Bridges return to winning ways in South-East London

On the back of a 3-0 defeat to Deal Town 3 days ago, Three Bridges travelled to South-East London on a Tuesday night to face Erith Town, desperate to make amends and keep their play-off dreams alive.

For Jamie Crellin, the mastermind behind the success on the pitch, it was clear that it was going to be a difficult game before a whistle was blown, as the pitch was covered more in sand rather than grass, meaning the beautiful, free flowing entertaining football that the fans are used to was not an option on the day.

Adapting to the playing conditions, Bridges start the game with purpose and Harvey Woolard has the first chance of the game when his shot from outside the box goes just wide in the 2^nd minute. Noel Fisher has the first shot on target in the 6^th minute after a long throw-in from Ben Holden, but his volley from 8 yards out is saved by the Erith keeper.

Will Tillman, in Bridges goal, gets tested for the first time in the 25^th minute when James Miles plays a ball for Elliott Duncan, but Will stands tall and keeps the scoresheet at 0-0.The less said about the rest of the first half is better as both teams are battling hard but the quality is missing meaning Erith and Bridges are heading to the locker rooms with 0-0 and a feeling that whoever scores first will end up victorious in a very tight affair.

In the 55^th minute Josh Hallard’s corner fails to beat the first man but the ball bounces back to Josh, who puts a great cross in the box and a looping header from Reece Hallard beats Harrison Firth to give Three Bridges a deserved lead. Only 5 minutes later the lead should be doubled when a free kick from Josh Hallard leaves Hayden Neathey with an easy finish from inside the 6-yard box, however Hayden puts the ball wide to everyone’s disbelief.

Erith are growing back into the game and in the 69^th minute Duncan Elliott breaks on a counter but his shot from the edge of the box gets comfortably saved by Will Tillman.

Bridges are having another chance to bury the game in the 85^th minute when the ever-excellent Harvey Woollard drives through from midfield and plays a great ball for Hayden Velvick whose shot gets parried away by Erith’s keeper.

Erith are throwing everything they have at Bridges and in the 88^th minute Aaron Jeffery breaks through on the right  side and the flag stays down to the bewilderment of Bridges players and fans alike, Aaron does well to find Harry Taylor all alone at the edge of 6 yard box but Harry couldn’t apply the finishing touch as his shot misses the target. This is being followed by a heart stopping moment in the 90^th minute when a cross by Nathan Hover gets spilled by Bridges keeper towards his own goal, but Billy Irving, on his first appearance since 28^th of December, is in the right place to clear the danger away.

It ends Erith Town 0 Three Bridges 1 and while it wasn’t the greatest of spectacles, the young Bridges team had a brilliant defensive display and showed a resilience that is to be admired while Jamie Crellin gets all the plaudits for getting his tactics spot-on once again.

With 5 games left until the end of the season, Three Bridges return to Jubilee Field on Saturday to host Ashford United. All Crawley Town season ticket holders not making the trip to Stevenage are welcomed to the game with the added incentive of a half-price ticket entry.

			Home				Away				Total
			P	W	D	L	P	W	D	L	P	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
	1	Ramsgate	18	17	1	0	19	15	2	2	37	32	3	2	113	30	+83	99
	2	Sittingbourne	18	17	1	0	19	12	4	3	37	29	5	3	105	25	+80	92
	3	Burgess Hill Town	19	14	3	2	18	11	5	2	37	25	8	4	77	35	+42	83
	4	Margate	19	8	9	2	18	14	1	3	37	22	10	5	72	41	+31	76
	5	Merstham	19	11	5	3	18	8	5	5	37	19	10	8	78	55	+23	67
	6	Beckenham Town	18	9	5	4	18	9	3	6	36	18	8	10	76	57	+19	62
	7	Three Bridges	18	9	1	8	19	10	3	6	37	19	4	14	74	63	+11	61
	8	Sevenoaks Town	18	8	6	4	19	8	3	8	37	16	9	12	72	71	+1	57
	9	Deal Town	19	10	1	8	18	7	1	10	37	17	2	18	78	75	+3	53
	10	Sheppey United	18	10	2	6	19	5	4	10	37	15	6	16	62	60	+2	51
	11	Erith Town	19	8	5	6	18	5	6	7	37	13	11	13	65	50	+15	50
	12	Ashford United	19	8	4	7	18	6	3	9	37	14	7	16	63	66	-3	49
	13	AFC Croydon Athletic	18	7	6	5	19	4	7	8	37	11	13	13	53	58	-5	46
	14	Broadbridge Heath	19	3	5	11	18	9	5	4	37	12	10	15	58	65	-7	46
	15	Eastbourne Town	19	6	5	8	18	6	3	9	37	12	8	17	50	63	-13	44
	16	East Grinstead Town	19	6	0	13	18	7	5	6	37	13	5	19	46	75	-29	44
	17	Herne Bay	18	6	4	8	18	4	4	10	36	10	8	18	47	66	-19	38
	18	Littlehampton Town	18	5	3	10	19	4	4	11	37	9	7	21	60	79	-19	34
	19	Phoenix Sports	18	5	3	10	19	3	2	14	37	8	5	24	36	81	-45	29
	20	Hythe Town	18	5	2	11	19	1	2	16	37	6	4	27	32	87	-55	22
	21	Lancing	19	5	1	13	18	1	2	15	37	6	3	28	34	98	-64	21
	22	Steyning Town Community	18	2	3	13	19	3	1	15	37	5	4	28	39	90	-51	19