	4	8	8	0	11
	16	Sevenoaks Town	3	1	0	2	5	2	1	2	8	3	1	4	9	9	0	10
	17	Three Bridges	4	3	0	1	6	0	0	6	10	3	0	7	13	18	-5	9
	18	Sheppey United	4	0	2	2	4	2	0	2	8	2	2	4	7	9	-2	8
	19	Corinthian	5	0	0	5	6	1	1	4	11	1	1	9	5	20	-15	4
	20	Faversham Town	5	1	0	4	5	0	1	4	10	1	1	8	9	25	-16	4