Bexhill United 5 v 1 Hailsham Town

Wednesday 26th December 2018
Southern Combination League Division One
The Polegrove, Bexhill-on-Sea
Admission: £4.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 227

 

For this year's Boxing Day, with fewer fixtures being played today compared with previous years, my closest option to tick a new ground would be a long trip up to Little Oakley, and although that was very tempting, to tick off my last ground in the Eastern Senior League Division One South, having to leave home at around 8am did not, with the after effects of Christmas Day still weighing heavily. So instead, I decided to stay local and take in a double on 1066 Country coast, starting off with this attractive looking game at The Polegrove.

The Polegrove is a really pleasant place to enjoy a game at, located very close to the seafront and surrounded by a couple of parks. The football ground is part of a recreation ground, which consists of several other football pitches, a cricket field (which is why the Polegrove cannot host football matches during the cricket season), and although it is popular with families and dog walkers, the complex has to be closed off to the public when senior football matches are being played - no great hindrance, as there is another park the other side of the road. Spectators enter in one corner of the ground, and all of the facilities are located along the length closest to the entrance, firstly quite a long clubhouse building, and then the real feature of the ground, the grandstand. And grand it is too, tall and imposing, in mock tudor style, constructed from bricks and timber, and smartly decorated in black and white. Shockingly, just last week there was an arson attempt to burn it down, which fortunately did not succeed. Some much smaller buildings, housing the changing rooms and toilets, are situated either side of the main stand, also similarly decorated to the stand, as is the clubhouse, and the collection of building looks smart and easy on the eye. There is just hard standing along this length, with a firm plastic path laid behind the goal closest to the entrance, and just grass to stand on around the other two sides - due to the cricket field. A cricket pavilion is located behind the furthest goal from the entrance, but is only used by the cricket club. The 28 page programme produced is one of the better ones at this level, offering a good preview of the match and some interesting material to read for both first time and regular visitors.

In recent years, cross town rivals Little Common have been Bexhill's Boxing Day opponents, providing a real derby feel to the fixture, but Little Common's promotion this season has resulted in Hailsham Town, based some 15 miles away by road, being Bexhill's opponents this year. What this year's match would miss in terms of being a true derby would be gained by two teams doing well in the league and who both like to attack, scoring almost 100 league goals in 31 games between them so far this season. Bexhill are having their best season in quite a few years, coming into this game in fourth position, having won 12 and drawn one of their 16 league games and joint top scorers in the division with 52 goals, nine points adrift of leaders Steyning, having played two games less, but only four points adrift of a possible promotion spot, having played a game less than current occupants Alfold. Hailsham were in seventh place, joint third top scorers in the division with 45 goals, having won seven and drawn five of their 15 league games, but a top five finish and possible FA Cup qualification is probably the limit of their realistic hopes for this season. Both teams may be a little rusty today though, with Bexhill only having played once in December, and Hailsham only playing one game which was abandoned at half time.

This would be an interesting game for me to watch, as the two previous times I had watched Bexhill United this season, they were massive underdogs in cup competitions against opponents from the Isthmian League, and although they were understandably on the back foot in both matches and ultimately lost both matches, they performed heroically, only losing both games 0-1 when with a little bit of luck they could have at least forced extra time. Today, they would surely approach the game on the front foot, looking to attack and would be favourites to claim another three points.

On a mild but very overcast morning, and with an impressive attendance of 227, Bexhill took the lead with just six minutes on the clock, Lewis McGuigan heading home a third corner in quick succession. They doubled their lead on 20 minutes, when the ball was curled into the danger area and parried out by the keeper, only for Georges Gouet to head the ball into the net. They came close to scoring their third two minutes later, Drew Greenall's back header looping over the keeper but dropping just over the bar. They did score their third to pretty much seal the three points two minutes before the break, when Jack McLean played a low diagonal ball forward into the path of Greenall, who struck a low shot across the keeper into the far corner.

Bexhill really were on fire, and one feared somewhat that the scoreline could get rather ugly for the visitors, particularly when the lead was extended to four three minutes after the break. Jamie Bunn passed the ball sideways to Liam Foster, who took a touch before striking a beautiful shot from outside the area into the top left hand corner. To Hailsham's considerable credit, they then went on to have their best period of the game, perhaps helped by a slight drop in intensity from the home team, and they were rewarded with a consolation goal on 73 minutes. A cross into the area was fumbled away by the keeper, and although the ball was cleared to just outside the area, Sam Townsend struck the ball low goalwards, squirming past the keeper's outstretched arm to find the back of the net. That did seem to wake Bexhill up somewhat, who resumed their threatening attacks, scoring their fifth on 88 minutes. After a developing one-on-one was denied by a terrific last ditch tackle by a defender, the ball was then dinked in from the right and poked home by Bunn.

So a convincing win the Bexhill, who have indeed assembled a very good team this season and will surely be right in the mix for promotion come April. This match was probably confirmation that Hailsham are a little short in reaching for the same goal this season, but they seem to have enough about them to aim for a comfortable top half finish.