Bexhill College Men’s 1st team, in association with Chelsea Football Club Foundation and in partnership with Eastbourne Borough Football Club, fell to a 5-2 defeat at the hands of Chatham Town in their National League U19 Alliance away fixture.
Top of the league Chatham wasted no time from the first whistle and quickly settled into the game on their own turf, putting Eastbourne under pressure early. Despite the pressure building and Chatham having most of the ball in the Eastbourne half, the back line of the away side stood firm and goalkeeper Tommy Hickey was yet to be forced into action.
However, midway through the first half Chatham would break the deadlock; a cross from the left was only partially cleared to the Chatham forward who made no mistake from six yards out. The response from Eastbourne was a good one and 6 minutes later, they were level. A nice move down the left-hand side ended with the ball falling to Calum Pollitt on the edge of the box, an expertly controlled finish into the corner levelling the game.
The goal seemed to spring Chatham back into life and on 35 minutes they restored their lead. A short corner caught Eastbourne out and as it was played into the back post and cut back, the centre forward had the freedom of the six-yard box to poke home. With just 20 seconds of the first half to go, it was a sucker punch moment for the away side as Chatham made it 3. This time, a ball in from the right-hand side was not dealt with and once again it was too easy for the centre forward to score.
The second half started with Eastbourne knowing the next goal needed to be theirs, and the Chatham back line were forced into mistakes through the shear endeavour of Sonny Walsh who caused problems for the Chatham defence all afternoon. A few half chances came and went without forcing the home team keeper into a save and in a flash it was Eastbourne’s Tommy Hickey who was forced into action, with a brilliant double save, displaying his excellent reactions on the 2nd save tipping a goal bound effort onto the post.
Chatham’s 4th of the day came 15 minutes into the half, all from Eastbourne’s doing. A free kick inside the Chatham half was played short and when Pollitt got dispossessed, a counterattack threatened and after some intelligent play in the box, Chatham worked their opening and secured the 4th goal. The away side would have pulled one back had it not been for 2 superb saves from the Chatham keeper in as many minutes. The first tipping a curling Walsh effort round the post and the second somehow getting down to a Karapetyan header just yards out from goal.
With time tickling away, a tired Eastbourne were punished further as Chatham made it 5 with minutes to go. But the goal scoring action wasn’t done there. With barely a minute left on the clock, Walsh and Scullion found a second wind. The latter played Scullion through and his first touch allowed him to take it away from the recovering defender and his second was even better, unleashing a rocket into the top left-hand corner. A great way to end on a difficult day for the away side.
Coach Shane Lovell said “The boys put so much effort into the game and that showed in the latter stages. We came up short against a very good Chatham side but for large parts, managed to compete and with more alert defending, could have kept the scoreline down. Despite the score, I’m incredibly proud of the efforts of the players”.
Player of the Match
Sonny Walsh – An excellent centre forwards display, showing superb hold-up play and endeavour throughout.
Eastbourne Team
Hickey, Scullion, Collins, Rivers, Thomas, Pollitt, Corbin ©, Latuske, Groombridge, Karapetyan, Walsh.
Subs
Porter.
For more information about the Football Academy please visit: https://www.bexhillcollege.ac.uk/sports-clubs-and-academies/football-academies/
