Two wins in four days for Three Bridges

Two good wins in the space of four days leaves Three Bridges still on the fringes of the Play Off places, but Horndean made a fight of it as they played better up their slope in the second half.

It was all long ball from the hosts in the first half with the ball continually running away from their front men, and it was Bridges to whom the chances fell. Nabeel Ghannam drove one chance over and then shot straight at keeper Cameron Scott, whilst Scott was forced to make a good low save to prevent Brannon O’Neill from marking his 200th appearance with a goal.

Ibrahim Jalloh also had an effort blocked, but Bridges finally broke the deadlock after 38 minutes when Noel Leighton delivered a nice pass from the left to Harvey Woollard, who fed NABEEL GHANNAM, who struck a fierce drive beyond Scott.

There was a momentary scare for the visitors just before the interval when Jasper Sheik lost possession and Bridges somehow cleared, but Bridges seemed to shrug this off and Leighton saw a header cleared off the line by a Horndean defender.

Horndean saw one effort ruled out for offside as they put together some decent attacking moves, but after 65 minutes a low cross was eventually stabbed home by BRYAN VILLAVICENCIO for his first goal of the season.

Sheik then had to make two fine blocks and Woollard cleared off the line, but Horndean were now looking ever more dangerous and grabbed a deserved goal after 73 minutes when a cross was met by ZACKARY WILLETT. Bridges reasserted themselves and were helped when a foul on Kevin Rivera saw ‘last man’ Ethan Robb receive a straight red card with five minutes of normal time remaining.

And in the third minute of the six added, Woollard sent a beautiful pass into the path of NOEL LEIGHTON, who strode forward and rounded Scott to net his 21st League goal (and 27th in all competitions) of the season. And he might well have added another from a similar move, but the ball got away from him at the last moment!

Horndean : C.Scott, R.Taw, C.Dyer, E.Robb, M.Kellett-Smith, C.Field (H.Jackson, 61), R.Blankson, F.Chester, C.Duffin (D.Sibley, 61), T.Scutt, Z.Willett.Unused Subs. - J.Pile, A.O’Brien, J.Mohammed-Kier.Booked - Dyer, Kellett-Smith, Scutt, Duffin, Manager Mike Birmingham.Sent Off - Robb (85).

Bridges : J.Sheik, D.Ferreira, R.Euba, B.Irving, T.Difika, B.Villavicencio, I.Jalloh (K.Rivera, 75), B.O’Neill, N.Leighton, H.Woollard, N.Ghannam.Unused Subs. - E.Hanslow, J.Bendall, G.Falzon, S.Agun.Booked - Irving, Euba, Villavicencio.

Bridges Man of the Match - Harvey Woollard.