BRIDGES SUFFER FRUSTRATING WEEKEND

A Bank Holiday weekend to forget for Three Bridges after picking up just one point from two games after being in winning positions in both fixtures.

The weekend started brilliantly as Elliott Romain scored his first goals back in a Bridges shirt and a 2-0 lead was gained at Phoenix Sports going into the half-time break. The second-half however was a completely different story, as Ridwan Euba was sent-off just a minute after coming onto the pitch as a substitute, and the remaining ten men on the pitch gave up that two goal lead, with Joe Thomas scoring twice for the home side and gaining them a point in an eventual 2-2 draw.

To Monday, and Merstham visited Bridges temporary home of The Bauvill Stadium in Chatham as we looked to bounce back in a positive manner.

Again, the game started brightly, with Reece Hallard scoring yet another goal in his second stint as Bridges player, cutting in from the left and curling a wonderful shot around Rob Tolfrey in the Merstham goal in the 10th minute.

That was as good as things got though, and it took only 3 minutes for Merstham to respond as Sam King drove from midfield and cannoned a low shot past Luke Glover to level the game up.

Merstham had other chances to take the lead in the first-half too, but Luke Glover stood tall on numerous occasions and made a fantastic double save just before the half-time whistle blew.

It didn’t take long for Merstham to take the lead in the second-half; on the 47th minute the Bridges defence weren’t properly set from a corner routine and Charlie Greenwood ended up poking the ball past Glover to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.

And that lead was extended on the 57th minute as Korrey Henry pounced on indecision in the Bridges defence to give the Surrey side a 3-1 advantage and the result seemed set.

Bridges huffed and puffed to try and a find a way back into the game but produced very little other than Hallard smashing a low range shot against the bar in the last few minutes.

Attention now turns to the cup competitions, with trips to face Ashford United (FA Cup – 31 August) and Hythe Town (FA Trophy – 7 September) coming up over the next two weekends.

			Home				Away				Total
			P	W	D	L	P	W	D	L	P	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
	1	Sheppey United	1	1	0	0	2	2	0	0	3	3	0	0	9	2	+7	9
	2	Ramsgate	1	1	0	0	2	2	0	0	3	3	0	0	9	4	+5	9
	3	Beckenham Town	1	1	0	0	2	1	1	0	3	2	1	0	8	2	+6	7
	4	Sittingbourne	2	2	0	0	1	0	0	1	3	2	0	1	10	5	+5	6
	5	Deal Town	2	1	0	1	1	1	0	0	3	2	0	1	8	6	+2	6
	6	Merstham	1	0	0	1	2	2	0	0	3	2	0	1	5	4	+1	6
	7	East Grinstead Town	1	1	0	0	2	0	2	0	3	1	2	0	4	3	+1	5
	8	Erith Town	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	1	0	5	3	+2	4
	9	Herne Bay	0	0	0	0	2	1	1	0	2	1	1	0	3	2	+1	4
	10	Sevenoaks Town	2	1	1	0	1	0	0	1	3	1	1	1	6	6	0	4
	11	Burgess Hill Town	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	1	2	1	0	1	4	3	+1	3
	12	Margate	2	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	3	0	3	0	2	2	0	3
	13	Eastbourne Town	2	0	0	2	1	1	0	0	3	1	0	2	4	7	-3	3
	14	Hythe Town	2	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	3	1	0	2	2	9	-7	3
	15	Ashford United	1	0	1	0	2	0	1	1	3	0	2	1	6	8	-2	2
	16	AFC Croydon Athletic	2	0	1	1	1	0	0	1	3	0	1	2	2	4	-2	1
	17	Three Bridges	2	0	0	2	1	0	1	0	3	0	1	2	4	7	-3	1
	18	Phoenix Sports	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	2	3	0	1	2	3	6	-3	1
	19	Littlehampton Town	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	3	-1	0
	20	Steyning Town Community	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	-1	0
	21	Lancing	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	1	3	-2	0
	22	Broadbridge Heath	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	2	0	0	2	1	8	-7	0