Hallard Header Sends Bridges Back to the Top

Three Bridges returned to the summit of the Isthmian South East League after a 2–0 win over VCD Athletic at Oakwood Stadium on Tuesday night, extending their unbeaten run to ten games in all competitions.

For the second match running, Bridges got off to the perfect start. With just two minutes played, Ade Adeyinka calmly slotted past Andrew Walker in the VCD goal after a slick passing move involving Reece Hallard, Hayden Velvick and Charlie Bennett.

The hosts responded strongly and grew into the game, though they were fortunate to keep eleven men on the pitch in the 19th minute. Harry Lawrence committed two bookable offences within seconds — first clattering Noel Leighton before dragging back Harvey Woollard — but somehow escaped a red card.

VCD continued to press and should have equalised in the 24th minute when Izzuna Ikebuasi, a constant menace to the Bridges defence, delivered a superb ball to Lee Bird, who was unable to apply the finishing touch.

Bridges thought they had doubled their lead in the 38th minute when a defensive mix-up left Leighton with an open goal, but his finish was ruled out for what appeared to be a very harsh offside call. The visitors were relieved to reach the break ahead, with VCD producing a display that belied their 19th-place position.

After the interval, Bridges regained control and composure. By the 54th minute, they could easily have extended their lead — Walker produced a brilliant double save to deny Leighton, before turning away Bennett’s effort seconds later. At the other end, young keeper Sam Roberts preserved the lead with a fine save to keep out Lawrence’s curling free-kick in the 65th minute.

The decisive second goal arrived in the 71st minute. Substitute Nabeel Ghannam whipped in an inch-perfect left-footed cross, which was met by a powerful header from the in-form Reece Hallard to make it 2–0. From there, Bridges saw out the game confidently, securing a valuable three points, another clean sheet, and a return to the top of the table.

Bridges now sit on 29 points from 12 league games — one above Faversham Town and two clear of former leaders AFC Croydon — as their excellent run of form continues.

			Home				Away				Total
			P	W	D	L	P	W	D	L	P	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
	1	Three Bridges	6	5	1	0	6	4	1	1	12	9	2	1	38	14	+24	29
	2	Faversham Town	5	4	1	0	7	4	3	0	12	8	4	0	28	11	+17	28
	3	AFC Croydon Athletic	4	2	1	1	8	6	2	0	12	8	3	1	19	8	+11	27
	4	AFC Whyteleafe	6	5	0	1	6	2	1	3	12	7	1	4	28	14	+14	22
	5	Merstham	8	4	3	1	5	2	1	2	13	6	4	3	26	18	+8	22
	6	Herne Bay	7	4	0	3	6	3	1	2	13	7	1	5	24	23	+1	22
	7	Sittingbourne	6	3	2	1	5	2	2	1	11	5	4	2	18	14	+4	19
	8	Deal Town	7	4	1	2	5	2	0	3	12	6	1	5	27	25	+2	19
	9	Margate	6	3	2	1	7	1	4	2	13	4	6	3	23	21	+2	18
	10	Crowborough Athletic	6	4	0	2	6	2	0	4	12	6	0	6	21	24	-3	18
	11	Broadbridge Heath	6	4	1	1	5	1	1	3	11	5	2	4	24	18	+6	17
	12	Eastbourne Town	6	3	2	1	7	2	0	5	13	5	2	6	16	27	-11	17
	13	Sheppey United	6	4	0	2	7	1	1	5	13	5	1	7	22	32	-10	16
	14	Jersey Bulls	3	1	2	0	6	2	3	1	9	3	5	1	16	11	+5	14
	15	Sevenoaks Town	6	3	0	3	7	1	1	5	13	4	1	8	21	31	-10	13
	16	Hassocks	6	2	2	2	4	1	1	2	10	3	3	4	15	17	-2	12
	17	Ashford United	6	2	2	2	5	1	0	4	11	3	2	6	21	21	0	11
	18	Erith Town	7	1	3	3	6	1	2	3	13	2	5	6	14	20	-6	11
	19	VCD Athletic	5	1	2	2	7	1	2	4	12	2	4	6	14	24	-10	10
	20	Beckenham Town	7	2	2	3	5	0	1	4	12	2	3	7	18	27	-9	9
	21	Hastings United	6	1	1	4	6	1	1	4	12	2	2	8	11	18	-7	8
	22	East Grinstead Town	6	0	0	6	5	1	0	4	11	1	0	10	8	34	-26	3