Bridges Make It Five In A Row

On a cold but sunny afternoon at Jubilee Field, Three Bridges faced Steyning Town Community in a high-stakes match in Isthmian South East Division. The hosts were chasing their 5^th win in a row while Steyning were chasing their 4^th win of the season in an attempt to climb from the bottom of the league. The conditions were set for a fascinating contest, and it did not disappoint.

Bridges started the game with purpose and had the first big opportunity of the game in the 7^th minute when Kevin Rivera broke through the Steyning defence but his cutback for Noel Leighton was cleared. Hayden Velvick picked up the scraps and put a great cross into the box that Reece Hallard headed just wide. Just two minutes later Three Bridges captain Harvey Woollard won the ball in midfield and played in the ever-lively Bryan Villavicencio but his shot was denied by an excellent save from Steyning keeper, Nathan Stroomberg-Clarke.

For all Bridges dominance the first goal of the afternoon came from Steyning Town in the 13^th minute when ex-Bridges player Elliott Romain played a great ball through for Lucas Murrain who calmly placed the ball past Finn Holter. Bridges wasted no time in getting back on top of the game and after a series of attacks the inevitable equaliser came in the 26th minute from the scoring machine that is Reece Hallard. Noel Leighton found Hallard on the edge of the penalty area and Hallard made no mistake, his low strike going between the onrushing keepers legs to make it all square at 1-1.

Between this and the half time whistle Bridges had the better of the game with chances missed by both Reece Hallard and Kevin Rivera but despite the hosts best efforts, it was all square going in at half time.

The second half started with a bang for Three Bridges in the 47th minute when Bryan Villavicencio made an excellent run on the right side and had the composure and ability to square the ball back to Reece Hallard who won’t score many easier goals than this one to give Three Bridges the deserved lead.

Noel Leighton had a chance to put some daylight on the scoreboard in the 71^st minute when his superb half-volley strike was saved by the Steyning goalkeeper who was having a busy game.

Despite the home team dominance, Steyning had a chance in the 81^st minute when a free kick was not held by Bridges keeper Finn Holter, but the promising young goalkeeper showed excellent composure and reflexes to make a double save and keep the hosts in the lead.

In the 85^th minute a great Bridges move that involved Kevin Rivera and Hayden Velvick resulted in the third goal for Three Bridges scored by Reece Hallard, who completed his hat-trick and took his tally to a remarkable 20 goals in the league this season and 23 goals in all competitions.

However, Three Bridges hopes of a comfortable ending of the game didn’t last long as Harry Shooman got an instant reply for Steyning in the 87^th minute with a great strike from the edge of the box to reduce the deficit to one goal.

The visitors battled all the way to the end with their final chance of the game coming in the 92^nd minute when the Steyning goalkeeper joined the attack for a corner, but the resulting scramble was cleared and Hayden Velvick, who was outstanding throughout, managed to keep the ball away from danger.

It ended Three Bridges 3 Steyning Town Community 2 to the delight of the home crowd to make it five wins on the trot for Three Bridges and 24 points from a possible 30 points from the last 10 games.

Three Bridges Player of The Match: Reece Hallard

			Home				Away				Total
			P	W	D	L	P	W	D	L	P	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
	1	Ramsgate	13	12	1	0	13	11	1	1	26	23	2	1	78	22	+56	71
	2	Sittingbourne	14	14	0	0	12	8	3	1	26	22	3	1	86	17	+69	69
	3	Margate	13	4	8	1	14	12	1	1	27	16	9	2	51	27	+24	57
	4	Burgess Hill Town	11	9	0	2	13	8	4	1	24	17	4	3	54	29	+25	55
	5	Beckenham Town	10	5	3	2	14	8	2	4	24	13	5	6	52	39	+13	44
	6	Sheppey United	14	9	1	4	12	4	4	4	26	13	5	8	48	40	+8	44
	7	Merstham	10	4	5	1	15	7	4	4	25	11	9	5	47	38	+9	42
	8	Deal Town	15	8	1	6	13	5	0	8	28	13	1	14	60	59	+1	40
	9	Sevenoaks Town	14	6	5	3	13	5	1	7	27	11	6	10	51	55	-4	39
	10	Ashford United	14	5	3	6	14	6	1	7	28	11	4	13	48	52	-4	37
	11	Erith Town	12	6	2	4	12	4	4	4	24	10	6	8	45	30	+15	36
	12	Three Bridges	13	5	1	7	12	6	2	4	25	11	3	11	48	49	-1	36
	13	Eastbourne Town	15	5	4	6	12	4	2	6	27	9	6	12	42	48	-6	33
	14	Broadbridge Heath	13	3	2	8	12	6	2	4	25	9	4	12	42	43	-1	31
	15	East Grinstead Town	10	3	0	7	14	6	4	4	24	9	4	11	36	45	-9	31
	16	AFC Croydon Athletic	14	4	5	5	11	1	6	4	25	5	11	9	39	46	-7	26
	17	Herne Bay	13	5	2	6	12	2	2	8	25	7	4	14	31	54	-23	25
	18	Lancing	15	5	1	9	13	1	2	10	28	6	3	19	32	69	-37	21
	19	Littlehampton Town	12	2	2	8	14	2	4	8	26	4	6	16	42	59	-17	18
	20	Phoenix Sports	13	3	2	8	13	1	1	11	26	4	3	19	24	63	-39	15
	21	Hythe Town	12	4	1	7	12	0	1	11	24	4	2	18	22	61	-39	14
	22	Steyning Town Community	13	2	3	8	13	1	1	11	26	3	4	19	29	62	-33	13