Bexhill United cemented their position in the upper reaches of the Southern Combination Football League on Saturday with a hard fought 2-1 win against in-form Horsham YM in front of a crowd of 258, with many taking up the offer of “Football For A Fiver” to get their first experience of the game at the famous Polegrove ground.
It was clear from well before the kick-off that the tail end of Storm Amy, and particularly the strong wind that was whipping in from the West across the pitch, would have a part to play as both sides struggled to adapt and get a rhythm going in the early exchanges.
On ten minutes Ryan Moir tried his luck with a trademark drive from the edge of the box but saw his effort curl a foot over the Horsham crossbar. The visitors had the wind with them in the first 45 and started to use it to their advantage. On 17 minutes Ousmane Dansoko rattled the bar and Adam Adam just failed to reach the rebound.
Bexhill defended well in the challenging conditions but after 23 minutes the back line was breached by debutant Adam, who picked the ball up on the left and broke through to drive a good finish into the bottom corner.
A couple of minutes later Horsham came close to doubling the lead but a brilliant save by Stef Akras from Hamza Abubakari denied them at what could have been a pivotal point in the game.
Horsham kept coming, but Bexhill stood firm with Dan Rogers throwing himself in the way of every threat of danger as the away side looked to make the wind advantage count before half time but when the next goal came it was at the other end.
On the stroke of the break, Jaan Stanley battled to win the ball back and played a brilliant pass through for Charlie Curran who slotted the ball into the net with a precision finish.
Bexhill went into half-time with some momentum and came out for the second half with the wind quite literally in the Pirates’ sails as the play see-sawed up and down the park. Bexhill skipper Richie Welch kept his side in contention for the three points with a couple of a last-ditch blocks on the line as Horsham posed a constant threat.
But neither side was settling for a point and when the winning goal came it was for Bexhill close to the end of normal time. Akras hoofed the ball forward, the wind carried it on and Moir did well to be the first on it and, as his header flicked off the keeper, Theo Coombs was the right man, in the right place, at the right time and made to mistake sticking the chance away.
Players and crowd celebrated wildly but the job wasn’t done yet for Bexhill as there was plenty of extra time to navigate to secure the victory. Max Hollobone was controversially shown a straight red for what the ref adjudged to be a dangerous two-footer.
Come the final whistle, the ten-man Pirates held out to claim the three points on one of those special days in front of a bumper crowd on the Bexhill seafront.
